Repairs wanted on ‘disgraceful’ graveyard paths in historic Cork city graveyard

A LOCAL election candidate has called on Cork City Council to repair footpaths in one of the city’s most historic graveyards and to make it wheelchair accessible.

William O’Brien, who is running as an Independent candidate in the Cork City South Central ward, described the state of walkways within St Joseph’s Cemetery on Tory Top Road as “disgraceful”, calling on the council to effect repairs as a matter of urgency.

“Cork City Council needs to ensure that footpaths and walkways within the cemetery are made safe for all those visiting graves and tourists alike,” Mr O’Brien told The Echo.

“From what I have seen, it looks extremely dangerous to walk around, and, frankly, not having disability access around the graveyard in this day and age is totally unacceptable.”

Mr O’Brien has, in the past year, done much to help highlight the plight of council tenants in the Noonan’s Road, Finbar’s Road, Fort Street, and Dean Street flats who have been living in conditions later described by Cork City Council chief executive Ann Doherty as “shocking”.

“I have concerns that somebody visiting this cemetery will get hurt and this should be prevented at all costs.

“We really want to ensure that this cemetery provides a fitting and appropriate place for people to visit their loved ones, so that the cemetery remains a place the community can be truly proud of,” he said.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said there are approximately 3.5km of footpaths within St Joseph’s Cemetery.

“These are all tarmacked and vary in width from 0.6m to 2m. Many of these paths are bounded by grave thus precluding the widening of same without interfering with said graves, which would be very upsetting for family members and relations of those interned in these graves.

“Cork City Council continues to ensure that this site is as accessible as is possible and to this end we are currently scheduling the resurfacing of the main entrance into the cemetery to improve this surface,” they said.