A growing public outcry has erupted over the weekend closure of St Declan’s Graveyard in Ashbourne, with more than 500 people signing a petition calling for safe access to the cemetery.
The petition was launched by Michelle Matthews on behalf of her 81-year-old father, Tommy Matthews, who visits the grave of his late wife Mary who passed away last September every single day.
The couple were married for 61 years, and her father finds comfort in tending to Mary’s grave. But at weekends, the cemetery gates are closed, forcing visitors to park on the dangerously busy N2 road and cross on foot, described by Matthews as “an accident waiting to happen.”
Michelle joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.