{"id":251105,"date":"2025-12-25T17:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/251105\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T17:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:27:11","slug":"anger-as-cemetery-gates-locked-on-christmas-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/251105\/","title":{"rendered":"Anger as cemetery gates locked on Christmas Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All Live95 News
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\n photo by Donal Mac Cormaic<\/p>\n

\n Some elderly visitors attempted to scale the walls to see their loved ones’ graves.\n <\/p>\n

A Limerick man has described his “disgust” and “heartbreak” after finding the gates of Mount St. Oliver Cemetery<\/b> locked for the second year in a row on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n

Timmy Sheehy<\/b>, from St. Mary’s Park, contacted Live 95 News while standing outside the closed gates, expressing his distress at being unable to pay respects to his parents, brother, and other family members on the most significant morning of the year.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a Disgrace”<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking to Live 95\u2019s Gillian Devlin, Mr. Sheehy described a scene of confusion and upset as families arrived to find they could not enter the grounds.<\/p>\n

“Everybody is distressed here. There\u2019s old people here who can\u2019t get in, people in wheelchairs who can\u2019t get in,” he said. “Last year, the gates were closed, and it\u2019s happening again. I\u2019d like to know why you have to lock the gates on a Christmas morning, above any morning in the year.”<\/p>\n

He added that the situation led to dangerous scenes, with some elderly visitors attempting to scale the cemetery walls in their desperation to reach the graves of their loved ones.<\/p>\n

\n

“They\u2019re broken-hearted because they can\u2019t leave their flowers. There\u2019s one or two trying to climb the wall, and they\u2019re so old\u2014if anything happens to them, it\u2019s the end of it.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Political Intervention<\/b><\/p>\n

The gates were eventually opened after local TD Maurice Quinlivan, <\/b>and Fianna F\u00e1il councillor Catherine Slattery<\/strong> were\u00a0contacted to intervene. However, Mr. Sheehy noted that many people had already given up and walked away in the “bitter cold” before access was granted.<\/p>\n

The St. Mary\u2019s Park man, who worked for the Council for 43 years, said the experience has “ruined” his Christmas and left him feeling ignored by the local authority. “I never got a reply after last year. They just don’t care anymore, the council. I’m disgusted with them.”<\/p>\n

Live 95 Following Up<\/b><\/p>\n

While the gates were eventually opened this morning, Timmy Sheehy says he is speaking out to ensure that a plan is put in place to prevent a third consecutive year of closures.<\/p>\n

Live 95 News will be following up with Limerick City and County Council and Deputy Maurice Quinlivan in the coming days to establish why the closure occurred and what steps are being taken for future years.<\/p>\n

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