Greenland Cemetery, Craigyhill, Larne is one of many in Mid and East Antrim that will continue to see Sunday burials
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter
Press AssociationToday at 18:15
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has agreed to shelve plans to end burials on a Sunday.
The recommendation was made to councillors at a meeting of the council’s Environment and Economy Committee last month.
Minutes of the discussion, which took place behind closed doors, said that officers recommended restricting weekend burials to Saturday only.
However, officers were told rural funerals on a Sunday were a tradition and any staffing issues were “for council to resolve not citizens of Mid and East Antrim”.
It was also stated costs were “built in” to cover Sunday burials.
It was pointed out that burial is one of the council’s front-line services and consultation should have taken place with key partners. Interim director of operations Shaun Morley advised that staff resourcing would have to be reviewed.
It was proposed by Alliance councillor Aaron Skinner and seconded by the DUP’s Gregg McKeen to recommend the council does not revise its weekend burial services.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Mr McKeen said: “I feel the family should be given the option if they want/need to have a burial on whichever day they want. In some cases, due to other factors, this might be their only option.”
Also in a statement issued after the meeting, Mr Skinner said: “As this was discussed in a closed council session, I am only allowed to repeat what I said which was that weekend burials are an important tradition in rural areas and it is a key front-line service that must be protected.
“If there are staffing issues, then that is for the council to resolve. It is not an excuse to restrict the services open to our residents.”
Separately, at last month’s council meeting, an earlier proposal by Mr Skinner to reopen household recycling centres on Sundays was unsuccessful.
A recommendation to approve no change to opening hours was proposed by TUV councillor Matthew Warwick and seconded by Sinn Fein’s Archie Rae.
A director told the committee the cost of opening recycling centres for half a day on Sundays would be “the equivalent of closing on three weekdays”.