BUNCRANA parish priest
Fr John Walsh has described as "rather tasteless"
the posting of advertisements on the gates of the
local graveyard.
Fr. Walsh is appealing to the organisers of
functions and events, or any other sellers not to
treat the original old gates into Cockhill Cemetery
as an advertising hoarding. "I would have thought
people would feel that posting advertisements on the
gates of a cemetery is inappropriate and rather
tasteless," said Fr Walsh. "It is particularly so
when you consider that this is the oldest part of
Cockhill graveyard.” The church was built in 1847 by
Bishop Edward Maginn who is buried in the graveyard.
Fr Walsh admits he made a mistake when he allowed
the organisers of a summer flower festival at a
local religious retreat centre to erect a poster on
the disused gates.
"They shouldn't have asked and I shouldn't have
given permission, looking at it in hindsight," he
said. He said once the first poster went up, it
became a "free-for-all" and a trend he now feels he
must stop. The original cemetery gates are in a
prime position to catch the eye of passing motorists
as they exit Cockhill Bridge from the Carn to
Buncrana road. Because the bridge is a notorious
bottleneck, motorists generally find themselves
stationery for some time until the junction is
clear. But Fr. Walsh insists this prime position
should no longer be exploited for selling purposes.
"The gates to the cemetery are sacrosanct and should
not be used for advertising,” he added. Meanwhile,
these are busy times for St. Mary's Church, Cockhill,
with major renovation works currently underway. In
their last weekly renovation fund update, the
organising committee reported an account balance of
just over €157,804. The total cost of refurbishing
the 160 year old building will be €275,000. |
