A mother whose young son died suddenly of an asthma attack has hit out at plans to run a cycle path near his peaceful grave.
Susan McGarvey, 45, said she finds solace in visiting her son Callum’s final resting place at Deansgrange Cemetery in south Dublin. She has started a petition to object to the move by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council which she said is “extremely insensitive”.
Susan, from Blackrock, said she likes to spend time at the grave of Callum, who died at the age of 12, as it’s quiet and peaceful. She said that along with other families of loved-ones buried there, she is campaigning against the proposal to run an enhanced cycling infrastructure through the graveyard as part of the Deansgrange Cycle Route, proposed under the Active School Travel programme.
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Plans for the route are part of a broader 25km network of dedicated cycle tracks joining 65 schools. Susan said had she known that such plans would crop up in the future like this she wouldn’t have selected the plot at the cemetery in 2017, obscured by a boundary wall, at a cost of €24,000.
She said: “Where my son is buried at Deansgrange, it’s called the garden, and they want to put a cycle path right beside it. They also want to lower a wall, a very private wall, and put in railings.
“We are all just so horrified that they think this for entertainment values. I’m so angry and disgusted about this.
“I spoke to a lovely lady yesterday whose daughter is buried right beside the wall which they want to lower. There are 32 graves alongside that wall and this woman is so distraught over it. She doesn’t want people going in and trampling on her child’s grave in order to knock down this wall.
“This is all for people to cycle when they could make a cycle track on the road. It’s so insensitive. It’s not a playground or cycle track, it’s a place of rest.
“I was down there yesterday putting flowers on his grave and there was not sinner in it, it was so peaceful and quiet. It was what a cemetery should be like. It should be peaceful and tranquil and not have people cycling past as I stand by Callum’s grave.
“On one side you will have cars going up and down because they want to get rid of the wall that gives privacy and put railings there and on the other side there will be people cycling past. It’s such an invasion of privacy.
"I picked this part of the graveyard because it’s peaceful and quiet and nobody can look in on you with the big nice wall there. I wouldn’t have picked it if I knew this was going to be proposed in the future.
"We have until October 20th to get as many people as possible to sign the petition and write to the county council to fight this. I think if it was their children who were buried there it would be a different story.”
A spokesperson for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said in response: “DLR are not proposing a dedicated cycle path in the Cemetery. We are proposing better access to the existing area where driving, cycling and walking is a well-established use.
“This option was suggested after almost 2 years of public engagement where we assessed 8 different options. The purpose of this scheme is to provide access to over 65 schools in the County and providing a safe route along Deansgrange Road is a critical element.
“The existing links in the Cemetery provide access through from Deansgrange Road to the Schools at Hollypark and the green space / Granada football facilities. What is proposed is to make the cemetery more permeable by providing a new entrance and allowing users the choice of using the cemetery vs the road way.
“This new entrance has been included in the Deansgrange Local Area Plan since 2010. This plan went through a public consultation at that time and was adopted by the elected members.
“We have commenced a consultation process and it will be open for submissions until October 20th. The route and the scheme details are only proposed at this stage.”
Another grieving mother who is not happy about the proposal is Aoife O’Connor, whose newborn baby daughter Emily was buried there in 2010. Aoife, 43, from Blackrock, said: “Our daughter Emily died as a baby on the day she was born. She was our first child and both my husband and I were devastated.
“We had the unimaginable job of having to decide where to bury our beautiful baby. We chose The Garden in Deansgrange as it was peaceful and private.
“We picked a plot against the old granite wall as hanging baskets with their beautiful flowers would hang over Emily’s grave. I was distraught two weeks ago when we found out the council had submitted a plan to reduce the height of the wall to below the height of the headstones which would take away the peaceful nature of the garden and any privacy as anyone walking or driving on the Deansgrange road can look straight in.
“I would also be very concerned that rubbish could be thrown over onto Emily’s grave.”
She added: “The proposed cycle path through the cemetery shows no respect for our loved ones and for the family’s who mourn their loss. It is not a recreational area, it is a graveyard.
“I am still in absolute shock that the council believes this is an acceptable plan. I would ask anyone of the councillors who will vote on this to stand at my daughters grave and tell me it is.
“We would never have picked The Garden to bury our daughter if we knew this could happen.”
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