A woman whose parents are buried in Belfast's
Milltown cemetery has criticised the Catholic church for the way
improvement work is being done.
Pauline Power said the graveyard looks more like a building site than a religious ground.
The church said necessary work was being carried out and it
doesn't wish to cause any distress to the families of those buried
there.
Part of the graveyard is being levelled and new grass seed planted.
Ms Power said she witnessed a digger drive through part of
the cemetery on Thursday with little regard for the headstones or graves
beneath.
"They've no regard for anyone that has been buried here, so
to me the Catholic church must think that as these are old, old graves
and the majority of their people no longer exist they can do whatever
they want," she said.
"And it really isn't on, there are digger marks the whole way
through all of these graves. Underneath the mud and the mess that
they've left these are people's graves. You're supposed to respect the
dead."
Helpline
Ms Power has aunts and uncles buried in the cemetery as well as her parents and her grandmother who was interred there in 1929.
She is worried about how people will be able to get access to the graveyard.
"How do they expect people to even get in and out of here?
This is just nothing but a building site. Plus I have a handicapped
brother, how am I supposed to bring him through all this mess?
"Where people are buried it's supposed to be a place of
dignity and respect to rest in peace. Where's the peace and dignity
here?"
The Catholic church has provided a helpline for anyone who
has any concerns about the work being done at Milltown Cemetery.
The
number is 028 90 61 3972.