A bewildered Sal Slattery stood in the rain by his wife’s desecrated grave yesterday and wondered what the world had come to.Sal, 73, a retired confectioner from Clare St, was one of many family members who went to the old Mount St Lawrence cemetery in Limerick to inspect damage caused when 37 headstones were knocked in an orgy of vandalism at the weekend.
"I come up every week with flowers and holy water to place on my wife Lena’s grave. I heard there was damage and when I got to Lena’s grave and saw what had been done, I just looked up to the sky and said is there a God up there. I am baffled by this, that’s the only word I can get to describe how I feel and the hurt. This is consecrated ground. There can be no explanation for this. What can you say. There is no real answer to it."
He said he was relieved to find there was no damage to the grave of his daughter Helena, who died more than 11 years ago.
Gardaí and city council officials inspected the damaged grave sites yesterday.
Paul Foley, acting director of environment services with the council, said gardaí were investigating.
"The damage was caused in the old cemetery which covers over 17 acres. It is wanton vandalism... Some people just went through the cemetery pushing headstones... It is difficult to find language to bring some rationale to this."
Brendan Clifford from Ballinacurra Gardens was among those who went to inspect family graves.
"Thankfully our family graves were not damaged. My uncle, the great rugby player Tom Clifford, is buried here. Everybody is appalled at what has happened," he said.
Patrick Byrnes, aged 56, travelled from Moyross to inspect his parents’ grave.
He said: "This is disgraceful. They can’t even leave the dead alone."
Gardaí have acquired CCTV footage as part of the probe into the damage, which could cost in excess of €50,000 to repair.
"I come up every week with flowers and holy water to place on my wife Lena’s grave. I heard there was damage and when I got to Lena’s grave and saw what had been done, I just looked up to the sky and said is there a God up there. I am baffled by this, that’s the only word I can get to describe how I feel and the hurt. This is consecrated ground. There can be no explanation for this. What can you say. There is no real answer to it."
He said he was relieved to find there was no damage to the grave of his daughter Helena, who died more than 11 years ago.
Gardaí and city council officials inspected the damaged grave sites yesterday.
Paul Foley, acting director of environment services with the council, said gardaí were investigating.
"The damage was caused in the old cemetery which covers over 17 acres. It is wanton vandalism... Some people just went through the cemetery pushing headstones... It is difficult to find language to bring some rationale to this."
Brendan Clifford from Ballinacurra Gardens was among those who went to inspect family graves.
"Thankfully our family graves were not damaged. My uncle, the great rugby player Tom Clifford, is buried here. Everybody is appalled at what has happened," he said.
Patrick Byrnes, aged 56, travelled from Moyross to inspect his parents’ grave.
He said: "This is disgraceful. They can’t even leave the dead alone."
Gardaí have acquired CCTV footage as part of the probe into the damage, which could cost in excess of €50,000 to repair.