Only two of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils have issued fines against funeral directors for late arrivals, with the added cost either paid by them or passed on to families.
Only three out of the north’s eleven council have the power to issue fines in their regulations - Ards and North Down Borough Council, Mid and East Antrim, and Antrim and Newtownabbey.
However, Antrim and Newtownabbey Council, which can impose a £100 fine after 20 minutes, is yet to issue any fees.
New figures, obtained by The Irish News through a freedom of information request, show that Ards and North Down have issued more fines than Mid and East Antrim council.
However, MEA charge over twice as much, despite issuing fewer penalties.
MEA collected £1,345.50 from just seven fines, averaging £192 per fine. Ards and north Down collected more overall (£1,667) from 18 fines, averaging at £92 per fine.
The fines are issued against funeral directors, who can then decide if they want to pay it, or pass it on to the family.
Glen Baxter, of North Down Funeral Directors in Bangor received a fine for being late. He passed the fine of £97 on to the grieving family at the time.
Mr Baxter describes the fines as a ‘double edged’ sword, but says he always warns families there could be a fine, and advises them to book the later time slot to try and avoid it.
“There is an awful lot of responsibility on us as funeral directors to try and get these things right and try and predict if there is going to be an issue,” he added.
“It’s a double-edged sword... Yes, it is another financial burden on the families, but the emphasis is really on us as the funeral director, to try and get these things right. If we’re late, that can impact somebody else’s funeral. The clue is in the job title ‘funeral directors’. We’re there to direct the families and make sure that these things go according to plan.
“It’s not that I would welcome the fine… We’re in a cost-of-living crisis… Funerals are expensive as it is. I don’t want to make them £97 dearer for anybody else.”
When asked whether any lateness might be outside everyone’s control, Mr Baxter said he’d hope the council would let it slide.
“If there was something untoward that happened, a car accident that we get stuck behind and we can’t get through, I would hope the council would waive the fee”, he added.
“I think if somebody organises a funeral and organises it well… you would want to be leaving yourself time for these things to happen. It is somebody’s final send off. There should be plenty of time allowed for us.”
Michael McSparron, of Michael McSparron Funeral Directors in Larne, said the fines have ‘thankfully’ not impacted him. However, if he was fined, he would pay it himself, rather than put it on to the grieving family.
“If it’s happening in Larne, I only need five minutes to get to the graveyard. But if it’s happening in Glenarm, I need 25 minutes to get there. So, I would say, no, sorry boys, and go for the later burial.
“I do know a lot of the undertakers, they’re saying the problem is not the funeral directors, the problem is the priests and the ministers overrunning the service in the churches.
“You then add another 15 to 20 minutes on to that, where people shaking hands outside afterwards and meeting people, this is the problem. But thank God, it has never happened to me. However, I would pay it. If it was my fault, I would pay it myself.”
Another funeral director in the Ards and north Down district said he thinks priests and ministers should be hit with the fines, not the funeral directors.
Wanting to remain anonymous, he added he received a fine due to the service running on and he wasn’t happy about it.
The funeral director said: “The ministers might run on, or suddenly somebody may get up and speak. When you’re picking out times, you might not expect somebody to get up and give a lot of tributes. There’s a whole lot of different causes of maybe being late.”
When he received the fine, he added it was the first he had heard of it, adding: “I didn’t tell the family at the time, because I didn’t want to upset them. I’m sorry to say, I paid for it this time. I didn’t know the fines were in place until I got one. I have warned the ministers in future, if they’re running late, they’re paying for it. I wasn’t happy about it.”
A spokesman for the National Association of Funeral Directors said it is unfair to penalise funeral directors when delays were often out of their hands.
He said: “If a service goes on too long, or a family wishes to take longer than we might expect, that is fine and an important part of the grieving process. We are there to support that.
“To then issue a fine for being 15 minutes late, which isn’t long at all, seems highly unjust. We understand that local authority staff have jobs to do but surely, it’s better to work together to support bereaved people on a day when they need it the most.”