Patriot graves are shamefully neglected

THE old adage of not speaking ill of the dead was correctly upheld immediately following the death of former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey.

On the day before, however, on visiting Glasnevin cemetery I couldn’t help but notice that similar reverence has not been bestowed on the statesmen and women of an earlier era. This was my first visit to the cemetery and I was really disappointed to see the lack of respect for the site, which is in very poor condition. Black mould on the crypt of Daniel O’Connell and cigarette butts on the site of those interred there from Kilmainham jail, to give but two galling examples.

I am unaware of the resources allocated to the site, or with whom the responsibility lays, but the current situation is a national embarrassment.