Parents opposing the refurbishment of the Angels’ Plot in Glasnevin will today seek a High Court injunction to prevent renovation works going ahead.
There was standing room only at a meeting held by the group in Dublin yesterday to voice their objections to the plans for the plot, where premature babies and infants are buried.
The Dublin cemetery placed a notice in the national newspapers a week ago, asking families to remove personal effects from the shared graves before today, so that the refurbishment work could commence.
Following objections from parents, it said last week the works would not begin for a couple of weeks “to allow those families who still have concerns to discuss them with the cemetery or Isands [Irish Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society].
There are 40,000 burials in shared graves in the Angels’ Plot, with up to 30 babies in each grave.
Some parents have placed mementos such as toys, night lights, wind chimes and plaques on their babies’ graves.
A few months ago, the cemetery announced plans to turn the plot into a remembrance garden, similar to work done at an older Angels’ Plot in the graveyard.
The plans involve grassing over the graves and planting rose beds. It said this was the wish “of the significant majority” of families. The cemetery said the practice of personalising graves with mementos could upset other families as there was not enough space on a grave top for 30 families to create their own shrines.
Yesterday some 200 people attended the Dublin meeting, with many standing. Chairing the meeting, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said there had been no public consultation on the matter.
The cemetery has said it consulted Isands, as it does not have contact details of the parents because the burial arrangements were made by the maternity hospitals.
Lurleen Byrne, who organised the meeting, urged parents to write formal letters of complaint to the cemetery immediately and to leave their mementos on the graves.
Dozens of parents told how their babies were buried in Glasnevin and many became tearful as they recounted their stories.
A number of parents told how their babies’ organs had been retained, so they had to be buried with the babies at a later date.
Ms Byrne was critical of the refusal of Glasnevin cemetery’s chief executive George McCullough to attend the meeting.
A spokesman for Mr McCullough said he would speak to anyone who was unhappy with the plans but did not wish to attend a public meeting.