'It beggars belief': Council apologises after dead horse stored at Cork cemetery
Councillor Damien Boylan said he could understand why families of people interred at St Senan’s Cemetery in Tower, on the western edge of Cork City, would find the incident upsetting. File picture: Pexels
Cork City Council has apologised for any upset caused by the temporary storage of a dead horse at one its cemeteries.
The apology was issued on Monday after claims that a dead horse had been buried in an area of the council-managed St Senan’s Cemetery in Tower. Local Independent councillor Ken O’Flynn said the council’s version of events differs from local reports about what unfolded last Thursday.
He said he was told that the horse was found dead at Faggot Hill, between Hollyhill and Clogheen Cross, and was removed for “burial” in St Senan’s. But the council insisted on Monday that no horse burial took place — that the carcass was stored in a yard for a few hours for genuine health and safety reasons.
Mr O’Flynn said it was a serious error of judgement.
“It beggars belief that even if the council had to wait a few hours for the arrival of a contractor to dispose of the remains of this horse, a more suitable location for storage could not have been found in the meantime,” he said.
The council told the it was notified of a dead horse on the road adjacent to St Senan’s cemetery last Thursday, and that the carcass caused “an immediate health and safety issue and a danger to motorists”.
“The council’s contractor was contacted to remove the horse but was not in a position to attend until the afternoon,” a spokesman said.
“On health and safety grounds a decision was made to temporarily store the horse in the maintenance storage area in the cemetery.”
The horse was “covered over using waste materials in the yard” so it would not be visible from the cemetery.
The carcass was removed by the contractor that afternoon for proper disposal.
“Cork City Council would like to sincerely apologise for any hurt or distress caused by this incident,” he said.
“We were faced with an urgent health and safety matter and dealt with it given the constraints that we faced at the time.”
Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan said he can understand why the incident has caused so much upset.
“A cemetery is where many people go to help mend a broken heart, or to find consolation following the death of a loved one, and this incident is very upsetting,” he said.
