Funeral restrictions adding to ‘pain and grief’ for families

Current restrictions on the numbers attending funerals are adding to the grief and trauma experienced by bereaved families according to Cllr Emer Tóibín who has called the ongoing regulations unacceptable.

She has asked the government to show evidence-based rationale for "these heavy-handed measures" which allow only 10 people at a funeral and anniversary service due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"Losing a mother or a father is a massive life experience. The same goes for losing a child or a sibling. It is very traumatic. Current restrictions imposed by our government has exacerbated the pain and grief that comes with losing a loved one.

"These restrictions mean that grieving families have to essentially decide who is more deserving of attendance at the funeral. Who loved the deceased more? Does the eldest have more rights than the youngest in the family? I’m one of seven and my husband is one of 10. In his family, one son or daughter is not permitted by law to attend their mother or father’s funeral.

The final celebration of a parent’s life and the final goodbye is at the whim of arbitrary regulations which have no bearing on the church size, the family size or the risk of transmission. I have spoken to countless bereaved friends and constituents who are still trying to come to terms with their loss as the normal healing stages of bereavement and close familial contact were withheld from them at the time of their worst pain."

Cllr Tóibín said the government cannot keep imposing these harmful and brutal restrictions on the citizens of this country.

"Churches and cemeteries can accommodate more than 10 people easily and safely.

The bereaved can wear masks, socially distance, and safely grieve. Balance of risk, common sense and importantly, respecting of the needs of people in their time of great loss and sadness needs to form part of discussion today and into the future’’

“The government consistently fails to think of the human cost and the human damage when enforcing some regulations on its citizens. At the behest of the EU, thousands of people flew into our county bringing new strains of the virus in December and January gone by.

"Families all over Meath and elsewhere around the country are being denied their need and right to mourn. A more nuanced approach is essential and overdue.

“Nobody wants to make this situation worse but the government needs to end the arbitrary, harmful and groundless restrictions on funeral numbers, and let family and friends mourn their deceased loved ones without interference or added distress," she concluded.