Talks urged on land swap involving Killarney National Park
13/12/2012-NEWS-Jimmy Deenihan TD Minister for Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht photographed in his department on Kildare St.Dublin. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons / THE IRISH TIMES
There has been a call for public consultation on a land swap proposal in Killarney which will involve taking land from the Killarney National Park, a designated Unesco biosphere reserve, for use as a burial ground.
Talks are under way about the proposal from Killarney Town Council to facilitate a public graveyard, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has confirmed.
The move is being stoutly resisted by a local environmental group who say any such interference should not be countenanced. The Killarney Nature Conservation Group said plenty of land is available for purchase for a graveyard without having to take land from the national park. A similar request to the National Park to release land for burial purposes failed in 2006.
