Grieving families in Co Carlow are feeling 'great relief' after the local council made a u-turn and have now allowed gravestones to be erected during lockdown.
The council last week said the erection of monuments had been temporarily suspended as it was not considered essential construction work.
However, grieving families - including Anne Brennan, who wants her son Alan's headstone erected before the first anniversary of his death - had urged officials to allow work continue.
Anne is now among those who've been told workers have been given the green light to resume headstone work.
It means her son Alan's headstone will now be able to go up ahead of his anniversary on March 4th, which is now just a few days away.
The Carlow Nationalist reports that the council's director of services said monument sculptors can resume their work, albeit with strict COVID-19 controls in place.
Speaking about the latest developments, Noel from Lucy Nolan and Sons Headstone told Lunchtime Live they received the go-ahead to start work again late last week.
He said: “The council has given permission to erect headstones in the county Carlow. It’s great news - it’s given great relief to grieving families.
“They’re happy to know they’ll be able to have a headstone up for a first anniversary or birthday of their loved ones.
“Everyone was just very upset about it… the county council came around and made the right decision."
He thanked the council for 'making the right decision in the end', although said he understands the issue is ongoing in several other counties.
In Carlow, however, work has now restarted.
Noel said measures such as face masks and additional sanitisation are in place to ensure both workers and members of the public are ‘extra safe’ while the work is being carried out.
