Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s environment committee has approved the allocation of additional grave spaces for members of the Muslim community in Lurgan.

At a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, May 3, members were informed over 118 advanced right to burial sales were allocated to the Muslim community at Lurgan Cemetery.

To date, 18 of these initial rights to burial have been used with 100 still available to individual title holders for their use. In 2015, another 32 grave spaces were allocated on a need-only basis and there is only one remaining burial space in the older section of the cemetery.

In normal circumstances, it is impermissible to bury Muslims alongside non-Muslims or non-Muslims alongside Muslims.

Lurgan Cemetery, New Line, Lurgan. Photo courtesy of Google.

placeholder image — Lurgan Cemetery, New Line, Lurgan. Photo courtesy of Google.

However, if the Muslim community does not have a cemetery of its own, then every effort should be made to secure a portion of the cemetery especially for Muslims so that they may bury their dead together.

The request for further burial space for members of the Muslim community was made on April 4 in a meeting at Lurgan Cemetery between cemetery staff and representatives from the Muslim community.

At the meeting a formal request in writing was presented to council staff by Imam Hesham requesting that the council allocates future burial space provision and that a back-to-back row within section M of Lurgan Cemetery be set aside for the sole use of the Muslim community.

Section M of Lurgan Cemetery has over 1,260 grave spaces 498 of which are still available. It is estimated that this will be adequate provision for a further nine years.

Given this, officers told members that the council could set aside 42 additional grave spaces for members of the Muslim community.

This would reduce the cemetery’s lifespan to 8.2 years but officers are content this allows enough time to cope with any unforeseen circumstance relating to a delay in planning permission/construction on the new extension.

Officers also recommended that when the extension is completed an additional 42 spaces in the back-to-back row are provided to the Muslim community.

A proposal to approve the officer’s recommendation to allocate a single row of 42 grave spaces, with the option to provide an additional 42 spaces in the back-to-back row on completion of the new extension was then put forward by Councillor Paul Duffy and approved by the chamber.