First Laois crematorium is on the way - News - Laois Nationalist

A land sale was agreed today for the first crematorium in the county

The Portlaoise site has been sold to the company that runs The Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, pictured above. File image

Joshua McCormack A LAND sale has been agreed for the first crematorium in Laois, which will serve the midlands region.

After a long wait, Laois Co Council got the ball rolling this week on a crematorium for the county.

At their monthly meeting on Monday, it was confirmed that the council would sell 1.24 hectares of land at the J17 National Enterprise Park in Togher, Portlaoise, to a crematorium management company. The site will be sold for €540,000 plus vat.

The buyer is The Island Crematorium Ltd, which is based at Mocklerstown House in Ballyclerihan, Clonmel Co Tipperary and runs a very well respected crematorium on Rocky Island in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.

Cllr Paddy Buggy, who had proposed a crematorium for Laois some months ago, welcomed the announcement and congratulated the council management team, for acting so fast in bringing about the plan for a crematorium.

Also celebrating the announcement, Cllr Aisling Moran said she was “absolutely delighted” and said: “It’s something I’ve been bringing up for the past seven years and I’ve had a couple of motions in on this as well.”

Addressing council director of services Pat Delaney, Cllr Moran said: “Pat, I’d like to thank you for the great work done on this and getting it through.”

The new crematorium will be the first of its kind in Laois. Currently, the nearest crematorium is nearly 80km away in Newlands Cross, on the outskirts of Dublin.

Following the land sale, Laois Co Council will collaborate with The Island Crematorium Ltd regarding the drawing up of plans for the Portlaoise crematorium, which will then be put forward for planning permission.