Graveyard shift by council

Family burial for Campbell

A 94-YEAR-OLD man barred from his own grave by his local council will be buried tomorrow morning after a U-turn by officials.

Campbell Mulholland, who died on February 2, had bought a family grave in Bangor, Co Down, following the death of his five-month-old son in 1967.

His wife Peggy was buried alongside little Kenneth 18 years ago in Clandeboye Cemetery and in 2012 Campbell paid for his own funeral, expecting to be laid to rest with his wife and child.

But 24 hours before his service was due on Tuesday, his 86-year-old sister was informed Campbell was barred from his grave because it was an inch too small to meet regulations.

The family turned to the Mirror for support and their situation prompted public outrage. A petition set up by MLA

BANISHED FROM HIS OWN GRAVE

Alex Easton demanding a change in law to permit people to be buried in the graves they bought before regulation changes in 1992 attracted hundreds of signatures.

Now Ards and North Down Borough Council have agreed to removing “heavy soil” from the grave and replacing it with a “lighter loam soil”.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “I can now confirm that measures are in place for the burial of Mr Mullholland to proceed in his preferred resting place.

“I must add this solution will not be applicable for everyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.

“We must take a case-by-case approach. In this instance if we had performed a standard burial, we would have been 39cm (not the 1.2cm that was previously reported) outside regulations.”

A WOMAN has turned her life around after losing seven stone over the past three lockdowns.

Andrena Hamill, 49, was a size 28, drinking 14 litres of Pepsi each week and had pains and struggled with mobility.

The North Belfast woman from Ballysillan is now a size 12 and has gone on to climb Slieve Binnian and Slieve Donard after joining a local gym helped boost her confidence.

Andrena first met personal trainer Stephen Phillips, from Myfit in Newtownabbey, around 14 months ago and says she wouldn’t look back.

She added: “My mobility was so poor and I had difficulties getting up off the sofa. It was really painful so I thought I have to get moving.

“My husband once spoke about me being on a mobility scooter and just last week he said that he reckons if I didn’t start this journey I would have been in a wheelchair by now.

“When I first came to the gym, Stephen really connected with me and helped me personally to set my issues and not to compare myself to anyone else out there. I had to build up my own journey and start from the very basics of walking and getting mobile.

“Stephen and I have had loads of fun training together. He has a wicked sense of humour and he knows how to push you and motivate you.

“When you think you’re not doing great, he knows how to push your buttons and get you going.

“I have achieved more than what I thought I could. I have climbed mountains. I have been up Slieve Binnian three times and Slieve Donard once.

“The first time I went up Binnian I cried because I couldn’t believe how difficult it was – but I did it.”

Andrena, who will turn 50 next month, sadly lost her dad last year, which she says set her into a “real deep depression”.

Stephen and the Myfit team have become Andrena’s friends and helped her through the days when she struggled.

And proud of herself for how far she has come in her fitness journey, Andrena is not finished yet.

She said: “My day to day life has been so much healthier and happier. I was really down before and suffered with depression.

“I lost my dad and that set me into a real deep depression.”

Stephen added: “She would hide behind a punching bag in the gym so people couldn’t see her. And to look at her now, I am just amazed at her.

“She is such an inspiration. She has now lost seven stone throughout three lockdowns and doesn’t plan to stop there.

“It is mind-blowing what she has achieved in this short period of time.”

Daily Mirror story en Peggy died in 2003, she was in the family plot with th, and Campbell expected to them one day. So to think of separated from them is able. bell kept Peggy’s slippers by from the day she died, her s and all her little bits and Family’s fury as Campbell, 94, mained in place in their m for the last 18 years. got comfort from the fact can’t be buried with wife & son e buried together but now he’s wed to be anywhere near her ir son. He’s lying alone in a in a morgue. It’s undignified, and unnecessary.” en Mr Mulholland bought the measures plot 11.5 inches with the hope following his baby’s death, funeral in full in 2012, 20 years that my uncle would fit in it. But the ave was intended to hold four after the new regulations and no council says it would have to be 11 . But burial regulations introin one told him that there was a inches to stay within the rules, 1992 now require six feet chance he’d be barred from his meaning we’re fighting over half an en them and 28 inches above own grave. inch of space. nal coffin in the grave. “Where has humanity gone in “The funeral home asked for an official at Ards and North Down extra Northern Ireland? What has half inch to be dug out of the gh Council said Mr happened that an old gentleman lland’s grave and left on top of grave cannot be buried in his grave with his llowed the grave to settle for wife and baby for the sake of half an er 3ft 9in but the council inch of soil? It’s heartbreaking. a coffin won’t hear of it. “My uncle paid in full for his own uring 15 “My uncle’s funeral service including everything s would wishes, from the flowers to the orders of dhere to intentions service. He liked order and good sense tions. and the and in the final moment of his life on contract he th arth he has been su ed to COVERAGE The situation, according to Co Down MLA Alex Easton, is not particular to Mr Mulholland. He said: “If this can happen to one family it can happen to many others. “Graves and burials are a vitally important aspect of life in Northern Ireland and this sort of situation is appalling. “I’m horrified and deeply angry to discover people who have bought grave plots e now discovering in s n’t allowed to be buried with loved ones as expected despite buying a grave plot in good faith from the council.” A spokeswoman for Ards and North Down council said: “All councils in Northern Ireland are bound by the Burial Ground Regulations 1992, which detail strict guidance in terms of the functions of a council in relation to its burial grounds. “We ccept incidents such as this ar g for ilies at what is

FEELING SO GOOD Andrena Hamill with gym coach Stephen Phillips BEFORE Andrena wanted to feel better