An Bord Pleanála yesterday granted planning permission for the first crematorium outside Dublin when it gave the go-ahead for a €2.5 million facility at the former Irish Steel depot at Rocky Island in Cork Harbour.
Strikemount Ltd said the crematorium should be operationing by the end of the year. It is understood that the facility will be able to cremate up to five bodies a day when fully operational.
Cork County Council had granted planning permission for the facility last September but the decision was appealed by a number of parties, including Ringaskiddy and District Residents' Association. Rocky Island, was used by the British navy in the 19th century as the location for a gunpowder magazine. Now derelict it is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The crematorium will be built in the existing magazine building