Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Lunchtime Fix: 6 things you need to know

Catch up as you refuel.

WHAT’S THE STORY?

1. IRISH farmers are delighted today with the confirmation that Phil Hogan has landed the Agriculture Commissioner spot in the new European Commission lineup.

National Ploughing Championships Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

2. ANOTHER good news item today. Fishermen in Kery have rescued 70 dolphins who were beached in Smerwick Harbour.

dolphins Urbanlol.com Urbanlol.com

3. TODAY is World Suicide Prevention Day and Console has used the opportunity to call for inquests not to be held in public to save grieving families the further trauma of “trial-like” proceedings.

4. TRAGIC news from Australia emerged this morning when police found the bodies of a woman and her three children. It is believed they were shot dead by their father whose body was found sometime later near the house in New South Wales.

5. THESE are some exciting times in Scotland. The panicked Better Together campaign has sent its leaders on a last-minute trip today to persuade voters to stay in the UK. Need to catch up? We have it all explained here.

PastedImage-88818 PA Archive / Press Association Images PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

6. SOME more radio wars today. No, Pat Kenny hasn’t gone anywhere. The CEO of TodayFM has hit back at claims by Irish Times journalist Una Mullally that there is an intentional, sexist bias” on Irish radio. Peter McPartlin said the writer would “do well to look at her own newspaper”, adding:

A simple analysis of 65 bylined articles in Monday’s edition of your newspaper shows that just 13 were by women.

Catch up on the rest of today’s stories>

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute OU812
    Favourite OU812
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:14 AM

    The funeral business is such a huge scam, they’ve literally got you at your most vulnerable and pressured & charge huge prices.

    It’s a licence to print money when you consider how the operators are connected.

    We need something like the UK’s co-op to come in & break the cartel.

    150
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ollie Owens
    Favourite Ollie Owens
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:20 AM

    My friend had a Woodland Burial
    http://www.greengraveyard.com
    A really beautiful place and no headstone to pay for

    35
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute jon boy
    Favourite jon boy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 11:17 AM

    That’s rubbish. I did a thesis recently on the funeral industry in Dublin. In my reserch the co-op in the Uk carries out more funerals a year as a company than there is deaths in Ireland(26,000 approx). They have been investigated on numerous occasions by different UK state bodies like the competition authority for over charging and have serious breaches for health and safety.

    I found the co-op was one of the most expensive companies to deal with along with the other large conglomerates compared to the small independent UK funeral directors like we have in Ireland.

    The market here is so small that it’s actually very competitive compared with a lot of european countries and particularly the US where it could be anything up to 200% more expensive there.

    Interestingly enough Dublin is no where near the most expensive place for funeral costs in Ireland with Cork, Galway and Mayo leading the way in high costs-apart from grave prices which Dublin leads the way. Following on from there, the other interesting fact is the majority of Northside Dublin funerals are far better value than their southside peers.

    19
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Hegarty
    Favourite Michael Hegarty
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 11:38 AM

    @ jonboy Very interesting couple if facts there. I saw C4s doc on tge Co-Op. The thought of them coming here and holding me in one of their “hubs” makes me shiver.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter J Clare
    Favourite Peter J Clare
    Report
    Mar 10th 2015, 1:24 AM

    just having had to come up whit buying a grave it cost 5 thousand for two plots the price included open and closing and one headstone and a crypt because here in this part of america the water table is so high the coffin would come out of the ground and also in-case of hurricane the metal vault will keep it in the ground ,,the funeral cast 5 thuosand it included the coffin the embalming the use of the funeral home to show the body and the houre for family and viewing time for public and then hearse to the cemetery they also provided pall barers as not every one was able to do that they provided seating at geave side and tent also the price included a very nice spray and death notice ,,its an industry and som ones got to do it ,,the best thing is to pre arange it as its cheeper and not leave the stress to your kids because it costs what it costs and although we gripe we spend as much an holidays and 21st parties , im glad im not leaving the expence or stress to any one ,,some one has to pay for the work involved its a business people do a job and expect to be paid everything cant be free in life ,,plus you can get a funeral for not to much and pay it off weekly .

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute B9xiRspG
    Favourite B9xiRspG
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 7:52 AM

    I honestly didn’t know you could get this sort of grant. You can’t really cut the grant if the family can’t afford the funeral. Maybe cap it

    78
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sharon Coyle
    Favourite Sharon Coyle
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:02 AM

    Not meant to be a funny comment but I wonder would anyone be willing to do a DIY funeral for a loved one? Contact the church, organise the plot, arrange transportation. I know it’s such a difficult time for people when there is a passing but it looks like there is a window for serious adjustment here. Imagine a coffin from IKEA, could this be the future??? ;)

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Robin Pickering
    Favourite Robin Pickering
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:13 AM

    Your loved one would be decomposed beyond recognition before anyone managed to get the coffin assembled properly.

    In 10,000 years, archeologists will be able to determine if a coffin was ikea by the missing screws, large dollops of glue and swathes of duct tape.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barry
    Favourite Barry
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:36 AM

    I’d have no problems with an ikea coffin,
    Infact I’ve thought about the idea of a cardboard or wicker coffin, I think it’s plain crazy to spend thousands on a expensive wooden box.

    Also I think if a family can’t afford a funeral they want then changes must be made.

    A full plot for a coffin can be upto three thousand, in such a situation that they don’t have this money then they should have to get a cremation plot which in a lot of cases is third the price if not less.

    31
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Doey Walsh
    Favourite Doey Walsh
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:22 AM

    When i go
    think I’ll go Celtic and just light a fire

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ManOnTheStreet
    Favourite ManOnTheStreet
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:35 AM

    You’ll be doing well to light a fire after you go doey!!

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute yo
    Favourite yo
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:56 AM

    Funny

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Doey Walsh
    Favourite Doey Walsh
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 4:54 PM

    Fair point

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom Newnewman
    Favourite Tom Newnewman
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:20 AM

    Are there many cases of 100% cradle to grave dependancy in Ireland ?

    52
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Right Wing Steve ©
    Favourite Right Wing Steve ©
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:24 AM

    It’s better than moneylenders.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry T Bird
    Favourite Larry T Bird
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:12 AM

    But not better than working !

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute BadDrivingIreland
    Favourite BadDrivingIreland
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:09 AM

    What’s worse is this government is driving us to an early grave.

    49
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Spart
    Favourite Dave Spart
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:30 AM

    Basically, the blame for the high costs of funerals can be laid at the hated Roman Catholic Church with their ridiculous insistence on a three-day funeral rite – Rosary, Removal, Burial. Unfortunately, many of the downtrodden proletariat are still in thrall to the ridiculous skyfairy mythology peddled by the paedophile priests of that corrupt cult and are thus incurring huge costs as a result. There should instead be simple funeral services conducted by an atheist speaker with readings from the likes of the great philosopher Richard Dawkins. Wake up people! Ditch the Church and embrace the freedom – and lower costs – of atheism!

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sinead Hanley
    Favourite Sinead Hanley
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:59 AM

    Dave… By any chance did u get sucked in by the god delusion book.. Yaaaaaaawn…

    Got a pal that read that shite and he has become insufferable.. This new athiesm is a cult you know.. Full of hate and bile..

    And by the way you cant blame the Catholic Church for the cost of funerals no more than u can blame them for the cost of weddings..

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Colin Tyrrell
    Favourite Colin Tyrrell
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:16 AM

    Richard Dawkins. Bile spreading racist.

    24
    See 10 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barry
    Favourite Barry
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:38 AM

    Racist? Being Catholic now makes you part of a new race?

    That’s a new one,

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Colin Tyrrell
    Favourite Colin Tyrrell
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:42 AM

    I was talking about Dawkins. Was that not obvious? I even stated his name first.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sinead Hanley
    Favourite Sinead Hanley
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:20 AM

    Oh Colin. I agree.. He is awful influence on todays youth.. He is spreading poison.. What they need is hope.. I had to distance myself from a friend because of his book.. This friend had the audacity to come visit me in my parents house and lecture my them about sky fairies!!!!

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Doey Walsh
    Favourite Doey Walsh
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:20 AM

    I’m like a lot Irish I think,
    I’m agnostic/ spiritual
    yet cant seem to wash off the
    potato-Catholicism ;)

    I have to admit sometimes atheism is a bit of a dick, the reason people find many of then insufferable is because they take credit for Science but never the blame for it
    Science is wonderful and has improved our lives immensely but it wasn’t Father Ted who built the weapons in which the wars were fought,
    Religion is the helper of war
    Science is the helper of death

    Atheists preach about the importance of logic
    Logic is very important, but humans have, are and always will be slaves to their emotional sides

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Colin Tyrrell
    Favourite Colin Tyrrell
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:24 AM

    I like this statement!:

    I’m like a lot Irish I think,
    I’m agnostic/ spiritual
    yet cant seem to wash off the
    potato-Catholicism ;)

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tertullian
    Favourite Tertullian
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 11:44 AM

    @Sinead Indeed, it is amusing to see the number of people commenting on The Journal who have clearly read The God Delusion and who seem to think that it is the last word as far as a critique of religion is concerned. In fact, it is a very poor and badly argued book. Dawkins is unable to engage with sophisticated religious apologists and is content instead to lampoon fundamentalist and extreme relgious believers. It’s as if someone were to attack politics by ridiculing the likes of fringe political extremists of the left and right without giving serious consideration to the mainstream and to serious political philosophers. As Terry Eagleton (an atheist) said: “Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology.” Dawkins is an excellent scientist in his field; where religion is concerned he is a fool.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gaius Gracchus
    Favourite Gaius Gracchus
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 1:54 PM

    While I agree to an extent Tertullian,it’s no more amusing than people who think the bible is an explanation for EVERYTHING

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tertullian
    Favourite Tertullian
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 2:22 PM

    @Gaius Apart from some fundamentalist Americans I know of no one who thinks the Bible is an explanation for everything.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Doey Walsh
    Favourite Doey Walsh
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 3:36 PM

    I have to agree Dawkins ain’t all that bad makes a lot of good points but his philosophical views are widely regarded as near-nonexistent

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Grealy
    Favourite David Grealy
    Report
    Aug 18th 2013, 12:39 AM

    There’s no insistence on a three-day rite. A removal to the church, a funeral mass, and a burial can be done on the same morning in about two hours, if that’s the family wants.

    As at weddings, the church costs don’t form the bulk of the total cost.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Moylan
    Favourite Ian Moylan
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:20 AM

    Dublin is an expensive place to live and expensive place to die

    46
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mar
    Favourite Mar
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 7:56 AM

    From personal experience I had to send up a paid bill from Funeral Director before I got the Grant cheque.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Simone Behal
    Favourite Simone Behal
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:15 AM

    Really? That’s really insensitive of them .

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eggfuel
    Favourite Eggfuel
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:30 AM

    Bloody discrace……

    2
    See 5 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 12:20 PM

    The cheek of the Department, looking for proof before throwing out free money!

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Scott
    Favourite Ian Scott
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 12:26 PM

    i imagine a dead body isnt enough proof… yes a receipt should suffice… CHEERS.. lol
    you are a funny little man ryan

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 3:29 PM

    And you need to engage your brain instead of wringing your hands in disgust without at least contemplating the matter.

    The death isn’t in question, obviously. Who foots the bill for the funeral etc., is, ergo who gets the money. Have another think about it.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Scott
    Favourite Ian Scott
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 3:58 PM

    clearly your annoyance is not one in sympathy of the families who have lost a loved one but rather with the system which they are required to appeal to suggesting your position is one in the govt licking stamps and telling people they cant have what they are entitled to… i feel sorry for individuals like you chappy… hope you enjoy your power trip…

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 4:06 PM

    Clearly you’re wrong again, Ian. I have no connection with the machinery of bureaucracy whatsoever.

    But, I have no problem with a responsible attitude to taxpayer’s money either, there is precious little of that, most of the time.

    So, shriek on about entitlement all you like, that will solve nothing. If you find that money tree you obviously believe in, you might let the rest of us know.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mar
    Favourite Mar
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:40 AM

    Funeral Directors now have to give you the price of the funeral when you’re planning the thing. Having done 3 funerals 3 years in a row @ an average of 4000, it opens your eyes to the costs involved.

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ciaran De Bhal
    Favourite Ciaran De Bhal
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:44 AM

    There is a burial grant available to everyone of €850.00. Having recently buried 2 family members I was automatically sent these grants. They were applied for on my behalf by the funeral director. BTW, civil ceremonies are available too, where burials can be performed on non- consecrated ground. They are every bit as expensive. The cost of cremation is even more expensive than a regular burial. And to my horror, I found out that it is 100% more expensive to have a grave opened in Co. Dublin than it is in any other county. But IMO funeral directors are worth their weight when it comes to funerals, they take ALL responsibility, their attention to detail is incredible and they don’t ask questions regarding payment. Quite often they are left with unpaid funeral expenses, from those who are unscrupulous enough not to pay once the service has been performed.

    38
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 12:23 PM

    If the grant was done away with, I bet the going rate would immediately drop by a similiar amount. In effect, the state is subsidising funeral homes.

    (as with rent allowance and landlords)

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute OU812
    Favourite OU812
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 8:16 AM

    Also “will be considered in a budgetary context”. Seems to me like a budget cut being flagged.

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat Mc Cormack
    Favourite Pat Mc Cormack
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:12 AM

    There are Coffins for sale on Donedeal for €200

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Mc
    Favourite Paul Mc
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:54 AM

    Are the coffins 2nd hand?

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute yo
    Favourite yo
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:58 AM

    Are they Secondhand

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 11:37 AM

    Cradle to grave dependency is right.

    Another thing I didn’t know I was paying for.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eggfuel
    Favourite Eggfuel
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 9:33 AM

    And the cost of cremation is what exactly….. ?????????
    Might be relevant to an application..
    If you can’t afford to bury them it should be cremation…
    NO….!!!?????

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gaius Gracchus
    Favourite Gaius Gracchus
    Report
    Aug 17th 2013, 10:55 AM

    Just dump me in the sea, waste of money for your loved ones

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Charlie Hickey's Da
    Favourite Charlie Hickey's Da
    Report
    Aug 18th 2013, 9:14 AM

    Why is the state paying for funerals? No wonder the country’s in a heap.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds