Sligo County Council has launched an investigation following widespread outrage and growing calls for the removal of a towering 15-foot marble memorial erected at Sligo Cemetery.

The massive stone surround and statues were brought in and assembled over several hours last week.

The structure – which stands three times higher than the maximum allowed limit – has sparked intense public backlash, with both council officials and local representatives inundated with complaints.

Under Sligo County Council guidelines, headstones for a triple grave plot are capped at a maximum height of 5 feet, with double plots restricted to 4.6 feet and single plots allowed up to 4 feet.

Speaking on Ocean FM, local resident Dympna Mannion voiced her upset over the development, describing the severe disruption and emotional impact on regular visitors.

‘It’s absolutely appalling – it’s become not a nice place now because people have come to photograph it. It’s like a tourist attraction’ she said.

Praising the dedicated cemetery staff, she added: ‘The graves are really well looked after. It really upsets me to see what’s happened. It really upsets me to see the beautiful graves on either side dwarfed by this charade that’s now in the graveyard.’

Questioning how the construction was permitted to take place in the first place, she called for strict enforcement of the rules: ‘Why was there not an injunction taken out to stop what’s going on? If the rest of us have to abide by the rules that are there, that’s what you do.’