All too often we read about the gravestones being vandalised, it is a sad indictment of our times.

The police end up getting called but it is really a waste of resources as, by then, the damage has already been done.

I think that it is time the Western World resisted the need for a grave, dug in a cemetery, as the only way to look after their dead.

We need to move away from the belief that “our bodies will rise up” when the world ends. The bodies from the older graves will already have been eaten by bugs, so there will be nothing left to rise up.

We need to start cremating our dead, place their ashes in urns and have walls of remembrance. Like a high wall made up of stone ‘cupboards’ where the ashes are placed with a plaque on the front; storage spaces that can be big enough for families, if necessary, to be interned; places that are more easily maintained and looked after; places that can be bright and welcoming to the living to sit/stand and remember their loved ones

John O’Connor