THE Executive's decision to re-open graveyards was welcomed last night as a "sensible and compassionate response".
First Minister Arlene Foster made the announcement following a week of mounting calls including anguished appeals from bereaved families.
While Sinn Féin had been opposed to restrictions being lifted, its northern leader and deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill said they had "listened carefully to the genuine distress of families who have not been able to visit the grave of a loved one".
"I understand that there's a fine balance and making sure that people do not face additional burden in terms of their mental health and wellbeing and also our role in making sure that people are not put at further risk from the transmission of coronavirus."
Belfast City Council has said its cemeteries will begin reopening from tomorrow.
Dundonald and Knockbreda cemeteries will operate normal daily opening hours while Roselawn and the City Cemetery will open initially on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Social distancing measures will be in place.
Graveyards have remained open in the Republic over the past five weeks but with controls around social distancing.
Addressing the daily Stormont briefing yesterday, Ms Foster said: "This is about balancing public health concerns with the basic human need for people to visit their loved ones."
She mentioned her party colleagues, Edwin Poots and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who recently lost their fathers, as well as former Sinn Fein MLA Oliver McMullan, whose 22-year-old daughter Tierna died on Tuesday from cancer, as among those grieving at this time.
However she said current restrictions over wakes and funeral gatherings remain in place.
"We both know that a lot is being asked of the bereaved at this time... but we would not be asking you to respect these restrictions if it were not literally a matter of life and death."
Ms O'Neill stressed that the social distancing message "has not changed".
"We're still in the middle of the pandemic. The message has not changed. Everyone must stay at home unless they have a clear need to be out of the house.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr William Henry, said the decision brings "much comfort to many".
"For many reasons this is a sensible and compassionate response to an important pastoral and human need, especially when not everyone who mourns a loved one has been able to attend their funeral as a result of current government restrictions," he said.
"Visiting afterwards, therefore, may be the first occasion they are able to make a personal response at a time of bereavement. Opening graveyards makes this possible."
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also said the move was welcome but warned that people must strictly follow the lockdown guidance.
"This is not a broad lifting of the restrictions. People are still dying in our communities, health service staff are still putting themselves at risk to keep us safe. We need to keep our guard up or more people will lose their lives unnecessarily," he said.
