The seizure was made as part of an intelligence-led operation involving the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), Waterford County Drugs Unit and Revenue Customs Service in Lismore, Co Waterford.

The courts heard Garda Hegarty had admitted discreditable conduct by engaging in the act with a woman who had come into the station to give a statement relating to the arrest of her sister in March 2017.

The main reasons cited for the change are the impact on regular Sunday Mass-goers, who may feel a funeral is being added to or overshadowing the normal liturgy.