This article is from page 14 of the 2006-04-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A CHURCH on the former site of Our Lady’s psychiatric hospital has been mooted as a possible location of worship for people of different religious faiths.
At yesterday’s annual monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council the suggestion was put forward that the use of St Mary’s Church should be explored as one option by members of religious organisations in Ennis who don’t have a suitable location to practice worship. A dispute between developers and the local community was recently settled with the agreement of a four year lease that safeguarded the future use of the building.
Councillors were debating a motion submitted by Councillor Taiwo Matthew (Ind) which requested that Ennis Town Council provide a designated area within the town where members of different religious affiliations could gather for worship.
“I am aware that there is a church on Our Lady’s. Ennis is a fast growing town with different cultures and races. If we are to look at extending the town boundary we need to take into account community development as well. There have been some cases where people have complained about people using houses to worship.”
The motion wasn’t passed but councillor’s advised that religious groups should identify a suitable location and engage in the pre-planning process. Director of Services with Ennis Town Council, Tom Coughlan stated that land for community use has been designated, but that it would be unwise for the council to engage in site acquisition when they weren’t aware of the exact requirements.
Councillor Peter Considine (FF) and Councillor Johnny Flynn both expressed their support for the use of Our Lady’s as a temporary location while Councillor Donal O’Beara (GP) said religious groups should prepare a submission for next year for a variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.