Fr Brian Quinn
THE Parish Priest of one of the biggest parishes in the Raphoe Diocese has said he is very confident that measures put in place will allow his church to reopen safely.
Fr Brian Quinn, PP, Church of the Irish Martyrs, said he was looking forward to welcoming parishioners back into the church for Mass from this morning.
“Monday is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. It’s a joyous occasion for us all,” Fr Quinn said.
“For the past three months we have been unable to gather as a community to celebrate the Eucharist in our church. This has been a great loss to us individually and as a parish community,” he added.
With the gradual easing of the Covid 19 restrictions, public daily Masses resume at 9.30am this morning but in order to keep everyone safe and to comply with current health and safety protocols, numbers will be restricted. It will be necessary to book for all weekday and weekend Masses at the Church of the Irish Martyrs.
When you book, you will be asked for your contact details as they may be needed for contact tracing purposes. You will be given a colour coded tag with which you may be admitted when you come to your booked Mass.
“The Church seats 900 people and we’re allowed 100 from Monday morning. I don’t envisage any problems (with numbers) for weekday Masses,” Fr Quinn said.
For those people who wish to come to the weekend Masses but who have not been successful in gaining a ticket for admittance to the church or who do not feel comfortable attending indoors due to health concerns, it will be possible to sit in your cars in the car park and listen to the Mass on the church loudspeakers or watch it on your phone in your car. Communion will be brought to you outdoors. Instruction will be given on this during Mass.
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming people back into Mass from Monday. It will bring a sense of normality back into the Church and parish.
“We will be respecting all the different constraints that have been put upon us but we’ll we doing everything in our power to keep everyone safe,” Fr Quinn said.
“We’ve been busy these last few days working closely with our sizeable team of stewards who will show people to their allocated seats safely. You must remain in your seat until the ushers direct you to move for reception of Holy Communion and again at the end of Mass,” Fr Quinn said.
Masses will return to the normal times; Monday to Friday 9.30am. Saturday 6 30pm. Sunday 9.30am and 11.30am.
The Church will continue to livestream on Facebook.
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