Cabinet OKs mass return to church
The 50-person limit will not now apply to places of worship
CHURCHES and other places of worship will be exempt from the 50-person limit, following a U-turn on national policy.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said earlier this week that he found the ‘one size fits all rule’ strange and disappointing.
He hoped that churches with a capacity of 1,500 would be able to take more than 50 people at a time. And yesterday, the Cabinet gave approval for churches to be exempted from the rule.
The restriction had dramatically affected the plans of many parishioners, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had said he would seek the advice of the
National Public Health Emergency Team on the subject.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Foundation of Ireland said it was planning a cautious re-opening of its mosque on the South Circular Road in Dublin.
Spokesman Fares Sabbagh said protocols had been drawn up for limited service to begin shortly, but that its most popular Friday prayers, which draw around 200 people, will not restart immediately. He explained: ‘When it was clear that Covid was coming to Ireland, one of the first things we discussed was the Friday prayer.
‘That was immediately addressed, and a policy decision taken to suspend Friday prayers. It was a controversial one at the time, but everyone seemed to come on board with it.’ He said that suspension is still in operation because the mosque leaders did not wish to create tension by allowing some people in while excluding others.
The much smaller prayer sessions, held during the other days of the week, will resume shortly, he said. They usually draw between 20 and 40 people.
Protocols include stationing a person at the door to count people in, and locking the doors when maximum capacity is reached.
The doors will only open for daily prayers ten to 15 minutes before the call to prayer, and people will be ushered out at the end.
The Church of Ireland welcomed the announcement that places of worship can reopen on Monday. But Archbishop Michael Jackson said safety must be a priority, and there is no pressure on individuals to go where they feel they are not safe.
He will celebrate Holy Communion in Christ Church Taney, Dundrum, at 11am on Monday, which will be the first service in the Church of Ireland dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough since public worship was suspended. Attendance at the service is at the invitation of the Archbishop. A spokeswoman said most churches would resume the following Sunday.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is following national guidelines, while leaving it up to individual ministers to decide when to reopen their churches.
Its churches in the Republic have already been told they can open from Monday if they wish.
Spokesman Mark Smith said: ‘We are emphasising that while we can reopen within the guidelines, we should not rush into it.
‘We have to make the decision at a local leadership level, and it is up to each congregation how they do it.’
Taoiseach sought advice on rule