‘If people don’t take buses to Knock, elderly may have to walk up to 12km’
JUST like the Phoenix Park, “bus, bus, bus” is the message coming out of Knock. Gardaí have warned of a potential looming disaster for the elderly and the infirm, who may be forced to walk 12km to the shrine for the papal visit – if ticket holders do not forgo their cars and take public transport.
Roadblocks into the small Co Mayo village have already been erected and are being manned 24/7 by gardaí.
Superintendant Tom Calvey, of Claremorris garda station, said at a briefing in Knock he was unaware of any measures being taken to prevent people from camping out ahead of the event. “I’m not aware of that from a Garda perspective,” he said.
He also said that whether people choose to camp out is “not a Garda matter, whatever people decide to do in the days and weeks before the visit”.
As many as 91pc of the
45,000 people who have booked tickets to see Pope Francis at Knock have indicated they will be travelling by car. However, the authorities have warned that infrastructure will be unable to cope with a possible 20,000 cars descending on the area.
Supt Calvey said gardaí may be forced to park cars on the N17 if visitors refuse to budge on their travel plans, with the road potentially closed from Claremorris.
This would leave attendees – including the elderly, the infirm and children – forced to make the 12km to the Knock shrine on foot.
“This is the worst case scenario – I don’t think it will come to that,” assured Supt Calvey afterwards, adding that he believes people will see the good sense of taking the bus and amend their travel plans accordingly.
The N17 into the town will be closed from midnight on Saturday, with restrictions coming into the place around Knock village from 6pm on that evening, he said.
“From a Garda perspective, we’ll be encouraging people to travel by coach,” he said.
The farthest people travelling by bus would have to walk would be just 1km, he pledged.
Fr Richard Gibbons, rector of Knock shrine, asked people to gather at the shrine by 7.30am or 8am, ahead of initial prayers.
The shrine would be open from 4.30am or 5am, he added.
Pope Francis will arrive at the shrine at 9.45am by ‘popemobile’ and will visit the Apparition Chapel before giving a short address.
He will lead the Angelus
before departing at 10.45am for Mass at the Phoenix Park.
“We expect a wonderful day, we expect wonderful weather, hopefully. The whole point is that people gather in prayer, enjoyment and expectation,” he said.
Asked if the Pope’s one-hour visit might be more of a bun fight than a spiritual occasion, Fr Gibbons said that for this reason, Mass will immediately be celebrated after the Pope’s departure.