Dublin City Council spurns Church homes offer
THE Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has said a rejection of its proposal to allow rezoning of its lands for housing is ‘short-sighted’.
The Church had agreed to demolish nearly 30 churches to make way for social housing – something that Dublin City Council officials have rejected. The demolition would have included some of the capital’s largest churches, which were built in suburbs where church attendance has dropped off dramatically.
The Archdiocese said the recommendation by Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan ‘unnecessarily restricts the diocese’s efforts to assist in meeting the city’s housing needs’. In its submission to the DCC Development Plan for 2022-2028, it suggested that the locations of more than 30 churches across the city should be rezoned to allow residential use.
Archbishop Dermot Farrell said: ‘The Bishops’ Conference indicated their desire that redundant parish properties should, as in the past, whenever appropriate, be made available for housing and especially social housing. It seems ironic that this would appear to be made more difficult by the proposed zoning status of significant numbers of properties in Dublin.’
Mr Keegan has recommended that councillors refuse almost all of the proposals, which, in most cases, would require church demolition.
Many of the churches involved are among Dublin’s largest, built in the mid-20th century to serve growing populations in suburbs such as Cabra, Marino and Finglas, where congregations have since declined. Other sites included historic inner-city churches, where development is limited by protected structures.
Mr Keegan said most of the rezoning applications were ‘premature’ because the diocese had put forward no specific proposals for the future development of the land.