A member of a prayer group holding a sit-in at the friary church in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, has told the High Court the group is doing so out of frustration over the closure of the venue by the Franciscan order.
Last week, the SF Trust CLG, the legal owner of the property on behalf of the Franciscans, was given permission by the court to serve proceedings on the Abbey House of Prayer group which is in occupation of the church.
The group had taken over the church on December 31st last, following what was supposed to be a final Mass before the keys were handed back to the Franciscans, who had allowed the group to use the building on a temporary basis under a May 2023 agreement.
The SF Trust, however, said the group’s chairman, Patrick O’Gorman, addressed those at the Mass and said they would not be handing back the keys and there was going to be a sit-in.
When the case came back before the court on Tuesday, Mr O’Gorman told Mr Justice Brian Cregan the group wanted to submit an affidavit in response to the court proceedings.
The judge said he had not heard of a sit-in of a church before by men and women of faith. He asked Mr O’Gorman if they were living in the church and was told they were there 24/7 but they did not sleep there.
Mr O’Gorman said they were doing so “out of frustration and exasperation and our supporters decided they were not going to move out”. They had suggested mediation as they were willing and able to talk, but there had been no reply, he said.
Matthew Jolley, for the SF Trust, said there were meetings in October with the group and it was not correct to say there had not been any engagement. While his client understood their frustration, the order was not prepared to mediate grievances as long as the sit-in continues.
This is “an issue of frustration, not an assertion of a legal entitlement”, he said. The locks had been changed on doors and this impacted the ability to access both fire safety and an adjoining building where foreign nationals, including women and children, are being accommodated, he said.
The judge said he would adjourn the matter to Thursday to allow an affidavit to be filed on behalf of Mr O’Gorman, who along with the group’s secretary, Joseph McCormack, is a defendant in the case.
He would either hear the matter on Thursday or adjourn it but he said he would not allow it to “drag out”.
He was also told there were concerns about insurance on the building given the locking of the doors and security issue for the adjoining friary building.
The SF Trust has said it decided to close the 13th-century church due to the diminishing numbers and age of its membership as well as the “unrealistic” cost of ongoing opening and maintenance of the building. Since January 2023, when the decision was taken to close, some €160,000 was spent on upkeep, the trust said.
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