The chapel at Dublin’s Ilac Centre has been closed as a result of a management decision, Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese has said.
However, spokeswoman for the shopping centre denied this and advised the The Irish Times to "contact Marlborough Street", a reference to the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin city centre, about the matter. She said management at the Ilac would not be taking any more calls on the matter.
A spokeswoman at the Pro-Cathedral repeated that the chapel had been closed by decision of the Ilac Centre’s management.
A spokeswoman for the Dublin Archdiocese said “the decision to close the Chapel in the Ilac Centre was taken by the management company.
“Catholics who wish to have quiet time to pray in the city centre are invited to consider St Saviour’s Church on Dominic Street, just a few minutes’ walk from the Ilac Centre, also a short distance away is St Martin’s Oratory in Parnell Square,” she said. “Other places of worship in the locality include St Mary’s Pro- Cathedral on Marlborough Street and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel on Bachelors Walk.”
According to the Ilac Centre website: “Tucked away under the library on the ground floor of the shopping centre, this little chapel offers a place of solitude and peace.”
A woman named Ann rang RTÉ’s Liveline programme to express her unhappiness at the sudden closure of the chapel. She said there had been no announcement or notification of the closure after 50 years, and it saddened to see it had shut for good.
