Abbey House Of Prayer Group To Return To High Court For Access To Franciscan Friary Church Building

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The Abbey House of Prayer group in Clonmel is to return to the High Court tomorrow for a hearing in it’s case to retain public access to the Church Building connected to the Franciscan Friary. The Franciscan order says it is not possible to retain the building in use as a church and last week sought an Ex Parte order from the court ordering the Prayer Group to leave the premises. The group has been staging a sit-in protest since December 31st and had been responsible for opening and closing the church and organised a roster of priests to say two weekly masses since June 2023.
Local Public Representatives including TDs Michael Murphy and Mattie McGrath and the current Mayor of Clonmel Pat English have made unsuccessful efforts to mediate a resolution to date. The protest group have gathered over 2,500 signatures in person and online to date in support of their campaign to retain the church in public use. The Franciscans say they no longer have sufficient Monks to operate the church but have no future use for the building in mind as of now. Earlier today Deputy Mattie McGrath called on the Franscians to donate the building to the community.