Franciscans-Owned Friary Sit In/Sleep In Protest Has Ended Following High Court Attendance

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The sit in/sleep in protest at the Franciscans-owned friary in Clonmel has ended after representatives of protest group appeared before the High Court yesterday.   The Franciscan order had commented legal proceedings for trespass last week.

The Abbey House of Prayer chairman Patrick O’Gorman accepted that the occupation of the church since December 31st was illegal but said the action had been taken as a last resort because the church was so important to the people of Clonmel. Mr O’Gorman said they wanted to keep the church open and they had offered to cover the costs of doing so.

The Franciscan Order did not respond to requests for mediation on the future use of the church building and says it cannot continue as a Church due to a lack of religious vocations and needs to divest the property – the Order has offered to cover the costs of transferring the Shrine of St Anthony to the Clonmel Parish Church.The House of Prayer Group remain hopeful that some arrangement can be made to keep the Church in use perhaps involving the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, and  Tipperary County Council. The Group have an ongoing petition that has collected almost 3,000 signatures both in person and on the Change.org platform.