Chai Brady and Aron Hegarty
A third of people watching television in Ireland on Sunday at 11am were watching Mass according to RTÉ’s Head of Religious Programmes, with the number of viewers rising substantially.
Over 160,000 people tuned in to Mass celebrated by Fr Gabriel Kinahan on March 22 as the coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to hugely impact people’s lives.
Roger Childs of RTÉ told The Irish Catholic that “it’s about four times what our regular Sunday morning Mass would be”.
“People simply can’t practice their Faith in a way they would normally, therefore a lot of people want to connect in a virtual way, in this instance, with the Eucharist,” Mr Childs said.
He added: “I’m sorry for the Athlone choir who had to be stood down despite the fact they rehearsed for weeks to lead the music, but that’s responsibility for you.”
On St Patrick’s Day 142,400 people watched the Mass broadcast by RTÉ. Last year 60,000 people watched the broadcast.
Figures provided by Joe Brannigan, Managing Director of MCN Media, show there has been a 5-10% increase in the number of people watching Mass online compared to a week ago.
Approximately 19 million people, according to Mr Brannigan, tuned in to watch Mass being streamed live online over the past week.
Statistics
MCN Media statistics also revealed that between 11 and 12 million viewers watched Mass being broadcast on the web over the weekend.
Tony Bolger, the Director of Church Services TV which also assists churches in streaming Mass online for their congregations, said that they have received ten times more viewers on their lives streams over the past week and are “inundated” with calls from parishes enquiring about setting up webcams in their churches.