Alleged “religious discrimination” as Newry Cathedral battles against council building plans

A priest has accused a local authority of “religious discrimination” over parishioners being excluded from a meeting on a city centre re-development. The dispute concerns Newry Council and its push to build a civic space on the site of Newry Cathedral carpark, a move that has been slammed by Parish Administrator Canon Francis Brown as one that shows “complete disregard for Newry Cathedral Parish and the thousands of parishioners” attached to the cathedral.

The protest against the move, which has seen over 2,500 objections cast against the proposed plans, is escalating and Canon Brown feels that this is due to the council’s long history of sidelining the concerns of parishioners and not engaging with them about key decisions.

“A number of parishioners feel this is an act of discrimination against our community on the basis of religious beliefs and they intend to take legal advice on the matter,” he said.  “Sadly, this is just the latest incident in a long line of disrespectful behaviour by the council towards our historic cathedral and parish community.

“From failing to consult us initially about their plan to build offices directly behind the cathedral, to misrepresenting our views to councillors, to refusing to release details of their own review into the matter, this council has operated in bad faith.”

Canon Brown called for more action to be taken by community leaders, actions that fully highlight the unfairness that those associated with the parish have been forced to face over the last number of years.

“The people of Newry Cathedral Parish demand better from their elected leaders,” he said. “We urge the community to join us in demanding an end to this marginalisation of our historic parish. We cannot allow a culture of religious discrimination to take root in our city.”