Cathal BarryDublin Archdiocese donates €500,000 towards the refurbishment costs of a derelict church
The Archdiocese of Dublin has made a substantial investment to ensure chaplaincy services in one of the country’s largest institutes of technology.
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) received a €500,000 contribution from the diocese towards the refurbishment costs of a derelict church on the institute’s new Grangegorman campus.
Donation
The donation now ensures the provision of Catholic chaplaincy services as part of a proposed multi-faith centre on the north Dublin site.
While the site of St Brendan’s Psychiatric Hospital, St Laurence’s Church was a Catholic place of worship, though owned by the State rather than the Church. Ownership of the building was recently transferred from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA) pending redevelopment and eventual handover to DIT.
Design brief
A spokeswoman for the archdiocese told The Irish Catholic “the design brief for this work underpins the necessary liturgical requirements” to maintain the integrity of the building as a Catholic place of worship.
“If the works do not go ahead as agreed or if, in the future, the Church is not used for Catholic worship, DIT has agreed to refund this money.
“The DIT Chaplaincy Service, with the assistance of a priest of the diocese, will be responsible for maintaining the church as a place of worship,” the spokeswoman said.
“The Chaplaincy Service will determine any other use of this sacred space,” she added.
Relationship
DIT Chaplaincy Service co-ordinator Fr Alan Hilliard, told The Irish Catholic the institute “has a very good working relationship with the diocese through the chaplaincy services it provides”.
“The hope is to continue this relationship into the relocation in Grangegorman,” he said.
According to Fr Hilliard, the contribution “shows the pastoral initiative of the archbishop in ensuring that the overall needs of the student body are catered for”.
“It is a mission of Church to look after people. Pastoral care services should look after people of various faiths and no faith,” he said.