Courtney McGrailJohn Reid and Paul Keenan
Priests have been sharply critical of the decision to move the Dublin city marathon to a Sunday, meaning many parishioners were unable to attend Mass due to road closures in the capital.
Many parishes along the route reported that Mass attendance was down on Sunday morning. Race organisers moved the marathon from the traditional Bank Holiday in a bid to woo more tourists to the city.
Fr Philip Bradley of St Joseph’s, Terenure said that attendance in the parish was down by over two-thirds.
The Church of Our Lady of Dolours in Dolphin’s Barn said that attendance at the 11am Mass was “noticeably” down “by at least half”.
Similar picture
In Crumlin, it was a similar picture. Fr Paul Tyrell from the church of St Agnes said “We were 50% down. We were blocked by the route of the marathon, and that affected us. People couldn’t get in or out.”
Fr Sean Mundrow of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Chapelizod said: “It was lockdown here.” He said Mass attendance was down by about 40% on a normal week.
Not all churches along the route of the marathon were affected as greatly, however. Msgr Peter Briscoe of Milltown Parish church reported that Massgoers couldn’t drive to Mass in the morning, but many of the parishioners were in a position to walk instead.
Aughrim Street parish, which is near the start of the route, reported that there was no noticeable effect on attendance.
Race Director of the Dublin Marathon Committee, Jim Hockney, confirmed to The Irish Catholic that there had been no consultation with affected parishes. However, he said the decision to run the marathon on a Sunday had been communicated to the Dublin archdiocese and parishes.
Fr Bradley said he was disappointed by the lack of consultation. He said he received a letter on September 26 informing him that the organisers are “acceding to the demands of participants” in moving the race to Sunday.
Fr Bradley said that “there was no consultation at all”.
He said that parishioners have been coming to Mass, unimpeded, at St Joseph’s Church for over 100 years. “The British couldn’t stop people coming to Mass but the marathon organisers managed it,” Fr Bradley said.
Mr Hockney said that organisers plan to run the marathon on a Sunday from now on.