Chai Brady
A Galway priest has defended his church’s broadcast of Mass through their outdoor speakers after two noise complaints were made to the council.
Fr Tadhg Quinn PP of St John the Apostle Church in Knocknacarra said they have been broadcasting the Mass outside the church and online since the last lockdown in March.
“We’re getting about 300 in the car park in their cars and everybody is social distancing, everything is done according to the law and everything else, we’re getting big crowds,” he explained.
“You supply a service to your community, you try to serve them as best you can and the sad thing about it is if you have people who don’t believe in God or don’t believe in anything, some people will object to it…”
A Galway City Council warden was sent to monitor the noise level of the Mass being broadcast through the speakers and found there wasn’t a noise pollution breach.
“I think a lot of people need to know that somebody cares. We come not as a community but as individuals, social distancing, some are sitting in their cars and they are as a support to each other in one sense or another they’re there,” Fr Quinn said.
“I think a lot of people out there are finding that difficult, they don’t see anybody from one end of the week to the other, they come here, they’ll see a neighbour, they’ll raise their hand, they come to listen to the word of God and be part of the community.”