I welcome the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Deputy de Valera, to the House. I am delighted she has seen fit to come herself.
I want to raise an issue which is important in its own right and in the general context of churches which are at risk, particularly in urban areas. I am asking the Minister to assist in the conservation of St. Alphonsus Chapel and Monastery, Drumcondra. The chapel and monastery were both built in the last century. The foundation stone was laid in 1873 and it was finalised in 1875 – they are celebrating 125 years this year.
The development plan of Dublin Corporation listed both the chapel and monastery as list one buildings. Both buildings, and the chapel in particular, have beautiful interiors and they are fine structures. The difficulty arises because planning permission was given for a substantial development by Shannon Homes (Dublin) Limited in the area and the religious order sold off the land for the development. The question which remains is what will be the future of the monastery and the chapel in particular? The local residents have been anxious to establish a trust which would include representation from the various interests, that is, the religious order, the developer and the local authority and obviously it would be desireable if the Department took an interest in it.
The following questions arise. How will the Minister provide funding towards its maintenance and who will be the user? In the past a number of churches, mainly of denominations other than Roman Catholic, have been taken over for office use. For example, the Black Church at Parnell Square has been nicely refurbished for office use but other churches have fallen into rack and ruin. For example, there are only two pillars and the architrave left of the old Greek church on Seán MacDermott Street and there are other churches at risk. The steeple of St. George's Church, Hardwicke Street, is only kept in place by the work which has been done to it and those protective works cannot be removed for fear the steeple will fall. The Loretto Convent in Rathfarnham is the subject of a similar development and recently Arran Quay church was closed.
I am really seeking the provision of a model device whereby we can ensure fine buildings of this nature are not either put to an inappropriate use or let fall to rack and ruin. Whereas we are coming late to this because a number of churches of Protestant denominations have already fallen into neglect of one form or another, the Roman Catholic churches in urban areas will be the next to experience this. This is happening because in some areas the population has changed or there are fewer people going to church. Indeed, there are now much fewer clergy for the large number of churches.
I would have thought that the Minister would look at this in the context of a millennium project and that she would use her good offices to assist in whatever way she can. The provision of financial assistance would be the obvious way she could help but, because it is specifically a heritage area, her Department could undertake to look at this in the short term and in the future come up with a model. One of the models suggested in this particular case is that a trust be established to represent the various interests, the various interests would provide funding and the building would be put to a suitable use. I would be interested to hear the Minister's views on how she might be of assistance to the community in Drumcondra.
