'Thank God no children outside' says priest after car driven down Glanmire church steps, injuring driver

A priest working out of St Joseph's Church in Glanmire has thanked God that no parishioners were injured during the course of an incident at the premises yesterday.

Shortly after 3.20pm on Thursday, a man in his 40s drove his vehicle through the church grounds before colliding with a stone wall.

The man drove his vehicle from one side of the church building to the other, driving down pedestrian steps, and through a metal guardrail before stopping.

The man was later taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and is understood to be in a stable condition.

The road outside the church remained closed for some time on Thursday but has since reopened.

Speaking to The Echo, Father Emmanuel Ihomon said while there has been damage caused to the premises: "I thank God that no parishioners were hurt."

"The rails were damaged, and the driver's car, but we won't know how much it will cost to fix until we have spoken to experts in those areas," said Fr Emmanuel.

"The church is not closed, but the area where it happened has been taped up so nobody can get in there.

"We didn't know the man, he wasn't a parishioner here.

"I thank God at the time it happened that there were no children outside, they were all inside the hall.

"Normally, there would be children there, so I thank God that no parishioners were hurt, and he too [the driver]."

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said no further information regarding the investigation is available.