Prayer group agrees to end sit-in at Tipperary church

High Court reporters

A prayer group’s representative has promised a High Court judge it will end its “illegal” sit-in at a Tipperary church by midnight.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan sought the voluntary undertakings from Patrick O’Gorman, chairman of the Abbey House Prayer Group, which has been occupying the Friary Church in Clonmel for the last 23 days in protest over the Franciscan Order’s decision to close the venue.

The prayer group took over the church last New Year’s Eve following what was supposed to be the final mass before they returned the keys to the Franciscans. The members had been allowed to use the building on a temporary basis under a May 2023 agreement.

The SF Trust has said it decided to close the 13th century church due to the Order’s diminishing numbers, the age of its members, and the “unrealistic” cost of ongoing opening and maintenance of the building.

Mr Justice Cregan had been asked by SF Trust CLG, which owns the property on behalf of the Franciscans, to grant an injunction on Thursday forcing the prayer group to vacate the building.

Barrister Matthew Jolley, for the trust, said the occupants have never suggested they have a legal entitlement to remain on the premises.

The judge asked Mr O’Gorman if he would be willing instead to offer a voluntary undertaking that the group would vacate. Mr O’Gorman initially declined, as he said he did not think the members would do this.

However, after some back and forth with the judge, he agreed they will leave by midnight and return to collect their belongings over the weekend. Mr Justice Cregan said the red weather storm alert, active in Co Tipperary from 6am to 11am on Friday, provides “all the more reason” to cease the occupation immediately.

Earlier, Mr O’Gorman said the group accepts they have been conducting an “illegal sit-in” as a protest to the Franciscans’ decision to close the venue. They want to mediate the issues with the Franciscans, he said.

Mr O’Gorman said the occupants are “not religious zealots” but mostly “retired, elderly people who have been coming to the church for generations”.

He said the people of Clonmel are “very upset” and the group has a six-figure sum in the bank that will enable it to run the church. He said the members began their around-the-clock protest as a “last resort” and wants to be reasonable.

Mr Justice Cregan said the prayer group was “not being reasonable” when refusing to leave. The judge said he could not understand why the group pushed the situation so far, as the Franciscan Order will have incurred legal costs pursuing a High Court application.

Later, after accepting Mr O’Gorman’s undertaking that the occupants will leave the church, the judge said he understands the church closure is a “devastating loss” to the prayer group.

He adjourned the case for an update in one week.