Two hundred parishioners in Dromiskin, County Louth, have met in emergency session to discuss the future of St Peter's Church after it was damaged by fire in a suspected arson incident. Parish priest Fr Patrick McEnroe said the turnout had been the biggest for any public meeting held in his ten years in the parish.
"People were genuinely very annoyed at what has been done to their church,” he remarked.
“There have been a number of arson attacks in the parish in the past year and people are worried that they are being left on their own,” he added.
St Peter’s has now been closed for all services until further notice and Masses and other services have been transferred to St Michael's Church in the neighbouring village of Darver.
The 83-year old church was the fourth public building in Dromiskin to suffer attack from arsonists in the last year.
Fires were lit in the two sacristies, causing extensive damage to both, and the main body of the church suffered considerable smoke damage.
“Two fires were lit in one sacristy where the priests’ vestments and altar linens were set on fire, while the servers’ garments were burned in the other sacristy. Fr McEnroe explained.
The fires burnt themselves out but vestments, altar linen, sacred vessels and books were damaged or destroyed.
Fr McEnroe said the community feared an arsonist or arsonists were at work in Dromiskin as a credit union office, school, and home for the elderly were all damaged by fire in the space of twelve months.
The fire was discovered by sacristan Rose Kinahan when she opened the church.
“She was very, very shaken when she phoned me and a lot of people are genuinely very upset and were in tears when they heard the news,” Fr McEnroe said.
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(Source: CIN)