A dispute over access to a parish centre in Askea, Co. Carlow, has led to a prayer group moving its meetings to one of its members’ own homes. The Padre Pio Prayer Group, which was asked to leave the centre some weeks ago by Askea’s clergy, Fr Tom Little and Fr Liam Morgan, has decamped to a wooden cabin, which group member Angela Dillon has erected beside her house.
The group meets once a month to recite the rosary and to pray in adoration to St Pio.
It has been using the local Holy Family Parish Centre but after a recent review of the Centre’s use, this facility was withdrawn from the group.
In a letter from the Parish Centre, the prayer group was told, “the allocation of space in the parish centre has been under review for the coming year and unfortunately, due to the lack of space, we are no longer able to offer you a room.”
This led to a row between the group and the local clergy, with group member John Rice claiming the decision to end its slot was linked to some members centre because some members had organised solidarity marches for victims of clerical child sex abuse.
This was completely rejected by Askea’s parish priest, Fr Tom Little, who said the claim was "absolutely not true.”
The Padre Pio Prayer Group had been displaced from its slot in the "because we were restructuring the timetable,” he said.
“We do our best to run the centre and facilitate groups but we never give a guarantee to any group who use the hall that they can have it for life,"
Now, Ms Dillon has bought a 13.5m2 structure for her home at Riverview Close where the group will meet.
“After we were asked to leave the Askea Parish Centre, I held a prayer meeting in my home, but because so many people turned up to recite the Rosary that night, I decided to buy the cabin.”
She said she paid for the €1,200 cabin herself and has even painted it in the blue and cream colours associated with the Virgin Mary.
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