The prayers of seven clamped motorists were answered by a priest following a Christmas carol ceremony.Fr Tom Mangan came to the rescue when a number of family cars were left immobilised near his parish church in Limerick.
Most of the clamped drivers were unaware of new parking restrictions outside St Joseph’s Church.
A number did not have cash with them to pay the clamping fees.
However, Fr Mangan, who led the carol singing, sorted matters out.
The administrator at St Joseph’s parish said: “I heard there was a problem. Parking is always a problem due to the location of the church near the city centre.
“The area is private and the clamping notice only went up recently and people would not have been aware of it. I went and talked to the people working with the clamping company. They were only doing their job.
“But it was late at night and the people in the cars did not have money and they had children with them.
“They had been taking part in the church ceremony and I did not want to see them put out so I got money and paid the people to release the clamps.”
One of the motorist said yesterday they were so relieved that Fr Tom had come to their rescue.
He said: “We could not get our cars out of there and none of us was carrying enough money to pay the clamp fee. I always parked there and did not realise there was a recent clamping order.
“It was a great Christmas present from Fr Tom and he dealt with the situation in a very seasonal goodwill manner.”