Consultation commences on future use of Newtownabbey church

The multi-purpose building was constructed in the Christine Road area in 1982 and originally it catered for around 200 parishoners at each Mass.

The hall hosted a youth club, parish discos, social events, a bowling club, a playgroup, the Girl Guides and the senior citizens’ Christmas dinner.

Last month the Parish of St Mary’s on the Hill in Glengormley commenced a consultation process. According to the consultation document, the future of the Newtownabbey church is now in doubt due to the diminishing availability of priests in the diocese, the reduction in the number of Sunday Masses in the parish and that the attendance at Masses in the parish can be accommodated in St Bernard’s and St Mary’s on the Hill.

Over the summer the parish was contacted, through Diocesan Property Advisors, by a developer who is interested in acquiring St MacNissi’s site for a residential development.

In a statement issued to this newspaper today (Monday), a spokesperson for the Diocese of Down and Connor said: “On September 27, the Parish of St Mary’s on the Hill, Glengormley, initiated a process of consultation with parishioners over the future of St MacNissi’s Church and Hall.

“Following a full condition report and an appraisal of the pastoral needs of the parish, the parish has decided to put out to consultation a number of options in respect of the future of the church and hall.

“Details of the consultation and the various options are outlined within a consultation document which is accessible on the parish website.

“This parish consultation will end on October 20 at noon and parishioners can provide feedback either using the response sheet available on the parish website or directly through written submissions to the parish office.

“The parish would encourage as many parishioners as possible to take part in the consultation process.”

The document outlines four options for the future of the site: Do nothing, consider the cost of repairing and refurbishing the building (an initial minimum estimate for repairs has been put at £25-30K), permanently close the building or other suggestions.

The consultation document states: “In December 2017 an electrician working at St MacNissi’s reported that the emergency lighting in the building was not working and the outside lampposts were not up to current requirements.

“There was no choice but to immediately cease all evening use of the church and hall. The Girl Guides, who met in the evenings, eventually relocated to the pastoral centre and Edmund Rice College and the Vigil Mass in St MacNissi’s ceased.

“Some of the parishioners attended the Vigil Mass in St Bernard’s and some attend the Sunday morning Mass in St Macissi’s. The congregation in St MacNissi’s was now about 60-70 parishioners.

“Remedial electrical work was completed on the building, but it would have been very expensive to replace the outside lighting and return the building to its former use considering other parish accommodation was available.

“In August 2020 the playgroup informed the parish that sadly after many years it would not be able to reopen in the future. There are various reasons for this, including the unpredictability of life with the coronavirus.

“The playgroup was a privately funded non-profit enterprise which received no state funding.

“Over the summer 2020 the parish was contacted, through Diocesan Property Advisors, by a developer who is interested in acquiring St MacNissi’s site for a residential development. He owns a site between the Manse Road and St MacNissi’s and can therefore provide access to the site from the Manse Road. This would leave the church entrance/school exit in parish hands.

“If the church and hall were to be closed and eventually sold, this would allow the parish to optimise the value of the site and protect the school exit. It should be noted that any decision to dispose of/sell the site is a separate consultation process that can only take place after this consultation is completed – a requirement of Church law.”

The document continued: “The future of St MacNissi’s will ultimately be the decision of the Bishop with the advice of the Council of Priests and the Diocesan Trustees, but the parish must request this from him.

“This option (permanently close the building) would allow the parish to enter negotiations to possibly sell the site for a residential development which would allow the parish to repay its debts to the Diocese (£200K) and give the parish some financial security for the future.

“The parish is presently facing financial insecurity brought about by the coronavirus with a downturn of £30K in parish income for the second quarter alone. This opportunity may not come around again.”

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