Open-air church services are a public nuisance and should be banned, a Londonderry MLA has said.
SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin accused the Stormont Executive of ‘mismanagement’ after it allowed Faughan Reformed Presbyterian Church to host open-air services in the city’s Ebrington Square.
In a letter to the Executive Office – the Government department responsible for co-ordinating events at the riverside location – McLaughlin sought reassurances that “no further religious services will take place in our space”.
Complaints
McLaughlin said: “The people of Derry have repeatedly been told that Ebrington Square is an inclusive and shared space, yet the granting of permission for the use of our Square by religious preachers risks totally undermining that promise.”
She claimed that constituents “enjoying the local hospitality” had been in touch to raise “objections and frustration” over the distribution of flyers and amplified open-air preaching during the Sunday evening services in July.
The MLA and SDLP spokeswoman on Jobs, the Economy and Justice, demanded that the Square’s management be transferred to the local Council “so that we can assure the people of Derry that this Square will remain an inclusive and shared space”.
Genuinely inclusive
However, local DUP MLA Gary Middleton responded: “The services which have taken place over this last number of weeks have taken place in the past without incident, without complaint.”
He said that they should be allowed to continue as “an expression of people’s religious freedom” and that Ebrington Square should remain “open to all” as a “genuine shared and inclusive space”.
The MLA for Foyle added: “It is clear that the Reformed Presbyterian Church have applied like everybody else, they were approved like everybody else by the Executive Office, because they have a track record of doing things in a respectful way”.
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