Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very disappointed. Our 1916 Proclamation refers to religious and civil liberty. Where is this country going? This is a basic human right. I hope we will proved right as they were in Scotland. People of faith are being denied access to churches and to mass and services. It is about attending the sacraments. It is not just about people going into a church on their own and praying. We have to remember the churches handled everything very well. Every safety measure was put in place. There was no evidence of any clusters. Why ban public worship? It is very unfair and cruel. It needs to be urgently reviewed because it involves human rights. It is unnecessary to do such a thing and deny people access to mass and religious services, particularly at a time such as this during a pandemic. We know our churches are huge buildings that are well ventilated. Today in this very hall we have full attendance of Deputies. As was pointed out by my colleague, Deputy O'Donoghue, we have churches that are the size of this venue in terms of square metres but people of faith are being denied and cruelly treated.

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