Via Shannonside Radio:

Gardai in Athlone have confirmed that no fixed charged penalty notices were issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations after they attended a church in Athlone on Sunday morning.

Officers spoke to a number of people who gathered at the church in the town for an early morning mass just after 10am.

Video footage of gardai speaking to people inside the church and outside has been shared online and Gardai have confirmed to Shannonside FM that officers engaged with those present and all persons complied with direction from Gardaí.

No fines issued after Gardai attend mass in Athlone (Shannonside)

Meanwhile…

Hmm.

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23 thoughts on “Go In Peace

    1. Spider

      Whoever was at that mass was self serving and far from Christian. Catholic Ireland is a Hypocracy and we are in the middle of a pandemic, those peoiple were putting others at risk for their own selfish reasons. Not really understanding the RUIC reference.

      1. Gavin

        There are 3 people in the church, if you can manage people in B&Q, why cant this be managed, though the bible has got this covered in some section about worshiping anywhere.

        1. Spider

          and here we are comparing Christianity to B&Q… and B&Q seem to be taking their social resposnsibilty more seriously than the Christians…

          1. newsjustin

            “The Christians”

            This is a very small congregation, in a small church, belonging to a group outside of the normal church structures (it is a SSPX church….no link with local diocese or Bishop of either the Catholic Church or any other).

            Meanwhile between 1-2 million Christians of all stripes are avoiding public church services for months, upon months.

            So stop generalising about “The Christians.”

  1. Walter Ego

    The Garda should’ve said “that would be an ecumenical matter” when questioned by the rat-licker. And then usher him out promptly.

      1. Walter Ego

        Not the old man, the guy with the phone aggressively questioning the guard. And no, i’m not far-right either (far from it). But I have a feeling that guy with the phone is.

    1. Paulo

      Rat licker seems to get used a lot on this site. What does it actually mean?

      When you start giving out about the Mosque you feel the argument is failing….

      Many, many things are out of action at the moment and mass is certainly not the most vital of them. It serves the few, creates no employment and cannot (rationally) be said to create any benefit other than people wanting to be there (which is obviously fair enough, in normal times). I don’t see why he can’t pray to the space ghost at home.

      And if churches are supposedly big enough to facilitate events with little risk, great. Open them up to the public. Mass on Saturday evening followed by a socially distanced club night….

      1. Micko

        Yeah the mosque thing is a bit embarrassing alright. But I do see his point to a certain extent. One rule for one group etc – but yes, it comes off a bit xenophobic.

        I do think that churches give people a sense of community – especially old people.

        The whole buzz for last year was “protect and care the older people” – just not if they’re in a church. ;)

        I think we could be a bit kinder to them – it seems very important to them

        1. Paulo

          Well the same rule should apply for all but unless this fella has been carrying out a 24 hour watch of the mosque, I suspect his assertion is something he fired out having heard someone else say it, who heard someone else say it….

          I suspect they could bring back the churches soon, them being big venues etc (and anyone who thinks they should be back now, or never should have been closed is entitled to feel this way) but the fact is that they are not allowed to open at the moment so you can’t be that surprised / annoyed etc if the guards clear them out. This guard didn’t make the laws that he has to enforce and it isn’t up to him to decide what to enforce. Imagine if he decided drink-driving was grand?

          Priest is setting a bad example here and is just whipping up conflict.

  2. Broadbag

    ”Do you know you’re in the house of god?”

    I’m frankly amazed that his ‘god’ didn’t smite the Garda where he stood, or you know stop the pandemic, or end world hunger, or cure cancer or…well this is awkward.

    1. scottser

      but sure isn’t outside in nature where the glory of god can be enjoyed the most? on a soft patch of warm grass with the shoes and socks off, a cold bev in your hand and the sunshine burning the back of your neck?

  3. K. Cavan

    You’d need to be spectacularly dim to percieve that church scene as presenting any meaningful risk of viral transmission, those people would need to employ semaphore to give each other the “sign of peace”. Nevertheless, some commentators here have presented their credentials for being labelled as idiotic scare-mongering dullards & about as Far Right as it gets, without Swastikas & Jackboots on. We’ve seen the importation of Woke from the less intelligent sections of American society make Totalitarian Absolutist Fundamentalism seem quite fashionable but here we see the Irish Fascist in full flight, dumb as a bucket of hair & exhibiting a stunningly moronic adherence to irrational rule-making. Anyone who thinks what they’ve seen here is anything other than excessive is basically a nascent nazi & an idiot, a woeful combination. We can’t expect these Covid Cult types to be reasonable but their utter stupidity is far too evident not to be called out. Get real, twats.

    1. Spider

      My view is more related to the hypocrisy… They don’t need to be there. They want to be there. It’s a completely selfish endeavour… They are not willing to sacrifice just a little to help their neighbours in this scenario…

    2. gringo

      I agree. And if the flysucker is looking for hypocrisy it will find it in the actions of the cops in the church, strutting around and spreading germs with their dirty little ungloved paws.

  4. Gabby

    God is everywhere besides church buildings. Shur maybe small groups of faithful have been furtively to mass rocks on distant hillsides during the recent sunny weather. One attendee could keep an eye out for the peelers and their modern drones.

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