What happened to Castlebar church spire

yew county

I just wondering what happened to the proposed plans to build a new spire on the church in Castlebar . Its an absolute shame nothing has started . It would make Castlebar much nicer and be a lovely Mayo landmark, For all of us at home and away to be proud of .
As far as I know planning permisson was finally approved . If it was given the go ahead now it would cost considerablely less than the original cost estimates and create employment .
I think everyone in Mayo would love to see it go ahead.

A couple of years ago the parish raised e600000, surely the rest could be found . Couldnt see it costing more the 1.2million , the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

Whoevers in charge of the church should appoint a decent local engineer who has the interests of the area in mind . Do a detailed cost estimates bill , raise / find the required funds , send it out to tender , and get the project underway . a bit of community spirit, decency and common sense job done in 3 years . Mayos a better place

bensweeney

yew county wrote: »

I just wondering what happened to the proposed plans to build a new spire on the church in Castlebar . Its an absolute shame nothing has started . It would make Castlebar much nicer and be a lovely Mayo landmark, For all of us at home and away to be proud of .
As far as I know planning permisson was finally approved . If it was given the go ahead now it would cost considerablely less than the original cost estimates and create employment .
I think everyone in Mayo would love to see it go ahead.

A couple of years ago the parish raised e600000, surely the rest could be found . Couldnt see it costing more the 1.2million , the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

Whoevers in charge of the church should appoint a decent local engineer who has the interests of the area in mind . Do a detailed cost estimates bill , raise / find the required funds , send it out to tender , and get the project underway . a bit of community spirit, decency and common sense job done in 3 years . Mayos a better place

Maybe they should use that 600,000 thousand raised to help pay the victims of the Catholics church child sex abuse.

Just an idea rather then using it for a vanity project.

nuac

The money should be used to build something more useful

Mayo Miss

yew county wrote: »

Couldnt see it costing more the 1.2million Mayos a better place

Welcome to Boards.ie


A church spire that doesn't actually do anything costs how much????? :eek:

I didn't even know whether it had a spire or not but can't really see how it would make Mayo a better place.

artyeva

a spire on a church is hardly going to make the town a ''nicer place''

also

you mention the money could be sought from the council... what?????

do you really think tax that's collected from the public should be put into funding the facelift of a religious building??? ridiculous.

nuac

Yew c ounty

Sorry to disillusion you but I think there is little enthusiasm even within Castlebar for this project, and even less outside Castlebar

There are far more impressive Churcch builsings around the county - Castlebar is only one town in Mayo.

there are many old Chuch of Ireland buildings around the county which are no longer used. Some have been restored for other purposes, some mouldering away.

Catholic church attendance is diminishing - not a time for investment by catholics in new church buildings.

As already stated a Council would have problems in supporting such a project.

yew county

So people disagree a large bell tower wouldnt improve the look of Castlebar ?
The structure would be seen for miles on all the approach roads to the County town .
My whole point is for a town with the history and size of Castlebar it dosent have many landmarks to be proud of . Compared to the nearest town Westport they have the postcard sites like the mall area , Holy Trinity ,the octagon, the clock tower , all instantly recognisable with Westport . What has Castlebar ?

Mickeroo

yew county wrote: »

So people disagree a large bell tower wouldnt improve the look of Castlebar ?
The structure would be seen for miles on all the approach roads to the County town .
My whole point is for a town with the history and size of Castlebar it dosent have many landmarks to be proud of . Compared to the nearest town Westport they have the postcard sites like the mall area , Holy Trinity ,the octagon, the clock tower , all instantly recognisable with Westport . What has Castlebar ?

Who cares? Westport is a big tourist town and Castlebar isn't and probably never will be. Would be much better off investing the money in something practical that would actually benefit the area and those that live there rather than blowing money on something to stick on a postcard.

artyeva

yew county wrote: »

So people disagree a large bell tower wouldnt improve the look of Castlebar ?
The structure would be seen for miles on all the approach roads to the County town .
My whole point is for a town with the history and size of Castlebar it dosent have many landmarks to be proud of . Compared to the nearest town Westport they have the postcard sites like the mall area , Holy Trinity ,the octagon, the clock tower , all instantly recognisable with Westport . What has Castlebar ?

yes, i think they do.

what about lough lannagh? personally i'd rather be able to walk round a nice amenity and admire our taxes being spent on something that's accesible to all than stand on the street and look up at a folly built to a god i don't believe in. and i doubt i'm alone in that, even if people may not want to come out and say it outright.

nuac

While I believe in God and am a luke warm catholic, I don't think the bell tower snould be built.

the old Church of Ireland building is quite nice and would do for the post card

bensweeney

artyeva wrote: »

yes, i think they do.

what about lough lannagh? personally i'd rather be able to walk round a nice amenity and admire our taxes being spent on something that's accesible to all than stand on the street and look up at a folly built to a god i don't believe in. and i doubt i'm alone in that, even if people may not want to come out and say it outright.

Lough Lannagh is beautiful. Especially on a fine day! great walk around there now. Great now ith bridge

When the new greenway is built from Castlebar to Westport via Islandeady it will be even better. Thats where that money should be spent not on a vanity exercise for the catholic church.

Yew county I gather you may be an emmigrant? well time have changed in Ireland. Religion and the Catholic church are seen as an embarrassment in some quarters, indifference in others. The tax payer is already paying for the crimes of the Catholic church via compensation for victims of Child sex abuse.

bensweeney

here is your Castlebar postcard!

yew county

Ok doesn’t seem to be a lot of support here for completing the beautiful church in the county town .

But there seems to be confusion on this thread over the funding . As far as I’m aware at no time were the local councils going to fund the project . I think the norm with these type of projects is the local parishioners would raise the funds .
So tax payers money wouldnt be used .

bensweeney

yew county wrote: »

Ok doesn’t seem to be a lot of support here for completing the beautiful church in the county town .

But there seems to be confusion on this thread over the funding . As far as I’m aware at no time were the local councils going to fund the project . I think the norm with these type of projects is the local parishioners would raise the funds .
So tax payers money wouldnt be used .

But you specifically mentioned the council funding it!

yew county

the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

I merely suggested the council could part fund the project if neccessary.In my opinion it would be a more worthwhile project unlike buying and refurbishing a derelict hotel at potential cost of 1million . apparently for offices for an already overstaffed council.
when in all likelyhood castlebar Town council and Mayo co co will be soon amalgamated. resulting in further staff reductions .

My original point was the bell tower should cost less to build now and why hasnt it gone ahead . I honestly thought the majority of local people would support the project .

bensweeney

yew county wrote: »

the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

I merely suggested the council could part fund the project if neccessary.In my opinion it would be a more worthwhile project unlike buying and refurbishing a derelict hotel at potential cost of 1million . apparently for offices for an already overstaffed council.
when in all likelyhood castlebar Town council and Mayo co co will be soon amalgamated. resulting in further staff reductions .

My original point was the bell tower should cost less to build now and why hasnt it gone ahead . I honestly thought the majority of local people would support the project .

Your beloved Catholic church should be putting all its funds to pay compensation for victims of child sex abuse.

artyeva

yew county wrote: »

In my opinion it would be a more worthwhile project

you're comparing the spending of council money on offices to the tower of a church... and coming down on the side of the fact that the tower on a church would be a better investment of public money? seriously?? :pac::pac::pac:

regardless of what you may think it might be a more worthwhile project than, you need to see the point of view that it's the roof of a building that belongs to an organised religion. as such, to a lot of people in these tough economic times, the roof of a religious building might be a lot further down the list of priorities than say... well tbh i can't think of anything less important really.

yew county wrote: »

My original point was the bell tower should cost less to build now and why hasnt it gone ahead .

then with all due respect to you op, maybe you should ring the parish priest and find out?

yew county wrote: »

I honestly thought the majority of local people would support the project .

hindsight is 20/20

yop

bensweeney wrote: »

Your beloved Catholic church should be putting all its funds to pay compensation for victims of child sex abuse.

bensweeney -You made this point earlier, while I accept your point its been made and doesn't offer anything else to this discussion.
Please don't continue with making posts like this.

Vandy West

yew county wrote: »

I just wondering what happened to the proposed plans to build a new spire on the church in Castlebar . Its an absolute shame nothing has started . It would make Castlebar much nicer and be a lovely Mayo landmark, For all of us at home and away to be proud of .
As far as I know planning permisson was finally approved . If it was given the go ahead now it would cost considerablely less than the original cost estimates and create employment .
I think everyone in Mayo would love to see it go ahead.

A couple of years ago the parish raised e600000, surely the rest could be found . Couldnt see it costing more the 1.2million , the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

Whoevers in charge of the church should appoint a decent local engineer who has the interests of the area in mind . Do a detailed cost estimates bill , raise / find the required funds , send it out to tender , and get the project underway . a bit of community spirit, decency and common sense job done in 3 years . Mayos a better place

1.2 million sounds like crazy money for a spire. Was the money raised for a complete renovation of the church? Have only been to cbar church once but would say it would need some work besides the spire.

If 600k was already raised, where has it gone? The spire wouldn't be a bad project in better times, but even if it cost 50-100k, the church needs it for other things in my opinion.

No way any taxpayer money will or should be used for any projects involving any church.

Irishgoatman

yew county wrote: »

the balance could be found somewhere , the councils, the diaspora etc

I merely suggested the council could part fund the project if neccessary.In my opinion it would be a more worthwhile project unlike buying and refurbishing a derelict hotel at potential cost of 1million . apparently for offices for an already overstaffed council.
when in all likelyhood castlebar Town council and Mayo co co will be soon amalgamated. resulting in further staff reductions .

My original point was the bell tower should cost less to build now and why hasnt it gone ahead . I honestly thought the majority of local people would support the project .

I'm not a believer but I do like walking round/seeing old buildings/churches. You can't help but admire the craftsmanship that went into building them.
But I agree with the majority of people here that if the parishioners want to build this with their own money that's up to them.

Not with public money.

Graciefacey

While I believe that the money could be put to better use elsewhere, ballyhaunis parish church undertook a spire project for the church as its millennium project. When the church was being built in the 19th century, money ran out and so it was never finished. The addition of the spire drew the whole community together and is a source of great pride that we were able to complete the work that our ancestors started. Then again this was in 99/00 when there was more disposable cash about. I understand the ops sentiment but the reality us the money could not be seen as justified for this use at the moment

bensweeney

yop wrote: »

bensweeney -You made this point earlier, while I accept your point its been made and doesn't offer anything else to this discussion.
Please don't continue with making posts like this.

I am sorry but the arrogance to get public money to pay for a Catholic church vanity project at a time when the Mayo Co Co are laying off staff made me really mad.

yop

bensweeney wrote: »

I am sorry but the arrogance to get public money to pay for a Catholic church vanity project at a time when the Mayo Co Co are laying off staff made me really mad.

Its sound. I understand exactly what you are saying.

yew county

bensweeney wrote: »

I am sorry but the arrogance to get public money to pay for a Catholic church vanity project at a time when the Mayo Co Co are laying off staff made me really mad.

I wasnt clear in my original posting the points I ment were

• The spire would cost alot less to construct today
• The spire would improve the look of Castlebar and be landmark attraction
• The council could support not entirely fund the project if neccessary

Ya Mayo Co Co are laying of staff ,and rightly so theres an awful lot less work for them in these times . but yet why are they spending 1million on a hotel for council staff offices ??
and I now hear there spending about the same for the barracks . In my opinion if they can spend 2million on senseless projects like that . Surely the could support the church spire a permanent structure in the county town. Not entirely fund the spire .

"Mayo County Council's mission is to improve the quality of life for people living in Mayo and enhance the attractiveness of the County as a place to live in, work, enjoy and invest."

bensweeney

yew county wrote: »

I wasnt clear in my original posting the points I ment were

• The spire would cost alot less to construct today
• The spire would improve the look of Castlebar and be landmark attraction
• The council could support not entirely fund the project if neccessary

Ya Mayo Co Co are laying of staff ,and rightly so theres an awful lot less work for them in these times . but yet why are they spending 1million on a hotel for council staff offices ??
and I now hear there spending about the same for the barracks . In my opinion if they can spend 2million on senseless projects like that . Surely the could support the church spire a permanent structure in the county town. Not entirely fund the spire .

"Mayo County Council's mission is to improve the quality of life for people living in Mayo and enhance the attractiveness of the County as a place to live in, work, enjoy and invest."

They bought the imperial hotel in Castlebar, it was going into ruin and is of significant historical importance.Its only right it was put into public ownership. The Catholic church as a private institution should fund there own activities.

PogMoThoin

yew county wrote: »

I wasnt clear in my original posting the points I ment were

• The spire would cost alot less to construct today
• The spire would improve the look of Castlebar and be landmark attraction
• The council could support not entirely fund the project if neccessary

Ya Mayo Co Co are laying of staff ,and rightly so theres an awful lot less work for them in these times . but yet why are they spending 1million on a hotel for council staff offices ??
and I now hear there spending about the same for the barracks . In my opinion if they can spend 2million on senseless projects like that . Surely the could support the church spire a permanent structure in the county town. Not entirely fund the spire .

Public funds to the church is completely senseless in my eyes. It's not something that's required for preservation of the building or of historical importance. Let the church build it themselves if they feel they want it, the vatican have enough land and money.