{"id":387692,"date":"2026-04-08T07:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387692\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T07:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:18:20","slug":"brenda-power-how-the-virtue-signalling-wetwipes-in-dublin-city-council-must-have-high-fived-the-genius-who-spotted-this-latest-opportunity-to-take-another-potshot-at-the-catholic-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387692\/","title":{"rendered":"BRENDA POWER: How the virtue-signalling wetwipes in Dublin City Council must have high-fived the genius who spotted this latest opportunity to take another POTSHOT at the Catholic Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an act of petty, ignorant and jaundiced righteousness, Dublin City Council\u2019s high-handed command to an iconic city-centre church to remove its Mass times notice from its railings is hard to beat.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t you just imagine the triumphant glee of some pathetic little jobsworth when they (I bet it\u2019s a \u2018they\u2019) realised St Andrew\u2019s Church on Westland Row could be penalised under planning laws for displaying the notice of services on the protected railings in the same manner as it has done for almost 200 years?<\/p>\n

How the virtue-signalling wetwipes in the council must have high-fived the genius who spotted this latest opportunity to take another potshot at the Catholic Church and the country\u2019s Christian heritage.<\/p>\n

The coveted \u2018Employee of the Month\u2019 mug<\/a>, previously treasured by the bright spark who came up with the idea of the \u2018Winter Lights Festival\u2019 to avoid any mention of the word Christmas<\/a>, has surely landed on a new desk.<\/p>\n

In 1829, Daniel O\u2019Connell secured Catholic Emancipation, and the repeal of the Penal Laws, through the Catholic Relief Act. Three years later, the foundations of St Andrew\u2019s Church were laid in the very heart of the capital, to provide a place of worship for the citizens of the inner city.<\/p>\n

The Liberator himself donated the baptismal font, and a mortuary chapel was later added so the tenement-dwellers of the area no longer needed to wake their dead in their cramped homes.<\/p>\n

\"Fr <\/p>\n

Fr Alan Hilliard said that it was \u2018a bit of a shock\u2019 to receive the missive telling him the practice of fixing notices to the front railings, one dating back \u2018a long number of years\u2019, had to cease<\/p>\n

Since it opened in 1837, St Andrew\u2019s has placed a sign on its railings notifying passers-by, tourists and visitors as well as locals, of the times of its services \u2013 Masses, Confessions, Stations of the Cross. Over Christmas and Easter in particular, when extra services are celebrated, it is particularly important that up-to-date schedules are posted.<\/p>\n

And so it was at Easter time, the greatest celebration in the Christian calendar, that Dublin City Council chose to strike with its shabby little diktat.<\/p>\n

Alongside its traditional notice advising parishioners of Easter Mass times, last week the church was forced to display a sign stating: \u2018We have been informed by Dublin City Council that notices such as this, that have been in place since the mid-nineteenth century, are in breach of our planning laws and have to be removed.\u2019<\/p>\n

So a service to the local community, which was in place long before either Dublin City Council or planning laws were ever heard of, has to be discontinued by order of Dublin City Council and planning laws.<\/p>\n

As \u2018this leaves us with greatly reduced means to inform you\u2019 of service times over the Easter celebrations, including the fact that world-class soprano Celine Byrne was to perform during the liturgies, St Andrew\u2019s asked parishioners to \u2018assist us by sharing this information on social media\u2019. Because I\u2019m sure the older members of the church\u2019s congregation are never off TikTok these days.<\/p>\n

\"Since <\/p>\n

Since it opened in 1837, St Andrew\u2019s has placed a sign on its railings notifying passers-by, tourists and visitors as well as locals, of the times of its services<\/p>\n

As the church has been forced to consult lawyers, incurring expenses it could surely do without, and is hoping to find a way forward in consultation with the council, parish administrator Fr Alan Hilliard told the Mail, they couldn\u2019t really comment on the matter for the moment.<\/p>\n

But he did admit that it was \u2018a bit of a shock\u2019 to receive the missive telling him the practice of fixing notices to the front railings, one dating back \u2018a long number of years\u2019, had to cease.<\/p>\n

Local Independent councillor Mannix Flynn, never one to mince his words anyway, was less constrained in his response to this absurd bureaucratic overreach. This was a church with a \u2018dwindling flock\u2019, he said, \u2018trying to tell people that this church is open \u2013 they\u2019re not advertising half-price Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019.<\/p>\n

And he pointed out that the council\u2019s argument, that the railings are protected structures, doesn\u2019t hold water, as other protected structures in the area are permitted to hang notices on their equally venerable and ancient railings.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is where the city council gets a little bit ridiculous,\u2019 he said, surely a masterful understatement. \u2018If you go round to the National Gallery of Ireland or Collins Barracks, you\u2019ll see signs plastered all over the place and there\u2019s no issue in relation to it, because it\u2019s seen as cultural.\u2019<\/p>\n

So paintings, military artefacts and stuffed dead animals are so culturally important that planning laws can be waived to advertise them to the public, but a notice telling parishioners of Mass times in a 200-year-old church, in a country in which 70% of the population identified as Catholic in the 2022 census, has no historic or cultural significance? How exactly do the they\/thems of Dublin City Council reason that one out?<\/p>\n

Mocking, belittling and denigrating the Catholic Church in Ireland has long been a popular sport with this country\u2019s self-styled liberal elite, and it is difficult to see this spiteful measure as anything other than a bid by the council to burnish its woke credentials once again.<\/p>\n

Have a look back at the council\u2019s online publicity for its 2025 Christmas festivities, and see if you can find the C-word anywhere in all that carefully curated, quaveringly anxious and achingly neutered blather \u2013 I certainly could not.<\/p>\n

\"World-class <\/p>\n

World-class soprano Celine Byrne was to perform during the Easter liturgies<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to wonder who, exactly, the city council is hoping to impress, to pander to or to curry favour with, through disingenuous and craven measures like these.<\/p>\n

Is it just about showing off how \u2018progressive\u2019 they are up there in City Hall? Or are they fearful of offending religious minorities \u2013 other than the Jews, of course, since the council\u2019s efforts to rename Herzog Park continue apace \u2013 by acknowledging that this is a Christian country?<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Minister for Justice, Jim O\u2019Callaghan, made headlines when he declared that immigrants to this country should respect our \u2018social and cultural\u2019 values.<\/p>\n

Calculated insults to the country\u2019s Catholic population, such as this, suggest that respect for our history and heritage, our social fabric and our unique culture, should first begin at home.<\/p>\n

Space has a new heavenly body…\u00a0<\/p>\n

How long do you suppose \u2018Buff Lightyear\u2019 astronaut Victor Glover will stay with NASA, after he returns from his Moon mission, now that Hollywood is bound to come calling? The 49-year-old, the first black man to go to the Moon, was caught on the live feed from the Artemis II mission as he washed after a workout, and it must be said that Victor is in rather good shape.<\/p>\n

\"Mission <\/p>\n

Mission Control cut the images after they realised he\u2019d been caught in a state of undress<\/p>\n

Mission Control cut the images after they realised he\u2019d been caught in a state of undress, but replays have gone viral and viewers have been urging the married dad of four to be sure to keep up his exercise regime. Look, someone\u2019s got to play him in the movie version of the first moon mission in more than half a century, anyway, and it\u2019d be a giant leap for some actor who\u2019s never been outside of a film studio, but a small step for Victor himself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Triggered by Storm Dave<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure that naming a storm \u2018Dave\u2019 is the best way to instil awe and dread in the population, so as to make us respect its wrath. Dave is your mate, Dave is the guy who comes to fix your leaky washing machine, and Dave, for those who remember the classic Only Fools and Horses, was what Trigger always called Rodney, prompting some on social media to suggest that Rodders might have been a better name for the weather event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Dave, <\/p>\n

Dave, for those who recall the classic Only Fools and Horses, was what Trigger always called Rodney, prompting some to suggest that Rodders might have been a better name for the storm.<\/p>\n

As it happened, Dave caused havoc in Dublin Airport, disrupted ferry travel over the Bank Holiday weekend and left 3,000 households in the West without electricity on Easter Saturday. Definitely not your mate, was Dave.<\/p>\n

Passport Office saves the day\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with the world in a state of chassis, that advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs to check your passport expiry dates is still worthwhile. Its \u2018Don\u2019t be that person\u2019 campaign features a groom who misses his stag do \u2013 I can go one better and cite a groom I know (no names, no pack drill) who arrived at the airport to go on honeymoon only to discover his passport was out of date. Happily, the Passport Office expedited his renewal, and indeed it must be one of the most efficient of all state agencies, a far cry from the days when renewing your passport meant queues and delays. I suspect the memory of that hassle puts a lot of folk off the process, but I can confirm that it\u2019s now a 10-minute job online, and you\u2019ll have your new document within 24 hours. Credit where it\u2019s due.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As an act of petty, ignorant and jaundiced righteousness, Dublin City Council\u2019s high-handed command to an iconic city-centre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[539,49998,93,61,60,149742],"class_list":{"0":"post-387692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-debate","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-m-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}