Irish Times - 29 August 2013
Mosque complex in Clongriffin north Dublin will cover more than 5,500 square metres
Plans for Ireland’s largest mosque at Clongriffin
in north Dublin have been given the green light by An Bord Pleanála.
The three-story
mosque will be located on a six acre site in North Dublin on land owned by
developer Gerry Gannon.
The €40 million
development will include two minarets, a cultural centre, prayer hall, offices,
crèche, bookshop, library, mortuary, a six-hundred seat conference centre,
restaurant, primary school, secondary school, a two-story fitness centre with an
indoor swimming pool, gym, sauna and steam room and blocks of apartments.
The complex will cater for up to 3,000 people during festivals and up to
550 for Friday prayers. The whole complex is 5,573sqm in size.
An Bord Pleanala
granted permission subject to a number of revised conditions including that
there should be no call to prayer broadcast from the minarets as is the
tradition with mosques.
It also ruled
that there should be an archaeological assessment of the site prior to
development starting and it called for a proposed brick wall around part of the
site boundary to be replaced with a railing. It also wants nine fewer car
parking spaces.
Dublin City Council granted planning permission for the mosque at Clongriffin in North
Dublin last March.
Local Labour TD
Tommy Broughan
lodged an appeal against the decision with An Bord Pleanala.
Mr Broughan’s
objections related to the size of the development and possible traffic
concerns.
He said the size
of the development does not comply with the objectives of the county development
plan or the local area plan.
Clongriffin
mosque will be the third purpose-built mosque in Ireland. The
other two are in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo and at the
Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh in Dublin.
There is also a purpose built Shia Islamic
Centre at Milltown in Dublin. There are over 50,000 Muslims living in Ireland.
Many worship in makeshift mosques in residential houses or in warehouses in
industrial estates.
The Dublin Welfare Society, who are developing the project, are made up of a group of Muslims from
different backgrounds and nationalities living in Ireland.
The Society is
currently involved in managing makeshift mosques in Swords and Clondalkin. Both
of these mosques are located in industrial estates.
Abdul Haseeb,
project co-ordinator for the Clongriffin Mosque Project has said they were
delighted with An Bord Pleanala’s decision. “At the same time”, he added “we are
very humbled because of the scale of the project. It is so big and there is so
much to do.
“It gives a sense
of positivity for the Muslim community in Ireland especially when there’s so
much negativity going on, particularly in the Middle East, and there’s so much
tension everywhere. It gives us a sense of belonging
too.”
Mr Haseeb said
the next step in the development will be to build a community around it which
would include non-Muslims.
He added: “We
will try and make room for everyone. We are aware that there will be challenges
ahead but because we got planning it gives us a good reason now to invite the
local community leaders and members to come and sit down and talk to us. So far
we’ve mainly introduced the project to the Muslim community but now we will
start inviting and sitting down with the local
community.”
Clongriffin is a
newly developed area in North Dublin just north of Donaghmede. Much of the land
in the locality, including the site for the mosque, is owned by developer Gerry
Gannon. The site of the mosque is currently derelict.
Development in
Clongriffin came to a halt with the collapse of the property market and some
roads in the area were left unfinished.
Its centre square
is surrounded by modern retail units but many of the units have remained vacant
since construction was completed.
Local Labour TD
Sean Kenny welcomed the An Bord Pleanala decision.
“The mosque would
be welcomed generally by people in the area,” Mr Kenny said. “It would generate
employment and lead to the completion of Clongriffin estate and some of the
roads as well as completion of access to the dart station. It could also lead to
greater occupancy of the vacant units.”
Comment:
This Irish Times
article should convince those very naïve Americans of Irish heritage who believe
that the Ireland depicted in “The Quiet Man” simply does not exist today. The
stark reality is that over 50,000 practicing Muslims are currently living in our
beloved ancestral homeland. Statistics show that at least 70 percent of native
born Irish Catholics no longer practice the faith that they were brought up in.
The cold hard facts are that if current emigration trends continue, in a few
short years it is estimated that multicultural immigrants will outnumber native
born Irish nationals. I hope that I never see it, but statistics predict that it
is inevitable. God Save Ireland!!!
Jack Meehan,
National President Emeritus
Ancient Order of
Hibernians in America
Knights of
Columbus – 4th
Degree
Proud Citizen of
the United States of America and Ireland
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