A South Tipperary parish priest has vowed that a local church will become more accessible to the community. Speaking this week Fr Brendan Crowley from St Peter& Paul's Parish in Clonmel said that work will begin shortly on the 17th century parish church to make it more accessible to the community, particularly for people with disabilities.
According to Fr Crowley, some of the alterations will include the removal of the step at the front door that will make way for a level access doorway into the main body of the church.
Coupled with this, all doors in the church will be made more accessible to everyone and 100 individual seats will be located to the front of the church replacing the existing pews.
According to Fr Crowley, these freestanding seats can be moved when needed and will allow for greater freedom, mobility and access for people with disabilities.
The remainder of the church seating will be provided by the existing pews, which will accommodate 548 people. A kitchen will also be put into the church to cater for parish meetings.
The work is expected to take a year.
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