MEMBERS of the Irish community in the Fallowfield area of Manchester are seeking a meeting with Bishop of Salford John Arnold regarding the fate of St Kentigern’s Parish Centre, previously known as St Kentigern’s Irish Social Club.
The club celebrated its 50th anniversary last year but on June 20 last, outgoing manager Kevin Fitzpatrick informed regular customers that he would be stepping down.
Lisa McMahon has recently been appointed manager.
A hub for the Irish in south Manchester, the centre has regularly hosted leading Irish bands such as the Wolfe Tones, and has been used for Irish dancing classes, cards, bingo, as well as parties for weddings, christenings and funerals.
The Vault section has been a popular watering hole, where older patrons, in particular, felt safer than in pubs dominated by young people, but it has now closed.
Bishop John Arnold (Wikipedia)On July 8 last a notice was circulated by Mr Ricky Davies, Operations Director of the diocese, stating that the bar was closed for refurbishment and review but that other activities were not affected.
The centre was built on a voluntary basis by Irish labourers, and has won 15 national awards and raised about two million for various charities.
A Facebook page has been opened in a campaign to retain the Vault, and local MP Afzal Khan has been asked to help arrange a meeting with Bishop Arnold on the issue.
From 2002 until this year, the club was managed by Mr Fitzpatrick.
Mario Conway, a regular customer who grew up in the area and was an altar boy in St Kent’s Church, told The Irish Post that on June 20 he was told by Mr Fitzpatrick that it was the last night of the club.
The building is owned by the Diocese of Salford and Mr Conway says that the building is now designated as a parish centre. He told The Irish Post he wonders what this means and to what extent there will still be a link to the Irish community in the area.
On July 19, Mr Conway emailed Mr Davies to express his concerns. In reply, the latter said that there are no plans to discontinue dart sessions on Mondays, cards on Tuesdays, bingo on Wednesdays or set dancing on Thursdays.
He added that Irish Community Care Manchester would continue to be held on Mondays during the day and that Irish language classes will continue on Tuesday evenings.
However, the Vault will not reopen ‘for the foreseeable future’.
Mr Conway has told Mr Davies that local people ‘will not give up without a fight’ and he sees what is happening as an insult to the older people who developed the facility.
However, Mr Davies has said in media interviews concerning other parish centres, such as St Alphonsus’ in the Trafford area, that the facilities are simply not getting enough support from the public to make them financially viable, and he feels that the pandemic and the general cost of living crisis have had a severe effect.
There is a long history of parish centres being used for social events by Irish Catholic immigrants – English Martyrs in Whalley Range is another example. The decline in the Irish-born population, population movements by the second generation and falling church attendance among the latter have had an effect, however.
The Diocese of Salford has undergone a great deal of reorganisation over the last seven years or so, with the closure of over 20 churches and the reduction by half in the number of parishes to 75.
The decline and dispersal of the Catholic population and the falling numbers of priests are key factors in this regard.
In 2015, a diocesan report said that they had relied on priests coming from Ireland, many of whom were then approaching retirement and were not being replaced. All of this has implications for overall diocesan finances.
