Parish accounts in the black

THE Shannon Pastoral Council’s financial statement for last year showed an excess of income over expenditure of €53,746.

The largest item of income was Sunday collections at €129,006, up from €126,209 on 2011. The amount of contributions to local shrines was €24,384, up by almost €1000 on 2011.

Parish priest Fr Tom Ryan said there were some one-off factors behind the excess of income over expenditure but he was very encouraged by the increased Sunday collections and contributions to shrines.

“Some of it is due to second collections, for example, there was an Ecuador appeal for John Molloy’s mission, that’s income that comes in but also goes out. The way I would look at it is that the core of the income is the Sunday collections and the shrine collections.

“That’s what I would find encouraging, after three years of decline our Sunday collections have shown an increase as have contributions to the shrines, when people go in to light candles. That’s the core income of any parish, your Sunday collections and the shrines.”

He said 2012 was the first year for some time that income was moving in the right direction.

“I would see it as an encouraging sign that, after three years of decline, the income has shown an increase and it shows that faith and the practice of the faith continues to be an important part of people’s lives in Shannon.

“Not alone are they praying but they’re putting their money where their mouth is. In that sense, it’s encouraging and in the past year as well, we’ve been fortunate in that there was very little capital expenditure on our churches.

“The cost, like everywhere else, is continuing to rise, our electrical cost and heating costs and last week for the first time, I got bills for water charges. Any household or any business has all these charges and they are rising.”

He said the parish appreciates the public generosity and many people make non-monetary contributions.

“It’s a reflection of the great generosity of people and it’s important to say that people give their time and talents freely in so many areas and they can’t be measured in terms of a euro sign. If we had to pay for the talent and time people give us voluntarily in the running of the parish we certainly wouldn’t be in credit.”

Fr Ryan said the local churches are open most of the day and there are costs to that.

“Our churches are open at 7am and the last one closes at 9pm. In that 14 hours of being open, there’s a constant flow of people coming and going and there’s a cost involved in regards to heating and lighting but people show their generosity and appreciation for having these facilities available.

“It’s encouraging this year and it’s thanks to the generosity of parishioners and those who use our churches and contribute week in, week out, that make it all possible.”