Muslim community in Cork seeks new mosque

The situation facing Cork's growing Muslim community is bleak, - according to the president of the Cork Society of Muslims, Dr Farghal Radwan, as he contemplates the possibility that the community may be without a mosque for its celebration of the end of Ramadan later this year.

The problem for the society with the existing mosque reached a critical level earlier this summer when Cork Corporation refused permission for retention of the two-storey suburban house at Riverview Estate, Glasheen, as its place of worship following objections from local residents.

The problem dates back to 1994 when the house was purchased by the society for use as a mosque, but without seeking planning permission for a change of use. Cork Corporation earlier this year deemed the permission necessary for it to serve as a place of worship for Cork's 2,000 Muslims.

The situation changed this year when corporation planning officials inspected the mosque following complaints from residents - mainly about the traffic congestion worshippers were causing - and issued a Section 31 notice informing the society that it needed planning permission for a mosque.

The society subsequently lodged a retention application on May 15th, but it was refused on July 7th, and the society had until yesterday to appeal the refusal to An Bord Pleanala. It opted not to do so because, as Dr Radwan explained, it wants a permanent solution to the problem.

"We felt there was no point in appealing because it would be rejected and we would be wasting time. We want a permanent solution although we did ask the corporation if we could use the premises on a temporary basis until we could find an alternative, but we haven't heard back from them yet."

The search for an alternative location is well under way, with the society hoping it may be able to acquire the former Church of Ireland St Nicholas's Church at Cove Street behind Sullivan's Quay. It was deconsecrated three years ago and is now owned by a private property developer.

St Nicholas's will cost £1 million to buy and the society is hopeful of securing a major donation from an Islamic charitable foundation in the United Arab Emirates as well as donations from both local Cork Muslims and the 15,000-strong Irish Muslim community to fund the purchase.

The situation is likely to intensify next month when Muslim students return to UCC. In all, some 300 students attending the university are Islamic and, together with members of the medical profession and some business people, make up the majority of Cork's Muslim community.

Some followers of Islam from Waterford and Kerry including a number of Kosovars from Killarney also travel to the Cork mosque to pray, although Dr Radwan points out that not all the 2,000 or so Muslims living in Cork attend the mosque regularly.

"We average 80 and 100 people at our main prayer on a Friday, the Jomma Prayer. It takes place at 1.30 p.m. for half-an-hour, and when people finish the prayer they go back to their work. We pray five times a day. You can pray anywhere, at work, for example, but congregation prayer is very important."

However, for Dr Radwan and the Cork Society of Muslims, the mosque isn't just a place of prayer. It would also serve as a centre where Muslims could meet and socialise and, ideally, as somewhere their children could be taught the principles of Islam.

"We're not looking for a big mosque like in Dublin - we're a smaller community - but what we need is a place that the Muslim community in Cork can be proud of and all Cork can be proud of, to serve our community, serve our families and serve our children.

"A mosque is not only a place of worship, it's a place of socialising where people meet at the prayer time, bring the children, particularly at the weekends - teach them about the principles of Islam. The family go together at the weekend. It's happening now in Dublin."

Dr Radwan admits that the Cork Society of Muslims would like to be able to provide a primary school like the Muslim National School in Dublin. It's funded by the State which provides teachers of the standard school curriculum, with the principles of Islam as an extra subject.

He points out that there are currently some 20-30 Muslim children of primary school age in Cork, sufficient to justify establishing a Muslim school in the city, although he concedes that the priority for the Cork Society of Muslims is acquiring a new mosque.

"We would love to have a school. All we would need is a small room, but if we do not have the facility to pray, we cannot have the facility for a school. We have to have a mosque and a place to pray as a priority and then we would look for a school. It would be great if we could have the two in the same place."

While the Cork Society of Muslims has already been in contact with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr P.J. Hourican, in its search for suitable premises, Dr Radwan is hopeful that the State might also be able to assist, either through making a building available for lease or purchase or perhaps through a donation.

"The State has made no donations to the purchase of mosques in Dublin or Galway, but we hope it will consider Cork as different because it's an urgent situation. Officially now the mosque is closed, and we're looking for a place to worship," said Dr Radwan.

"We hope that either the State or Cork Corporation can help us in this situation because even the donation from abroad is still just a promise even though they did help out with the funding of the Clonskeagh mosque in Dublin and hopefully they will help with a big share of our funding here.

"But we have a celebration at the end of Ramadan which is a fasting month and that starts at the end of November. It's a holy month for us, but getting a new mosque may take some time, so that's why we're starting to try and get this up and running before then. Even now, we're running out of time."

Members of the Muslim community or others who wish to assist the Cork Society of Muslims can do so by making a donation to the society's special mosque fund at Ulster Bank, Wilton, Cork, Sorting Code 9854-88, account no: 69615170.