Quite a substantial amount of activity has been taking place in the diocese in respect of the "Clustering Process" in recent months. So far, members of OLV Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) have been in communication and consistently working with our colleagues in Ballygall PPC. 

A Deanery meeting of all the Parish Councils was held in Whitehall Parish during April. This allowed the members of the various councils to meet again, helping us get to know each other. It was also an opportunity to hear about the progress of the various clusters. Archbishop Martin attended this meeting and addressed the Pastoral Council members.

Following on from this meeting, it has been recommended by the diocese that our cluster group should expand to include Our Lady of Dolours (Glasnevin), Corpus Christi (Drumcondra), Our Mother of Divine Grace (Ballygall) and St. Columba (Iona Road).

A Deanery meeting of all the priests of the diocese took place in May and Archbishop Martin was positively encouraging the process to develop momentum.

On May 27^th, OLV PPC in co-operation with Ballygall PPC hosted a "Gathering in Prayer" in OLV Church with attendance from members of the Parish Councils of St. Columba-Iona Road, Our Lady of Dolours-Glasnevin and Corpus Christi-Drumconda. This meeting was a first initiative involving members of all five of the local parishes in our cluster.

The Sacred Space for the "Gathering in Prayer".

Members of all the Parish Pastoral Councils clustered with OLV meet each other.

Fr. John welcomes people from our clustered parishes.

The theme for the evening was "Be the Change" and its primary objective was for us all to meet and get to know each other, as well as to pray for direction and guidance in respect of future initiatives and co-operation. Members of OLV and Ballygall PPCs prepared a spiritual evening of prayer, interwoven with silent reflection and beautiful musical accompaniment from Ephrem and Giovanna.

Group photograph of everyone who attended the "Gathering in Prayer" from the five parishes in our cluster.

Our sincere gratitude and thanks go to the team who organized a wonderful night, especially to the team of ladies who prepared the exquisite home-made food and refreshments after the prayers and assisted with the service for our neighbouring PPCs. We have since received some beautiful letters and e-mails of praise and thanks for hosting a very successful evening in our Church.

The central Paschal Candle surrounded by five candles representing our clustered parishes.

Currently, clustering mainly remains administrative, with parishes coordinating Mass times and priests assisting and supporting each other during holiday or sick periods. However, in the future, interaction will increase across cluster parishes through sharing of resources, communication and publicising events, as a broader understanding and acceptance of clustering develops.

We look forward to building on what we considered to be a very successful evening of prayer with all five PPC groups. We truly look forward to further developing our relationships with our cluster parishes, as well as to greater co-operation together.