St Anne’s Cathedral’s Covid-19 ‘catastrophe’

Dean Stephen Forde said that while the online church services have proved popular, with most of the revenue streams closed off during the coronavirus lockdown, jobs are now at risk.

Under normal circumstances, St Anne’s would have hosted tours of cruise ship visitors, concerts and dinners, however, the forced closure has had a “catastrophic” impact on the fortunes of St Anne’s.

“All contracted Cathedral employees were placed on furlough at the start of lockdown,” Dean Forde said.

“Our finances are now in a very precarious position because of Covid-19. All our sources of income were impacted. Income from car parking is down 50 per cent. At a stroke, we lost all our tourism and events revenue. Although we encouraged people to set up standing orders, congregation collections are down, as is our investment income.

The first Sunday service in several months will take place this weekend, marking the 75th anniversary of VJ (victory over Japan) Day with the service being broad live on BBC Radio Ulster. Evensong will return in September – with a socially-distanced choir.

The last regular service at the cathedral was on St Patrick’s Day, with the church moving immediately to commence online worship.

The first of the internet services were recorded in dining room of the deanery, with later worship recorded in the cathedral itself using different readers and preachers.

Parishioners have also been able to listen to events on their telephones while there were up to 1,000 views each week on the Facebook and Youtube.

Although we encouraged people to set up standing orders, congregation collections are down, as is our investment income,” Dean Forde said.

“The Cathedral Board has had to work out how to keep the Cathedral sustained with such a catastrophic loss of income,”

With so many people now planning to take a summer holiday at home, Dean Forde is encouraging anyone interested in learning more about St Anne’s to pay a visit.

He said: “This is an opportunity to discover a treasure that you have never visited before. Our doors are open to visitors from across the island.

“The Cathedral is safe for visitors to explore the beauty and spirituality of this special place. Space is our gift, so a long as people maintain social distancing, we welcome everyone.”

Commercial manager at St Anne’s, Holly Wilson said: “Now, more than ever, the city needs hope and the Cathedral is a symbol of that,”

As a gesture of thanks to key workers, NHS staff will have free entry until September 25. Opening hours are, subject to change, Monday to Thursday from 11am to 3pm and Friday and Saturday from 11am to 4pm.

Anyone planning a visit is asked to check for the latest updates at www.belfastcathedral.org.