Open Four Masters Park to the Public!

Parks should be public amenities that serve the physical and mental wellbeing of city residents. Even before the pandemic, many people living in cities are confined to cramped indoor living conditions during the summer, with parks providing an important refuge from this reality.

Four Masters Park in the heart of inner city Dublin has the potential to be one of those thriving community spaces. However, at present it is closed off to the public despite Dublin City Council paying for its upkeep. Local residents and politicians have all repeatedly called for the park to be opened up but the Sisters of Mercy won't budge.

The days of religious orders controlling our parks, our bodies, our hospitals and our schools are numbered. It is incomprehensible that public funds are being used on a space that can't be enjoyed by the people.

Renewed media attention and the wider issue of church control in Ireland has brought this issue to the fore. Now is the time to put pressure on the Sister of Mercy nuns to release their hold on the park.