Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dublin parish priest says signed permission forms necessary for Confirmation

A Dublin parish priest has said that obtaining signed permission forms from parents for their children to make their confirmation is necessary in order to comply with Child Safety Regulations.

Balbriggan parish priest Fr Eugene Taaffe (pictured) made his comments after a parent was interviewed by a number of national publications over the weekend saying that her child was been refused confirmation this year because she had not submitted her son's signed permission form in time. 

Students at St Teresa's National school in the busy Dublin parish are due to make their confirmation next month. However one pupil will not be permitted to do so after his mother failed to submit the form before February 17 deadline.

The parent claimed that she was totally unaware of the form. She said, “The first thing I heard about this form was when my son came home one day in March talking about it. That was Paddy's Day weekend so I went up to the parish priest Fr Eugene, the following Tuesday to explain the situation to him but he said it was too late. He told me it should have been in ages before that and there was nothing he could do.”  

She added, “It is total madness that my son won't be able to make his Confirmation with all his school pals because of some form. I want them to give him a second chance.”

Fr Eugene said that both he and his colleagues had gone to great lengths to get the message about the forms out to parents in good time. 

“From our point of view we sent out letters, we notified the schools, we've had meetings. In the parish newsletter there was mention of the form, we had it on the parish website, we said it from the altar.”  

He continued, “The forms were handed out in school, they were available through the parish office which is open five days a week and she could have collected it from the church. How can somebody not hear unless they are not with us? It's not like she wasn't talking to other parents.”  

He added that the forms were necessary in order for Ballbriggan parish to comply with the child safety regulations of the Dublin Archdiocese.