Community groups are holding a solidarity vigil outside a Ballyfermot church that was forced to take down a Pride flag it was flying last week.

The Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church faced an online backlash after sharing images of the flag on social media on June 15th.

While many people voiced their support for the move, a small group of people protested against the move, claiming the flag was ‘anti-Catholic.’

The church took down the flag after the Dublin Archdiocese warned that only Papal or national flags can be flown on Church grounds.

Locals join the solidarity Pride vigil at Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church, 25-06-2021. Image: Anthony O’Brien Photography

Local community groups are holding a solidarity vigil on the roundabout outside the church this evening to voice their support for the LBBT community in Ballyfermot and the decision to fly the flag.

Local TD Bríd Smith told Newstalk that the flag made everyone in the community feel welcome and included.

“People’s have sons, daughters, granddaughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers – all families have experience of the need to be liberating about your sexuality and your identity and that is what this is about – we are celebrating it tonight.”

Locals join the solidarity Pride vigil at Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church, 25-06-2021. Image: Anthony O’Brien Photography

Locals join the solidarity Pride vigil at Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church, 25-06-2021. Image: Anthony O’Brien Photography

Speaking at a mass ceremony last Sunday, parish priest Fr Adrian Egan said he flew the flag to send out a message to gay people that “God loves them.”

“We were conscious that there are gay men and women who live in our parish and their families and they have often told us of how hurt they have been, maybe by the language that the Church has sometimes used in regard to them, and how they sometimes feel there is no place for them here and they feel excluded,” he said.

He said he hoped people would see the flag and think: “Oh, I am being remembered. I am being lifted up in God’s house. Maybe I am welcome there. Maybe I do have a place there.”

Deputy Smith said tonight’s vigil was a thank you to Fr Adrian and the “people of Ballyfermot who stand shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT+ community.”

“People have sons, daughters, granddaughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers – all families have experience of the need to be liberating about your sexuality and your identity and that is what this is about,” she said. “We are celebrating it tonight.”

What a turn out today in #Ballyfermot for our #pride rally.@pb4p @bridsmithTD pic.twitter.com/Hc4FrLaKHe

— Cllr Hazel De Nortúin (@HazelPBP) June 25, 2021

She said Fr Adrian was showing that he “stands with people who have an identity that is different to others.”

“They may be a minority but they are important to us and they are loved in our community,” she said.

Epic atmosphere here in Ballyfermot where there is no room for hate.#Ballyfermot #pride #Pride2021 @BallyfermotBARN pic.twitter.com/YHlrgDnWCs

— Cllr. Tina MacVeigh PBP 🇵🇸 (@TinaMacVeigh) June 25, 2021

Earlier this week, Lunchtime Live heard from callers who were both for and against the vigil and you can listen back here:

Main image shows locals at the solidarity Pride vigil in front of Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church, 25-06-2021. Image: Anthony O’Brien Photography

With reporting from Teena Gates