Home

Church of Ireland Home

Day 1

Bill Proposing New Model of Governance and Additional Canons Presented at Synod

A Bill providing for a new model of governance for St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork and for the appointment of one Ecumenical Canon and two Honorary Canons (lay or ordained) passed its first and second phases at General Synod this afternoon (Thursday May 10).

The Bill arises from a three year strategic plan drawn up by the Parochial Select Vestry of the cathedral parish in 2015 which concluded that a parochial structure centred on a Select Vestry was no longer sufficient to govern an institution of the magnitude of the cathedral.

The new model of governance, which has the unanimous agreement of the Cathedral Select Vestry, favours the introduction of a representative model, similar to school boards of management. The intention is to retain the Parochial Select Vestry, as it is believed to be the most effective way to manage the day to day running of the cathedral, and put in place a Cathedral Board to manage the broader range of issues such as conservation and restoration, employment and policy matters, legal issues and regulatory compliance, large scale fundraising and long term strategic planning for the cathedral’s mission and ministry.

Meanwhile, the Chapter also received proposals that there could, in future, be up to three additional Canons appointed to the Chapter: one Ecumenical Canon and to Honorary Canons, appointed with due regard to the needs of the diocese and the cathedral.

The full proposal was passed by the Diocesan Synod of the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in June 2017.

The Bill was proposed by the Very Revd Nigel Dunne and Keith Roberts.

The Bill passed its first and second phases and will receive its third reading on Saturday morning.

Our use of cookies

Some cookies are necessary for us to manage how our website behaves while other optional, or non-necessary, cookies help us to analyse website usage. You can Accept All or Reject All optional cookies or control individual cookie types below.

You can read more in our Cookie Notice

Functional

These cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytics cookies

Analytical cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage.