English boyband One Direction have inadvertently caused a heated war of words amongst parents at a Catholic school in Ireland. 30 pupils of the Raheen Gaelscoil school are due to receive their first holy communion in May next year, but it that happens to fall on the same day that the X Factor finalists will be performing in Dublin as part of their sell-out tour.
Some parents have requested that the date of the communion be changed, so that their children can attend the concert. They argued that they had already paid for their tickets and would lose out financially as well as miss out on seeing the concert.
Others reacted furiously at the suggestion of allowing a music concert to interfere with their children receiving their first holy communion, a significant event in the Catholic Church.
One angry parent described the request as “disrespect shown to the blessed sacrament”.
A meeting was held by the school to try and settle the issue, but it couldn’t be resolved with “heated exchanges” taking place.
The school was under great pressure from both sides and held a ballot to allow each parent a vote to decide what the best course of action was. The results came back overwhelmingly in favour of the ceremony going ahead on the original date.
One Direction shot to stardom in 2010 after finishing in third place on the English version of the X Factor. They are signed to Simon Cowell’s SyCo record company and have an estimated combined wealth of £25m.
