Ireland

The Republic of Ireland (Eire) is the only English-speaking Catholic nation. While Catholicism is a major influence over the country and culture, few have a living relationship with God.

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Ministry opportunities in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland (Eire) is the only English-speaking Catholic nation. While Catholicism is a major influence over the country and culture, few have a living relationship with God. Traditional 'religion' has failed to tackle serious social problems such as alcoholism, teenage pregnancy and a high suicide rate among young men.  The overall suicide rate has risen dramatically since the recent economic collapse.

Although OM has a long history of involvement in Ireland, OM Ireland itself is one of the newest ministries in OM Europe. It was launched in 2002 to work alongside the Irish church for outreach and world missions. In 2008, OM Ireland moved from its base in Donegal in the North West to a new headquarters "Lacken House" in County Roscommon - the very heart of the country. This growing team is involved in a wide range of projects with a primary focus on sharing the good news of Jesus in Ireland.

  • Big Red Bus: The Big Red Bus is a vital part of OM Ireland’s work. A red double-decker bus, it is the ideal venue for children’s clubs and youth coffee bars. Several times a year, the team takes the bus to different parts of Ireland – working in partnership with Irish churches. The creative ministry team also runs school programmes and theatre shows.
  • Immersion: OM Ireland's one-year training programme "Immersion" combines intensive training with placements alongside Irish churches around the country.
  • Phillipian Project: Phillipian Project is our programme through which we intend to mobilise long term workers to Christian service in Ireland, by placing them in existing churches, or new church plants.
  • Local Churches: Throughout the year, OM Ireland hosts short term and outreach teams in support of the local church.

How you can get involved:

  • PRAY
    • Pray for Ireland to be reached with the Gospel, for new churches to be planted, and for existing churches to be strengthened and encouraged.
    • Pray for the Lord to send more labourers to the Republic of Ireland.
    • Pray for the ministry of OM Ireland that we would be faithful to the ministry to which the Lord has called us.
  • GIVE — Give here (http://www.om.org/en/give) to help support the work of OM in the Republic of Ireland.
  • GO — See the job opportunities listed at http://www.om.org/en/opportunities. Contact us at: info.ie@om.org or visit our website: www.ie.om.org

More information about Ireland

  • Population: Ireland has a population of 4.5 million (a further 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland)
  • Official language: English
  • State of economy: Ireland’s economic fortunes over the past decade or so have seldom been far from international headlines.

The so-called Celtic Tiger years of unprecedented growth were followed by a spectacular economic collapse that led to the Irish Government requesting financial assistance. In simple terms, Ireland went from being held up as a shining example of how a small, open economy could become successful in the modern, global marketplace to being a country on the brink of financial collapse.

Ireland is now recovering and measures have been put in place to encourage growth and protect the economy for the future.

  • Religious make-up: In the Republic of Ireland the majority of the population is Catholic.
  • State of the church: Catholicism is a major influence over the country and culture, but few have a living relationship with God. Evangelical numbers have grown over the past 10 years and stand at around 0.75 percent of the population, though according to Operation World, this is still the lowest percentage of any country in the English-speaking world.

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