Ancient stones provide backdrop to ceremony of light and hope

Sligo Abbey's bare stone walls provided an atmospheric setting for the Last Lights ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people on New Year's Eve.

The impressive Dominican friary, built in the 1250s but in ruins since the 17th century, is normally closed to the public throughout the winter, but was specially opened for the occasion by Duchas, the Heritage Council.

As darkness fell, an ecumenical service conducted by representatives of the four main churches, symbolising the lighting of the "light of hope" for the new millennium, was held beneath the abbey's floodlit walls.

In an enactment of an ancient religious service, lighted candles were first extinguished to represent the attempts of the forces of evil to overcome good. There followed the lighting of a flame to symbolise the "confidence Christians have for the future".

A large jubilee candle was lit on the centre of the stage and billows of white smoke engulfed the area as incense was burned. The abbey's bells tolled as a procession proceeded around the ruined buildings, with churchmen and representatives of three generations of the community walking around the abbey's grounds holding aloft burning torches and candles.

A rousing rendition of Glory, Glory, Hallelujah was sung to organ accompaniment by Sligo's Orpheus Choir. Some 20 children from primary schools around the county had been selected to take part in the procession.

The Catholic Bishop of Achonry, Dr Christy Jones, said the jubilee presented a new challenge to the entire community, both secular and religious. It was, he said, "a golden opportunity for a new start, a new start with God, a new start with each other and with the poor of the world".

One of Sligo's oldest citizens, Ms Kate Rooney (94), now resident at St John's Hospital in the town, was among the guests of honour at the ceremony, sitting alongside the Mayor of Sligo and the chairwoman of the county council. Despite a stiff breeze blowing up from the Garavogue River, Ms Rooney sat throughout the two-hour ceremony, her millennium candle in hand.

Apart from the ecumenical service, the two-hour ceremony also included performances by Sligo's Early Music Ensemble and Ballymote Children's Choir, seannos singing by Colm O'Donnell and traditional music from a group of local musicians.

Mr Aengus Cantwell, a former president of the Yeats Society, who acted as master of ceremonies, pointed out that the Dominican friars had been in Sligo for 800 years and said the abbey was an appropriate place to celebrate the new millennium. "We are gathered at the heart of Sligo this evening, among stones that are still, that are silent, and that recall a great era in Irish history", he said.