One year on from devastating blaze, a very fitting date is announced for the re-opening of All Saints Parish Church

THE Vicar of Antrim, The Venerable Dr Stephen McBride, has said that he hopes to be back at the pulpit of All Saints Parish Church for a very fitting date indeed - All Saints Day in 2026!

A year ago, Antrim was stunned after the historic place of worship was damaged in an accidental blaze which broke out shortly after the building was closed for the Christmas period.

Dr McBride, who recently celebrated 30 years in his role, has paid tribute to the parishioners who raised the alarm, and the diligent care that meant that even more damage was thankfully prevented.

Restoration work continues apace, and Dr McBride hopes that the congregation will be back in their pews before the second anniversary of the fire.

He told the Antrim Guardian: “The 27th of December 2025 is a date that will forever stay in my memory. At 2.20pm my wife Helen and I were enjoying pizza in Holywood when I received a phone call to tell me there had been a fire in the church.

“Forty minutes later I was trying to absorb the magnitude of the damage. The smoke that had filled the church had been skilfully removed by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue personnel from the Antrim Station but the stifling heat and the acrid smell of burning remained.

“Although the structural damage was slight, as the weeks unfolded, the repair bill that was initially estimated in the region of £500,000 rose to over £2.5million.

“In the following weeks, the initial impact of what had happened began to sink in.

“Thankfully parishioners Sylvia and David Smyth, who went to fix the flowers for the coming Sunday were not fatally injured in a potential backdraft when they opened the church doors to discover the damage.

“That Cecil Barton, who locked up the church with a few others on Christmas Day, closed the internal doors, saved the church from total destruction.

“My mood of depression at the enormity of what lay ahead of us slowly lifted as Ian Maconachie, our conservation specialist and his skilled team of restoration experts began the task of restoring our beloved, historic church.

“Ian and our main contractors Felix O’Hare & Co from Newry have worked on several churches damaged by fire and together they are filling us with confidence and excitement as the painstaking process of rebuilding is well underway.

“Although the church is currently filled with scaffolding, week by week, the progress is amazing. We look forward to being back in the church for All Saints’ Day, 1 November 2026.”

And there has been more good news for the church family.

Dr McBride explained: “The twelve months since the fire took place has been a tough year, but we finished 2025 on a magnificent high.

“The Rev Peter Blake, Pastoral Administrator in All Saints was diagnosed with colon cancer just before Easter.

“He had surgery followed by a course of chemotherapy. In mid-December the results from his post operative scan were first class and he does not need to visit his oncologist for another six months.

“The news was greeted with rapturous applause at our youth carol service. On a personal note, the McBride family welcomed George Thomas into the world on 27 December and as his Granda, I look forward to baptising him in our fully restored church.

“Te Deum Laudamus – to God be the Glory.”