Trial taking place on contactless card payments to boost donations.

Contactless card machines have been introduced to a number of Catholic churches across Dublin in an attempt to counteract the decline in cash donations. A small number of churches in the capital are trialing the contactless card machines, with the hope to roll out the system to more parishes.
However it remains to be seen whether parishoners in Meath will have the option of using the "tap and go" method to give their donations anytime soon as  the internet connection required to use the payment method would not be sufficient in the majority of rural parishes.
Instead Meath massgoers will have to stick with tried and tested  payment methods church has a number of methods such as basket and envelope collections, although a variety of modern methods are also available  such as direct debit, standing orders and paypal.
The news has been the subect of a lot of controversy with many labeling it as an " over commercialisation of the faith "  and saying that it "goes against the ethos of the church".
Although this is a new method for Irish mass goers, the practise has been adopted by different denominations abroad. The Church of England first trialled the practise as far back as 2017.