Sean Barrett (Independent)

I congratulate the Reverend Roy Patton from Ballybay, County Monaghan, who was elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church at the weekend. He combined an upbringing in the stony grey soil of Monaghan with the academic groves of Trinity College Dublin to become the national leader of an all-Ireland body. One of the best developments in this country in recent times is the improvement in the relations between North and South and between the different religious traditions here. I wish the moderator well and extend our congratulations to him and his family in Monaghan and north Down.