Visits a triumph says C of I magazine

The visits by the President, Mrs McAleese, to Canada, Australia and New Zealand are described as "personal triumphs" in the current issue of the Church of Ireland Gazette.

An editorial titled "President McAleese reflects new renaissance in Republic" also says "the Republic can be judged well by the confident place Protestants now have in its public and social life, and by its calm approach to legal developments in areas such as sexuality and divorce.

"In her first year as President, Mrs McAleese has stamped her mark on the office, giving it her own style and fresh approach and taking brave and bold initiatives."

The editorial adds: "The pluralist society that has emerged along with the Celtic Tiger has also seen a change in the emphasis in interchurch relations. The Church of Ireland has become an equal partner in those relations in the Republic and has a place in society that is out of all proportion to its size, population and number of clergy."

It credits "Roman Catholic bishops such as Willie Walsh in Killaloe and Brendan Comiskey (Ferns)" as "helping to put the last nails in the coffin of sectarianism". "The open freedom generally enjoyed by people with minority sexual preferences is an indication of the new tolerance and plurality in the Republic".

On the Republic's economy, it says Northerners who had not crossed the Border regularly in recent years "will be surprised by the very visible prosperity . . . the quality of life, the styles and fashion, and the almost Mediterranean atmosphere in shops and restaurants". There is a sense of living, it says, in a mainstream European society which is not yet the experience of many in the North.

It notes however that "Mrs McAleese, with all her pride in this new society, has also used the dignity of her office to speak of the harsh treatment of refugees, asylum-seekers and immigrants and used a recent visit to England to affirm the dignity of travellers".

According to the Gazette, "the real challenges facing the Republic today are the degree to which economic prosperity will reach those who are still poor, marginalised, unemployed or disabled . . . and the openness of both Government and society to extending and sustaining a real welcome and a proper place for those who genuinely seek refuge and asylum."