The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Dermot Lacey, welcomed the representatives of leading Anglican mission agencies to the capital with an official reception in the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor's residence, on Tuesday, 20 May.

Welcoming the group to the Mansion House, Councillor Lacey spoke of the positive contribution of members of the Church of Ireland to public and civic life in Dublin and in the Republic of Ireland, and spoke of his own personal commitment to reconciliation on the island.

The group represented Anglican mission agencies from Ireland, Britain, Australia, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sweden and the United States, and included members of mission agencies that had grown from the ethos or traditions of the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Crosslinks, the South American Mission Society (SAMS) and the Mar Thoma Church in India. They were introduced to the Lord Mayor by the Southern Regional Co-ordinator of CMS Ireland, Rev Patrick Comerford, and the General Secretary of CMS Ireland, Canon Cecil Wilson.

Earlier in the day, the mission group was given a guided tour of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, by the Dean's Vicar, Rev Charles Mullen, who gave an outline history of the Church of Ireland and pointed out the monuments of President Douglas Hyde, President Ernest Childers, Dean Jonathan Swift and the missionary Bishop Charles Inglis of Nova Scotia.

In Trinity College Dublin, the Dean of Residence, Rev Dr Alan McCormack, gave a guided tour of the College Chapel, and arranged a private viewing of the Book of Kells and a visit to the Long Room of the College Library. During a walk tour of the city, they were brought to Dublin Castle and the Dáil.

The group members visited Ireland for a week-long residential conference at Bellinter, Co Meath, and were addressed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev John Neill, on Wednesday 21 May. On Sunday next, 25 May, CMS Ireland is involved in a broadcast service on RTÉ Television.