Tribute paid to outgoing editor of CofI `Gazette'

Canon Cecil Cooper has announced he will be retiring as editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette later this year.

Paying tribute to Canon Cooper, the Rev Patrick Comerford, chairman of the Church of Ireland Press Ltd, publishers of the Church of Ireland Gazette, said the canon would be sorely missed after more than 30 years of close involvement with the paper.

"Under his editorial guidance, the Church of Ireland Gazette never became a mere mouthpiece for the church, but facilitated and stimulated the widest possible debates."

Mr Comerford added that "keeping the Gazette circulation at a constant level when other church newspapers were declining had been a major success".

The Church of Ireland Press Ltd has also elected a new board of directors: Mr Comerford (chairman), the Rev Robert H. Whiteside (secretary), Mr William McCleary (treasurer), Canon Michael Burrows, Mr A.S. Caldwell, the Rev Bernie Daly, the Rev Michael Graham, the Ven Raymond G. Hoey, Dr Valerie Jones, the Rev William Morton, Mr David Pyle, and Mr W. Douglas Sloan.