AWREATH was laid at St Patrick's grave during festivities in Downpatrick with the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore urging people not to "cling on to the old divisions of the past".
In his St Patrick's Day message Bishop Harold Miller said it was "not good enough" to place issues raised during the Haass talks "on the back burner" and said the challenges faced by Ireland's patron saint in the fifth century "were even greater than they are today". "We celebrate his life and witness in 2014 not just as a story from the past, but as a sign of hope in the present. "If we simply cling on to the old divisions of the past there will not be a future for this place, only a past which repeats itself over and over again."
A large crowd attended Holy Communion at Saul at 9.15am yesterday which was presided over by Methodist President Dr Heather Morris, followed by a pilgrimage from Saul to Downpatrick where a service was held at 11.45am in Down Cathedral followed by wreath laying at St Patrick's grave.
Maeve Connolly