WE are told that a national day of mourning is too expensive.

A NORTHERN clergyman at the centre of a storm over mimicking the ailing Pope almost provoked a walkout when he told jokes about the pontiff at a previous function, it was revealed yesterday.

A clergyman, at the centre of a storm over mimicking the ailing Pope, almost provoked a walkout when he told jokes about the Pontiff at a previous function, it emerged tonight.

A row has erupted among Presbyterians in the North over the church’s decision to invite the Sinn Fein Lord Mayor of Belfast, Alec Maskey, to its annual assembly this evening.