Leave aside all the posturing and positioning among the wanna-be bishops, whether male or female, and let's pose the primary question: what will the faithful members of the Church of Ireland in the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory be looking for in the appointment?

Surely they will be looking for a leader who will be faithful to Christ in every area of life, someone whose hallmark will be transparent godliness. Like the cut glass of Waterford, this leader will have had rough character edges ground off and be mature and wholesome in both private and public persona.

There is a huge responsibility on Archbishop John Neill and the Electoral College to appoint to Cashel and Ossory a bishop who can deliver the goods in terms of exemplary leadership.

The Church is awash with men and women who are jockeying for top jobs but whose track record raises crucial questions as to whether they really can deliver as leaders of a large team.

They have kept quiet in their diocese, they have kept in with their bishop, they have moved slowly up the appointments ladder just by dint of being there or thereabouts.

Yet has their church grown significantly in numbers? Have they seen young people and young families added to Christ and his Church? What have they done to provide ways into the local church for the totally unchurched? Have they structures in place to teach and train lay leadership? Can they preach powerfully, inspirationally and, above all, biblically? In short, if they claim to be leaders, is anyone following them in convincing numbers where they are now?

Instead of calling up the usual suspects - those passed over when the last episcopal appointments were made - it would be best for Cashel and Ossory if the selectors started with a blank sheet of paper and asked who are the men and women in ministry who have cut the mustard.

Never mind their place in the pecking order or whose commendation they have, or whether their origins are North or South. Are they growing their parish, exercising convincing leadership, and are they likely to bring new life and vision to the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory?

That there are such people out there is surely not in dispute. Statistics and local reputation can provide the facts the selectors will need. Let these folk be put firmly in the frame for the appointment and let their track record speak for itself.

Meanwhile, let's treat with the contempt it deserves the attempt to hoist the feminist agenda on to the backs of the bereaved and hurting faithful of the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory.

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