I WILL be honest, I never read any of the columns written by politicians, which usually involve 'mud slinging'.

One column that I do always read, however, is 'Chain Reaction'. I enjoyed it so much when written by Mr Brennan, who as well as charm, has a wonderful and at times puckish sense of humour, which I always enjoyed. Nevertheless all was not lost when Mr Brennan retired, as his successor, Mr McKenzie has an equally puckish sense of humour.

Both Mr Brennan and Mr McKenzie are excellent examples in what a Provost should be.

Like Mr Brennan, when he was Provost, Mr McKenzie looks the part, acts the part, is an excellent speaker, and a great ambassador for this district. He also has the same twinkle in his eye, and ready with a joke, and I think humour is important in life, especially today.

I have always been of the opinion that people will only be offended if they want to be offended. Sadly, nowadays, we seem to be getting educated in the art of searching for offence, and encouraged to do so. Our freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and indeed humour is being driven out of society and even out of the universities, 'trigger warnings' being attached to books which were written by their authors in innocence.

Provost McKenzie, innocently, gave way to his skill at finding humour, even in contentious subjects, even poking fun at the Orangemen. I bet he regrets it!

But before we assemble a lynch mob, why can we not accept that Mr McKenzie's article, which was obviously meant to be laughed at, has already been regretted by him and he has apologised for any offence caused.

He obviously didn't know that some would 'take the wrong end of the stick', as my old mother would have put it.

So, I find it repugnant, that after the amount of hard work that Mr McKenzie has put into his ward as a councillor, and the fine way that he represents this district; far better than some previous Provosts in the past I might add, that he is being castigated in such a way. Everyone makes mistakes, and in a Christian society, we are taught forgiveness. Leave the man alone and allow him to concentrate on the job he does so well.

P. Brady,

Address supplied