Moderator pays tribute to Mandela

FILE - In this May 15, 2004 file photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela lifts the World Cup trophy in Zurich, Switzerland, after FIFA's executive committee announced that South Africa would host the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. Mandela was pivotal in helping the country win the right to host the tournament. South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013, that Mandela has died. He was 95. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

He said: “I am saddened to hear of the death of Nelson Mandela. With his passing the world has lost one of the great statesmen of recent times.

“There is much to learn from the life of Nelson Mandela particularly in the way he did not repeat the mistakes of the successive governments that tried to silence him and suppress his ideals.

“Rather, he embraced all the people of South Africa allowing their views and opinions to be heard. As a leader of all the people he united them in doing the best they could for their fellow countrymen under one flag and one national anthem, strengthened and enriched by the diversity of their individual identities.

“The prayers of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland are with his family and friends and for the nation of South Africa as they mourn the loss of the man who was inspirational and instrumental in transforming their country into what it is today.”