This year the Church of Ireland General Synod took place in the home of the Metropolitan in Dublin, Christchurch Cathedral. In the more recent past Synod has used the facilities of one of the city's major hotels, facilities which a cathedral could not and would not claim to match. However, the cathedral had in the past been used for many different purposes during its near 1,000-year history and it provided for the Synod an atmosphere wholly unlike any secular conference. One could argue, as did the Dean, that when the Synod is meeting in Dublin Christchurch is its rightful home.