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As part of his ministerial training, Dr Mawhinney was the assistant to the minister of Old Park Presbyterian Church in north Belfast in 1995 for two years, before he was ordained as minister of Cahir and Fermoy Presbyterian Churches, a joint charge in Counties Tipperary and Cork.

He and his wife Karen lived in Fermoy with their three sons before being called to Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church, where Dr Mawhinney has served since 2008.

Today he ministers to around 110 families in the city centre congregation totalling around 150 people. “We are in the heart of inner city south Dublin where Adelaide Road has become an international church. For many years we were happy to share our church building with the Dublin Korean Church until recently and still welcome the Japanese Christian Fellowship that meet in our building once a month.

Dr Mawhinney said: “We are Bible-centred and evangelical, with a heart for serving the local community. In preparing God’s people for those works of service, we seek to serve one another in love and encourage engagement with the local community in mission that is relationship based and gospel focused. Our ethos tries to hold this outward focus.”

Originally built in 1841, the year following the establishment of PCI, by the 1980s, the church considered moving from the city centre.

He said: “I am pleased to say that in 1989 the congregation took the prayerful decision to ‘Stay and Share Jesus’. It was a great decision as the local population is diverse, from those living in social housing, to modern apartments and expensive private homes, and student communities – everyone needs to hear the Good News.”

Describing his own ministry, Dr Mawhinney said, “I believe that when God’s word is taught, God’s word is heard. I therefore see preaching as my primary task and have sought to preach well and relevantly throughout my ministry. For many years I have attended regularly the Irish Preachers Conference and presently serve on its organising committee.”

Dr Mawhinney will be the 11th minister serving in a Dublin congregation to become moderator and the third serving in Adelaide Road to be elected. His immediate predecessor at Adelaide Road, Rev Dr Frank Sellar, was elected Moderator in 2016, eight years after he left.

Presbyterian Moderator-Designate Dr Sam Mawhinney travels a long way from Tipperary