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The Archbishop of Canterbury is Welsh, the Archbishop of York is Ugandan. Why shouldn't the Archbishop of Armagh be an Englishman? Alan Harper has lived in Northern Ireland for more than 40 years, and has worked in the diocese of Connor for more than 20 years (the last six as bishop), having been born and raised in the north of England.

So far as I can tell, he is the first English-born Archbishop of Armagh since Disestablishment in 1869. I've just been chatting on the phone with Canon Edgar Turner -- who knows a thing or two about these things -- and that's his understanding too.

Alan Harper now faces a big challenge in leading the Church of Ireland during an embattled period for Anglicanism. Every journalist in the country will now be trying to extract a telling comment from the archbishop-elect about gay bishops and the future of the Anglican Communion.

Theologically, Alan Harper is known to be on the left of the spectrum -- towards the liberal end of those debates -- but is also traditional in his approach to liturgy and churchmanship. He'll be considered a "safe" choice by most bishops; he recently acted as spokesman for the bishops in their public challenge to the British government over "oppressive" legislation.

He also enjoys the respect of his predecessor, Robin Eames, and is said to be an excellent administrator, who can focus on an issue and generate reports and recommendations with impressive speed.

The task of leading a major church denomination these days also involves dealing with the media. Eames, of course, not only mastered that task, but seemed to relish it. Alan Harper will have plenty of practice in the next few days.