NHS brings in Buddhist to boost happiness

Ryushin Paul Haller, from the San Francisco Zen Centre, is to run workshops later this month on how to achieve contentment and calmness for staff in the Northern Trust area in Northern Ireland.

The trust claimed the monk, who is originally from Belfast, uses his "Mindfulness" practice to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions including stress and anxiety.

But Democratic Unionist MP Sammy Wilson is sceptical and has criticised health chiefs for spending resources on the venture.

"If further proof is needed that there are too many managers in the health service, this is it," said the East Antrim representative.

"They clearly have too much time on their hands and have got their priorities wrong if they think that what is needed are sessions such as these," Mr Wilson added