A Testimony to Courage



On Monday night Mid and East Antrim Borough Council considered a request from the UDR Association to place a memorial to those who served in the Memorial Garden, Ballymena.

I was absent for the decision, as a former member of the Regiment I was required to declare an interest and leave the chamber as did two other Councillors who had also served, one being the Mayor.

The original request for permission to erect the memorial was made some 5 years ago to the legacy Ballymena Borough Council. For the past 5 years this proposal has been sidelined and filibustered by the actions of Nationalists and Republicans on the Council. That process ended with the establishment of the new council in April of this year.

What did not end was the vitriolic hatred directed at those who served in the Regiment by elements of Nationalism and Republicanism. Over 40,000 men and women served in the Regiment during the years of conflict. A tiny minority broke the law and committed terrible crimes but theirs is not the history of the Regiment. The vast, vast majority of members served honourably and at great risk to themselves and their families to safeguard our society. It is in their memory that the request to place a a memorial was made and it is in their memory and recognition of their service that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council approved that request.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The threat to the Union

Unionism is facing its own existential crisis and must learn how to come to terms with it. Put simply the Democratic Unionist Party represent a clear threat to the very union they purport to uphold. In May 1974 then Prime Minister Harold Wilson used the term “spongers” to describe unionists involved in the UWC strike. Today it is a term that many in the rest of the UK would apply to what the DUP consider robust negotiations.   Losing the goodwill of our fellow UK citizens at a time when Northern Ireland’s position in the UK is the principle barrier to many achieving the Brexit they aspire to cannot be considered a strategic position to take. The DUP constantly refer to the principle of consent underpinned in the Belfast Agreement, an agreement they had no hand in, yet they miss the point that while people are free to make their own determination others are free to try and persuade them of one view or the other. Ignoring this point is central to the risks attached to their threa
Read more

Community Planning Theory and Practice

With the Review of Public Administration and the transformation of local government in Northern Ireland came a new power, that of Community Planning. The term taking power, rather than framing the process as taking responsibility, could allow some to argue that they are there to hold others to account. Such a view would limit a council's direct involvement in addressing issues at the same time as being flexible enough to both place blame where failures occur and take credit where positive actions happen. Community planning is intended to be transforming, not just in getting agencies and communities around the table but clearly identifying where resources can be applied to greater effect. A reduction in duplication, an increase in early detection of problems and strategic intervention to deliver a better outcome for all. Each agency has its own agenda, its own budget and targets, a thread which runs through peoples lives. If each thread runs parallel to every other thread without
Read more