VE Day marked with events across Northern Ireland
Secretary of State Hilary Benn described an opportunity to remember the 'huge sacrifice made by that great generation' at the end of the Second World War in Europe.
On Wednesday night, some landmark buildings in Belfast were lit up to mark VE Day, including Belfast City Hall in red, as well as Parliament Buildings in blue.
Belfast City Hall lit up in red on Wednesday night for the 80th Anniversary of VE Day (Rebecca Black/PA)
The City Hall hosted a tea party for celebrations on Thursday afternoon, as well as the Ulster Aviation Society's replica spitfire in its grounds.
Annie Cherry, 83, from the Shankill Road was among those taking part in the festivities.
'(Those that fought) gave us a better life and maybe a bit more happiness,' she said.
'One of my brother-in-laws was taken captive during the war, he was in a concentration camp, when he came home there was hardly any flesh on him, it must have been hard.'
Later on Thursday, beacons will be lit across a number of locations including Bangor, Newtownards, Lisburn, Armagh, Enniskillen, Coleraine, Londonderry and Coleraine to symbolise the light and hope that emerged from the darkness of war.
Today we honour the courage and sacrifice of all those who served in World War Two. And to veterans from Northern Ireland and beyond, we thank you for your service, your bravery and the part you played in securing peace and freedom. https://t.co/zpsR73mVm5
— Hilary Benn (@hilarybennmp) May 8, 2025
Mr Benn took part in a number of visits across the region.
He officially opened a special Second World War exhibition at Antrim Castle Gardens, before travelling to the Ulster Aviation Society, where he met veteran Fred Jennings.
He also visited the NI War Memorial Museum, which focuses on Northern Ireland's role in the Second World War and the impact that the war had on its people, and attended a Service of Remembrance at St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh.
Mr Benn said the cost of peace must never be forgotten.
'VE Day 80 is our opportunity to remember and to honour the extraordinary courage of that great generation of World War Two veterans,' he said.
'Today should remind us all that the cost of peace must never be forgotten.
'As we hear the stories of those who served and express our profound gratitude to them, let us remember that it was their sacrifice that enabled us to live in peace and freedom.'
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly attended VE Day events in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Belfast City Hall: What do people think of new plans to charge £4 for exhibition?
Should people be charged to tour a Belfast City Hall exhibition?On Monday, People Before Profit councillor Michael Collins proposed to drop Belfast City Council's plan to charge people £4 to visit the venue's ground floor exhibition, which is usually a vote TUV councillor Ron McDowell was the only politician to second the proposal while the other parties voted against scrapping plans for the new News NI went along to find out what tourists and locals thought about being charged £4 for self-guided tours in the future. What are people being charged for? In May, Belfast City Council agreed plans to charge people a £4 entrance fee to the city hall ground floor exhibition as part of its 'City Hall Income Generation Project'.It was decided that free tours should take place through community visits organised by councillors and that under 18s would be exempt from the new members of the public can turn up for a walk-in booking or book exhibition tickets for up to nine people by email at no cost. Collins said plans to raise revenue by increasing the prices of services was "worrying"."An exhibition that really was free, is now going to be charged. Where does this end? Will we start charging people to access the building itself?", he who seconded the proposal said that he felt Collins had a point, "considering this building is owned by the citizens of Belfast" that it would be charging them for something they "already own". The DUP, SDLP, UUP, Green Party, Sinn Féin, Alliance Party and one Independent councillor voted against the proposal to scrap the new News NI contacted the main parties. A spokesperson for the DUP group on Belfast City Council said that they have a "strategic plan" to deliver more benefit to the ratepayers of the city. "At present tourists to the city, mainly large groups from cruise ships, are accessing the exhibition for free and costs for staffing etc are being absorbed by ratepayers."The £4 charge means visitors can pay £10 to access both the exhibition and a tour of city hall."Provision has been made for residents of the city to still access these for free through civic dignitaries or councillors." What's free and what's not? It is currently free to visit the City Hall visitor exhibition. The exhibition opened in 2017 and is found on the east wing of the ground floor. If offers a self-guided journey from Belfast's past to present across six themed zones, stretching through 16 city hall offers a separate 45 minute guided tour for visitors which costs £6 for adults and is free for tour offers glimpses into areas not usually accessible to the public like the council chamber and some of the upstairs public has full access the toilets, coffee shop, gift shop and stained windows along the north west and north east corridors from the main reception. There are no plans to change this. What do members of the public think? Geraldine and Martin O'Hare, originally from Belfast, came from Melbourne to visit O'Hares have lost neither their accent nor their nostalgia for Belfast."If you come to Belfast, you have to see the City Hall. For Australians or anyone, the City Hall is Belfast. Not the docks. Not the parks."That's what it's all about", Martin told BBC News later, he was reunited with his aunt outside the iconic building that he said is a central part of Belfast for tourists and locals alike. Geraldine told BBC News NI that everything in the city hall should be free for those who live in Northern Ireland, instead of the free tours having to be booked through a councillor."A public building should be available for the public, the people of Northern Ireland and Belfast especially.""It's there for the public to use and even a bonus for the visitors of Belfast", she added. Visiting Belfast from Copenhagen, Henrick thought that £4 "isn't too bad". Fresh from doing the tour, he said it was a "great experience" where you can "read a lot about the history of Belfast and Northern Ireland"."I think you can make tourists pay for it and then the members of the city or community should be free of charge. That's a way you can do it", he added. Sahid Zaman and Zerin Salma weren't as enthusiastic about paying for the tour."It's very good but not worth the money. I think it should be open to all people so they don't need to pay that", Sahid message for councillors was clear: "I think it should be free – keep it as it is". "This is our own history so you shouldn't pay", Zerin added. Fionnuala McCarten and Ted Workman were visiting the city hall to register the birth of their four-week-old daughter Fiadh. Asked if they would pay for the exhibition, Fionnuala said if she was tourist she would but if you live here, "there's no point".Ted agreed: "As someone who lives here I wouldn't pay £4 but maybe as a tourist I actually would because if I was visiting a different country I probably would to go in and check out the history and stuff". Stockport Trefoil members Eva, Ashley and Jean are in Northern Ireland for the Trefoil national meeting in Belfast on Saturday. They popped into the exhibition before heading over to the the Titanic museum. Jean told BBC News NI that in Manchester "a lot of the tours you have to pay but they are free to local residents so maybe that is the way to go".Eva thinks that £4 is a reasonable amount for visitors but said because it was free, it was "more of a tempting offer". She said she felt "rates" that local people pay mean it should be free for them. No date has been set yet for the charges to come into action and the council has already decided they will be reviewed after one year.
Scotsman
13 hours ago
- Scotsman
Mainstreaming of far-right ideas in UK politics shows why John Swinney was right to raise alarm
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Received wisdom at Westminster has it that the far-right has never made it into UK politics. Coupled with that theory is then the debate by the same commentators around what constitutes the 'far-right'. However using the measurement of policies pursued, which is, after all, the very essence of a political movement or party, the far-right has most certainly arrived in UK politics. UK parties, across the political spectrum, now embrace the hardest of hard Brexit, unthinkable even in the aftermath of the referendum in June 2016, and a policy that has done untold damage to the economy and our rights. We also had a government that promoted the sending of asylum seekers to Rwanda and MPs who openly campaign on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has underpinned our rights since the end of the Second World War. Were the UK to leave, it would be joining Russia and Belarus in doing so, hardly polite company. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Brexit, leaving the ECHR, and the Rwanda scheme are or were mainstream policy proposals in the UK yet they are policies that far-right parties elsewhere in Europe would baulk at. Even the hardest of hard-right parties in other parts of Europe such as the National Rally in France, the Vlaams Belaang in Belgium or Alternative fur Deutschland in Germany have abandoned plans to leave the EU, given the UK's Brexit debacle. John Swinney's stances on the EU, Donald Trump and migration, among others, have won plaudits (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images An attack on justice Yet despite these policy failures, the mainstreaming of the far-right has become all too common in our politics along with their tactics. Over the past few days alone, Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick, attacked the Labour Attorney General for doing his job and defending his clients. His remarks were described by former Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve 'as a direct attack on our principles of justice'. As we saw in this week's Hamilton by-election, we in Scotland are certainly not immune. Nigel Farage's attack on Anas Sarwar, which he doubled down on when challenged by the press, should act as a warning to us all. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Such remarks are unacceptable and whereas I may have legitimate policy differences with the Scottish Labour leader, they should have no place in our political discourse. For all the heat of the campaign in the run-up to what was a hard-fought by-election, it was good to see SNP and Labour leaders call out these disgraceful comments. Zia Yusuf's resignation as chair of Reform on Thursday and his concerns around Reform in the Commons should also act as a warning. Calling out bigotry That is why the First Minister was right to bring together colleagues from across the political spectrum in a summit seeking to 'lock out' Reform from Holyrood earlier this year. John Swinney is right to call out their policies and the 'bigotry' that they represent and to call out Farage as 'an accomplice of the Russian agenda'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fair play to the politicians and representatives of civil society who put any political differences aside and joined the First Minister. That meeting was criticised at the time by the Conservatives and a range of commentators. Given Reform's tactics and language over the course of the by-election campaign, we have seen just how badly needed that stance was and remains. Labour will be pleased with Thursday's win, and I congratulate them on it, however, no party can afford to be complacent about Reform. One of the lessons from Hamilton must be that the key to taking on the far-right is to challenge them on their ideas. Nigel Farage's track record is not a particularly good one. He has been a driving force campaigning to leave the EU for decades. That was a decision that has exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis, removed rights from UK citizens, damaged business, especially small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and ultimately made us all poorer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He backed Donald Trump whose presidency has destabilised the world, seen tariffs introduced that have damaged the global economy, and undermined efforts to support Ukraine against Russian aggression. 'Island of Strangers' The Reform policy platform is weak. For their opponents, that should provide ample targets. Yet, in the Westminster bubble their policies are given far too much credibility. There is an omertà around discussing the glaring failure of the Brexit experiment and the less said about Keir Starmer's 'Island of Strangers' speech on migration frankly the better. John Swinney would be the first to admit that the Scottish Government haven't got everything right. However, on the big calls around our relationship with the EU, the impact of Donald Trump's presidency, migration, child poverty and the rights we should enjoy as citizens, the SNP leader has maintained credibility for his stances, winning plaudits at Westminster and further afield. Politics is about ideas and Reform's are simply not good ones. The Conservatives and Reform are increasingly aligning on a range of policies and a pact or even merger is not out of the question. This is to be expected, given that Reform draws its politicians and many voters from the Conservatives. They have, in turn, turned their backs on One Nation conservatism, and instead the party is dominated by the Johnson/Truss populist wing, which is not so different from Farage and Reform. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This week's by-election and the preceding campaign must act as a wake-up call. During the run-up to the Holyrood elections, there is an opportunity for all parties to set out their vision for Scotland. On the one hand, there is an inclusive, outward-looking and internationalist vision represented by John Swinney, on the other is Reform's inward and exclusive offering. I know which one I'm backing.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Germany's Merz says some US lawmakers have 'no idea' of scale of Russia's rearmament
BERLIN, June 6 (Reuters) - Some U.S. lawmakers do not understand the scale of Russia's rearmament campaign, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, a day after he held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House. "I met with some senators on Capitol Hill and told them to please look at the rearmament Russia is doing," Merz told a business conference in Berlin. "They clearly have no idea what is happening there right now," he said, without identifying the senators. Russia has shifted defence plants to round-the-clock production since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has signed arms deals with North Korea and Iran, prompting European officials to warn that Moscow could soon be in a position to attack NATO territory. Russia denies any such intention and says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to protect its own security against what it casts as an aggressive, hostile West. Merz, a conservative who took power in May, is the latest European leader to visit Trump hoping to convince him of the need to back Ukraine against Russia's invasion and continue to help underpin Europe's security through the NATO alliance. Merz said he had been reassured by the words Trump had uttered during their public encounter in the Oval Office, especially the U.S. president's "resounding no" to a question on whether the United States had plans to withdraw from NATO. European countries have been boosting defence spending since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in the continent's bloodiest conflict since World War Two. Merz has backed Trump's demand for NATO members to commit to a target of more than doubling defence spending to 5% of economic output in the future. Trump welcomed that commitment on Thursday and told Merz that U.S. forces would remain in Germany. "Whether we like it or not," Merz said on Friday, "we will remain dependent on the United States... for a long time to come."
