HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Prime Minister Gordon Brown attends Northern Ireland service [September 2008]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 10 September 2008.

The Prime Minister has attended a special service at St Paul’s cathedral in London to commemorate the efforts of more than 300,000 members of the Armed Forces who served on Operation Banner in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007.

The service was attended by more than 2,000 veterans and family members as well as Defence Secretary Des Browne, the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall,  Baroness Thatcher and Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup.

Readings were given by representatives from the three Services, the chair of the Northern Ireland Veterans Association Andrew Bennett, and 13-year-old Nicola-Louise Scanlon, the daughter of an Operation Banner veteran who lives in Northern Ireland.

In a Downing Street statement, the PM said:

“We owe a debt of gratitude to all service personnel who served on Operation Banner between 1969 and 2007, and especially those who gave their lives. They helped create the conditions for the peace Northern Ireland now enjoys, and today we salute their courage. It is in their honour, and for all the people of Northern Ireland, that all those committed to the Province’s future must work together to ensure a lasting peace.”

After the service, 700 veterans marched through the city to the London Guildhall and HRH The Prince of Wales took the salute outside the cathedral.