Ballymena will be first NI borough to host homecoming ceremony

A Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance will also be held in the province later this month and the Regiment will also host a number of post operational presentations in Belfast and in the north-west in June detailing the part the Regiment played in contributing to developments within Afghanistan.

Their first parade taking place in the town next Friday evening, May 20, will see the Regiment exercise the Freedom of the Borough granted by Ballymena Borough Council.

Comprising one band and 250 participants, the parade will start at 7.30pm from Bridge Street and the proposed route will then take them along Mill Street, Wellington Street, Broadway Corner, Church Street, Bridge Street and back to the Braid Arts Centre.

Ballymena Mayor Councillor Maurice Mills, says it is a great privilege and honour for Ballymena to have the Royal Irish Regiment exercise their Freedom of the Borough by holding a parade to mark the return of the Royal Irish Soldiers from Afghanistan.

“I am extremely delighted that this is the second time during my terms of office as Mayor, that on behalf of the Borough, I am able to welcome the troops,” he said.

“The 20th May for us is another very important occasion to write another piece of history for the Borough in renewing our acquaintances with the Royal Irish Regiment, Ballymena having been a garrison town until recently.

“I think it is tremendous, and although it should prove to be an exciting occasion, yet it will be a solemn one, as we remember three soldiers from the Regiment who lost their lives during this last tour of duty.

“I know that the people of Ballymena will respond to this event as they did in such a remarkable way on the last occasion on 31st October 2008,” said Mr Mills.

The following afternoon, May 21, will see Lisburn City Council meet in special session to confer the Freedom of the City on The Royal Irish Regiment. The Regiment will then exercise that Freedom in a parade through the city. On Sunday, May 22,the Regiment will gather at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast for a Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance.

The following weekend Royal Irish soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment TA who served alongside their regular colleagues in Afghanistan will exercise the Regiment’s Freedom of Castlereagh in a parade before moving to Hillsborough Castle for a ceremony with their families and friends in order to receive their Operational Medals.

Next month, the Regiment is hosting a series of lectures both in Belfast and the north-west to describe their contribution to developments within Afghanistan to a range of audiences.

The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment has already paraded near their home base at Ternhill in Shropshire. There the council of Market Drayton has voted to grant the regiment the Freedom of the Borough in a ceremony next year.