Causeway Coast and Glens Council have described the recent Armed Forces Day in Coleraine as ‘excellent’.

During the September Commemoration and Celebration Subcommittee meeting, Democratic and Central Services Manager, Amanda Hamilton, informed members that Armed Forces Day 2026 on Saturday, June 20, had around 25,000 attendees and 2.7 million social media views.

“It’s fair to say there was significant reach both on the ground and online,” she added. “There was a significant increase in social media activity for Council throughout the whole of June that was generated by this one event.

“For us, the strongest content was highly visual like the parachute displays, the military personnel, the bands, and the atmosphere.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council have praised the recent Armed Forces Day in Coleraine as “excellent”.

placeholder image — Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council have praised the recent Armed Forces Day in Coleraine as “excellent”.

“We find that human and emotional storytelling worked particularly well in terms of engagement on our social media and Coleraine itself was consistently visible throughout the campaign as well, which is great for us in terms of Coleraine as a destination capable of hosting a major civic and visitor event.”

Subcommittee Chair, DUP Alderman Michelle Knight-McQuillan, said feedback she received from locals and visitors was universally positive.

“It was organised to a T, and the way everything was managed this year doubled the scope of the parade.”

DUP Councillor Mervyn Storey agreed that Armed Forces Day was an “excellent event that was exceptionally well executed” and praised Council staff’s hard work, while Alliance Councillor Peter McCully said that his party colleagues’ feedback had been “universally positive”.

“There have been a lot of positive comments out in the community as well, so I want to put on record my thanks to the Council officers who made it possible,” he concluded.