UDR Memorial Marked By Veterans Parade

Hundreds of Ulster Defence Regiment veterans paraded in Lisburn yesterday to mark the unveiling of a bronze memorial to the 50,000 men and women who served in the regiment.

The sculpture, which was created by John Sherlock, depicts a UDR solider and a Greenfinch operating a normal vehicle checkpoint - one of the everyday duties of UDR soldiers during the Troubles.

It was unveiled by Lord Lieutenant Mrs Joan Christie OBE at Market Square during a ceremony which was also attended by Lisburn City Council Deputy Mayor William Leathem, Viscount Brookeborough and Brigadier Ed Smyth-Osbourne.

The former soldiers received applause from the crowds who had gathered for the unveiling of the memorial, in spite of the bad weather.

The UDR was formed on April 1 1970 in Lisburn and more than 50,000 men and women served in the regiment, which was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992.

During the Troubles, 260 serving and former members were killed and over 400 were wounded - many of them off-duty and at their homes or workplaces.

The UDR Memorial Trust said that the memorial was "a fitting tribute to their courage and dedication to duty, as well as a recognition of the sacrifice and stress which their service brought to their families".

The statue was funded entirely from UDR charity funds, supplemented by public appeal.

Speaking at the memorial, the Trust's Chairman Wesley Duncan said that he hoped that people would remember the UDR for "helping to keep the peace at a very troubled time in our history".

However, the monument has caused controversy within the nationalist community. Earlier this year, Sinn Fein's Paul Butler, then an MLA for Lagan Valley, had described the decision to place the statue in Lisburn city centre as "insulting and intimidating". He told the Belfast Telegraph: "If the UDR Memorial Trust want to put up a statue to remember their officers, I think it's fair enough, but they should put it in their barracks or offices - the council shouldn't facilitate this."

Mr Duncan acknowledged the controversy during yesterday's ceremony. He told the crowd: "It was unfortunate that there were members who did bad things and we're not trying to hide that. But what we would say is that there's almost 50,000 people who didn't do bad things - who did good things, who were ordinary decent people who wanted to do the best they could for their country."

(KMcA)