Browse content similar to 01/07/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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A special service has been held in France to remember the men | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
from across Ireland who died at the Somme. | :00:19. | :00:20. | |
More than a million men were killed or injured over | :00:21. | :00:23. | |
the course of five months - thousands of them from here. | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
Today's service at the Ulster Tower at Thiepval reflected | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
the scale of the tragedy - but also captured the individual | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
A generation wiped out and barely a town or village | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
The Battle of the Somme ceremony for the 36th Ulster Division began | :00:38. | :00:48. | |
with the presentation of regimental colours | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
Several thousand people from Northern Ireland made the trip | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
The day had begun much earlier in nearby Thiepval Wood where | :00:57. | :01:04. | |
whistles were blowing just as they were 100 years | :01:05. | :01:06. | |
ago at the precise time the Ulstermen went over the top. | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
Conor McCracken's great uncle was one of them. | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
I just think about what it must have felt like for him going over the top | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
and knowing that his brother has been killed in there before. | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
Amongst the VIPs, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall | :01:22. | :01:24. | |
who were warmly applauded by the crowds as the arrived | :01:25. | :01:27. | |
During the service, poignant letters written by soldiers | :01:28. | :01:42. | |
The 16th Irish Division as well as the 36th Ulster Division, | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
I still think if we had those men beside us that day, | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
It was a day of remembrance and reflection. | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
I have met people who had great grandfathers and great uncles | :01:57. | :02:04. | |
Some of their bodies were never found and some of them | :02:05. | :02:13. | |
It is very interesting today because 100 years ago, | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
people have started to talk about their own families | :02:17. | :02:18. | |
I've been to a fewthe graveyards and there were lads who were 15, 16. | :02:19. | :02:39. | |
I've been here the last number of years because this day is different. | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
The number of people from Northern Ireland in the UK | :02:45. | :02:46. | |
and the number of people who are prepared 100 | :02:47. | :02:48. | |
years on to give up time to pay their respects. | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
It is very hard to know in terms of common humanity and ability | :02:52. | :02:54. | |
It just brings it home to what our forefathers have done for us. | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
Not just one part of the country but for the other | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
They fought for the freedom we have today. | :03:02. | :03:23. | |
There are no longer any Battle of the Somme veterans left | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
Now it is about honouring the memory of what happened in these fields, | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
The First Minister Arlene Foster was among those who laid a wreath | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
She said it was a very moving occasion. | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
It means so much to so many people in Northern Ireland. That is why it | :03:42. | :03:49. | |
was so important to me to be here today, not just at Thiepval but also | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
the Ulster Tower which encompasses all the memories for the 36th Ulster | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
division. I found the service is very moving and emotional and I am | :04:00. | :04:01. | |
proud to have been part of them. For the first time, | :04:02. | :04:02. | |
a Catholic Archbishop attended Archbishop Eamon Martin said | :04:03. | :04:04. | |
he had decided to come to promote a message of peace, | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
healing and reconciliation. It is part of our shared history. I | :04:08. | :04:19. | |
think it is sad that down through the decades, registries have moved | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
apart and we have begun to tell separate narratives about what took | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
place here and yet the stories I hear are that Protestants and | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
Catholics stood side-by-side, fought side-by-side for freedom and for | :04:34. | :04:42. | |
peace. I really hope we have taken a small step forward to recovering the | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
complexity of the narrative and the fact that we do have something very | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
much in common when we think back to the bravery of those men. | :04:51. | :04:52. | |
Back at home, several events have taken place to mark | :04:53. | :04:54. | |
In Carrickfergus tonight, 4000 people attended | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
A military parade entered the grounds of the town's castle | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
at 7:28pm, 12 hours after Irish troops went over the top | :05:02. | :05:03. | |
A musical tribute was led by soloist Aled Jones. | :05:04. | :05:12. | |
Earlier today wreaths were laid in Belfast and Dublin to remember | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
all of the Irish men who died in the battle. | :05:18. | :05:19. | |
It was an emotional day for the relatives of those who, | :05:20. | :05:22. | |
from all walks of life, didn't make it home from the war. | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
At Belfast City Hall, people gathered for a wreath laying | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
ceremony remembering the men from both the 36th Ulster Division | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
and the 16th Irish Division who lost their lives at the Somme. | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
Among those paying tribute was the Lord Mayor Brian Kingston | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
and the Irish government minister Leo Varadkar. | :05:44. | :05:55. | |
Elsewhere in Belfast, people in Tower Street | :05:56. | :05:57. | |
organised a cross community and Somme street festival. | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
Local residents researched six soldiers that were on the wall | :06:04. | :06:05. | |
I think it's good for this committee. | :06:06. | :06:20. | |
During times of the committee, they put their heart | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
At Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, soldiers from the 38th | :06:24. | :06:26. | |
Irish Brigade mustered at the Thiepval Memorial | :06:27. | :06:28. | |
for an ecumenical commemoration service. | :06:29. | :06:35. | |
In the Republic, a commemoration was held at Irish National War | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
Memorial Gardens in Island Bridge, involving the Irish Defence Forces | :06:39. | :06:40. | |
At the commemoration in Enniskillen Castle, | :06:41. | :06:53. | |
a bugle used at the Somme was played to recreate the start of the battle. | :06:54. | :07:01. | |
The bugle belonged to drummer Jack Downes from Londonderry | :07:02. | :07:10. | |
and it was played again today exactly 100 years on. | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
It is the one artefact within our collection that can speak. Medals | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
and photographs and letters are very poignant but this is the exact sound | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
that relative would have heard 100 years ago. | :07:28. | :07:29. | |
Some other news now, and a man in his 50s has died | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
He was shot up to four times by a gunman outside a shop off | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
Thomas Street in Dublin's inner city this afternoon. | :07:38. | :07:39. | |
He has been named locally as 53-year-old David | :07:40. | :07:41. | |
Gardai say he had a number of previous criminal convictions, | :07:42. | :07:47. | |
but the shooting is not connected to the Hutch Kinahan feud. | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
A man has died after a car crash in County Armagh. | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
The incident involving one car happened at the Stonebridge | :07:58. | :08:04. | |
roundabout on the Portadown Road in Richhill this afternoon. | :08:05. | :08:06. | |
Paint has been thrown at two orange halls in Banbridge | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
in what the police say was a sectarian hate attack. | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
Republican graffiti was also daubed on the walls of Tanvally and Corbet | :08:14. | :08:17. | |
The Orange Order says 12 of its properties have | :08:18. | :08:25. | |
Now finally onto the weekend weather forecast, and here's Geoff Maskell. | :08:26. | :08:31. |