At a meeting on Monday night Mid and East Antrim Borough Council granted permission to allow the local Ulster Defence Regiment Association to erect a commemorative memorial stone in the Ballymena War Memorial Garden.
Speaking after the meeting Deputy Mayor Cllr Timothy Gaston said:
“I welcome the decision to permit this fitting tribute to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of those from Ballymena who served in the UDR. I’m pleased that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council have stepped up to the mark and are moving forward with the memorial stone after a number of years when the former council seemed to drag its heels when it came to this issue.
“The people of Mid and East Antrim, and Ballymena in particular, owe a great deal to the men and women from all religions and backgrounds who answered the call to duty and served their Queen and country in the Ulster Defence Regiment. Very often many of these brave men and women came home from their day at work, pulled on their uniform and went out to protect their neighbours from terrorism. Their bravery was such that it was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen in 2006 with the award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross.
“The people of Ballymena owe a debt of gratitude to the courage and service of the UDR. I feel this memorial stone will be a fitting tribute. Now the decision has been made, I have asked that Council make the necessary arrangements to have the memorial erected, with an appropriate service of dedication as soon as possible.
“When we discussed the memorial in Council I was very disappointed with the negative, reactionary and toxic attitude of some of the councillors, in particular Cllr O’Loan and Sinn Fein. On behalf of the Nationalist community, I was embarrassed by the behaviour of their elected representatives, their negative and often offensive language and their inability to show real civic leadership. The only thing Cllr O’Loan managed to achieve in his attempts to ‘out-green’ Sinn Fein was to further damage community relations in the new council area.
“Rather than continuing their destructive agenda in the back corner of the council chamber, I urge the nationalists to take a progressive approach and move forward with the rest of the Chamber to focus on building a new council which is modern, efficient and effective for all our ratepayers.
“Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is only six months old. We have a great opportunity, through our new and increased powers, to deliver on our vision and significantly improve the quality of life of our citizens. I hope that can be our focus and the rhetoric and negativity we heard on Monday night will be a thing of the past.”