{"id":11723,"date":"2016-06-07T12:13:27","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T11:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=11723"},"modified":"2016-06-07T12:13:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T11:13:27","slug":"somme-centenary-programme-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2016\/06\/somme-centenary-programme-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Somme Centenary Programme Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council launched their Somme Centenary programme at The Flax Gallery at the Museum at The Mill on Wednesday 1 June exactly one month before the anniversary of The Battle of the Somme.<\/h1>\n
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Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council launch their events programme to commemorate the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme taking place between July and November. Mayor, Cllr Thomas Hogg is joined by Ald Frazer Agnew MBE, Chair of Somme Working Group, Billy Snoddy, Vice Chair of Somme Working Group, Deputy Mayor, John Blair and Elected Members (l-r) Cllr Michael Maguire, Cllr Mervyn Rea MBE, Cllr Stephen Ross, Cllr Philip Brett, CentenaryCllr Jim Montgomery, Cllr Brian Duffin, Cllr Billy Webb MBE JP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To commemorate the centenary of The Battle of The Somme, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council have a programme of events running from July until November, ranging from exhibitions to theatre performances.<\/p>\n

A community grant fund was available for local groups who wanted to organise their own commemorative events.\u00a0 Thirteen local groups were awarded this funding and received their certificates at the launch. Local school children were also involved in a competition designing an image to be included in the commemorative booklet being produced to promote the programme. Templepatrick Primary School P7 pupil Christina Jenkins was the lucky winner and her drawing will feature in the centre pages of the booklet.<\/p>\n

The centenary of the Battle of the Somme has significant resonance locally, given the huge numbers of men from all parts of Ireland who served in the British Army and the many lives that were lost. \u00a0Many men from what is now Antrim and Newtownabbey, volunteered themselves for the war effort and served with great distinction; both at the Battle of the Somme and elsewhere during World War One. It is right and proper that we should honour their sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch, Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Thomas Hogg , commented \u201cThe Council programme aims to educate, inform and promote understanding of this historical event and the impact it had for the people of our Borough. \u00a0I invite all of our residents to engage with the inclusive programme of events and activities and remember the sacrifice made at the Battle of the Somme.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a full listing of events please visit the website www.antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council launched their Somme Centenary programme at The Flax Gallery at the Museum at The Mill on Wednesday 1 June exactly one month before the anniversary of The Battle of the Somme. To commemorate the centenary of The Battle of The Somme, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council have a programme of … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11725,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11723\/revisions\/11725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}