Member's statement: Battle of the Somme: 110th Anniversary
Member's statement by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on .
- MLA
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 29 June 2026
- Type
- Member's statement (made as a minister)
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Battle of the Somme: 110th Anniversary
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5644546
Read the official Assembly record
Text
This week, I will travel to France to pay my respects to all those who fought and the many who fell at the Battle of the Somme as we mark its 110th anniversary. From across Northern Ireland, generations have served their country. They have stood against tyranny, defended democracy, provided humanitarian aid in times of crisis and represented the very best of this place. Many of the men — the boys — who fought at the Somme were ordinary sons, fathers, brothers and friends: tens of thousands of ordinary men and boys who lived through a truly extraordinary thing. They fought for our freedoms. They fought against aggression. They fought, and many, many died, in the defence of others. Such courage and sacrifice deserve not only our gratitude but our enduring support.
"No greater love hath a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends".
One of the men who fought was James Sandford, my great-grandfather. He fought, he survived, he went on to fight again, and he was seriously injured in another battle. I am deeply proud of him, and I am proud of all those who stepped forward with such honour in the face of the horror of that war. Another was Robert Hillen, who, aged just 20, lost his life on the first day of the Somme. He was my great-grandmother Margaret's brother. The 36th (Ulster) Division and so many others suffered so many thousands of casualties on that first day. At a time when the world remains uncertain and when freedom cannot be taken for granted, we are reminded that the security that we enjoy today was secured through the dedication and bravery of others. When I stand there this week, looking at the gravestones of so many who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom, I will also remember — we must always remember — the responsibility that we carry forward. Remembrance is not only about honouring the past; it is about shaping the future. It is about ensuring that the sacrifice of those young men who gave everything that they had and that they might have become was not in vain. Their legacy lives on in the freedoms that we enjoy, the values that we uphold and the choices that we make as a society.
It falls to us all to be worthy of that sacrifice. We must stand firm for peace, defend democracy and ensure that, even in the darkest of times, we never forget the cost paid for the world, the peace and the freedom that we so often take for granted.
435 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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