Magherafelt town set to get its own war memorial

The Royal British Legion is hoping to locate a cenotaph in the central reservation at Broad Street, a short distance from the Bridewell.

The planning application has been lodged with planners and has yet to come before Mid Ulster Council’s planning committee for approval.

And it could be September before it is considered by the planning committee.

The application allows for a five-metre high memorial bearing the names of those killed during the two World Wars with the inscription ‘Our glorious dead.’

Each of the three main Protestant churches have war cenotaphs and, if the RBL application gets the go-ahead, it will provide for the first time a neutral venue for all to remember the war dead.

Speculation that a ‘deal’ had been done over the proposed memorial and the removal of the controversial Union flag pole at the Diamond, was denied by a council spokesperson and none of the political parties would comment when asked by the Mail last month.

In Tobermore, the base of the memorial has been laid and preparations for its unveiling on June 25 are continuing. Secretary of the local Community Projects, Bertie Montgomery, said the memorial would be “a fitting tribute” to those killed in war.