skip to main content

Big screens erected at venues in NI for coronation

People gathered at public screenings in parts of Northern Ireland to watch the coronation of King Charles III.

Big screens were erected at Belfast City Hall, in Antrim Castle Gardens and on the shores of Belfast Lough at Jordanstown.

Towns like Larne, Carrickfergus and Ballymena offered similar facilities.

Other councils such as in Mid Ulster and Derry and Strabane did not organise any official events.

There was a 21-gun salute at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down at Hillsborough just after midday to coincide with the coronation.

Sinn Féin deputy president Michelle O’Neill attended the coronation in Westminster.

Cordial relations have developed between the party and British royal family over the last decade.

Ms O’Neill said she was participated as she wanted to show that she could be a "First Minister for all" when the power-sharing institutions at Stormont are restored.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood was also at the coronation. He said he went to "show respect to people from different traditions who share our island".

But he said the cost of the lavish ceremony – estimated at up to £100m – was "unjustified" at a time when school meal schemes for underprivileged children were being cut in Northern Ireland.

People Before Profit opposed the coronation and organised a "Make Monarchy History" event in Belfast last night which was billed as an "alternative conversation ahead of the coronation".

People from Northern Ireland participated in the ceremony.

They included choristers from Methodist College in Belfast.

Also in the congregation was Syrian refugee Hassan Alkhawam, who arrived in Northern Ireland in 2017 having fled the war.

He was helped by the Prince's Trust into education and employment and now assists other refugees through a social enterprise he established.