Carla Lockhart said:

“This has been a fantastic day in Banbridge, with thousands of people descending upon the town to honour our armed forces community.

I want to pay credit to our local Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council for hosting this spectacular and for all the various community participants, not least Banbridge Rugby Club for opening their grounds to facilitate this wonderful community event.

This truly was a day that catered for all ages, and it was great to see so many people young and old enjoying the music, not least from the wonderful Band of the Royal Irish Regiment accompanied by bugles, pipes and drums of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish. The Park was awash with colour and of course the famous Red Arrows filled the skies above us with red, white and blue as part of their dynamic display.

Our Armed Forces do so much for our nation, and Armed Forces Day is a day when the community can celebrate this contribution and show our support for our Armed Forces personnel. I know from speaking to some of those service men and women who attended that this is a special day for them, and that makes it all worthwhile.”