French consul, Ms. Phillipe Ray and Cllr. Malcolm Byrne,Chairman of Wexford County Council, at the Gorey Remembrance Sunday Service last Sunday.

Gorey took time to remember last Sunday and commemorate in tandem with other parts of the country and the UK and Europe on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Monsieur Philippe Ray, Chargé d’affairs at the French Embassy to Ireland, and his wife, Madame Elisabeth Ray, by their distinguished presence added an international dimension to the annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration held in Christ Church, Gorey.

The Government was represented by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, T.D. and also prominent was Senator Michael D’Arcy, the Chairman of Wexford County Council, Cllr Malcolm Byrne and Gorey Municipal Council members, Cllrs. Robbie Ireton, Joe Sullivan and Pip Breen.

Canon Mark Hayden, Rector of the Gorey Group of Parishes, welcomed the large congregation and thanked everybody who contributed to the dignified success of the occasion.

The sermon was delivered by Comdt. David Foley of the Permanent Defence Forces who spoke about the life of a soldier and the agony and the ecstasy faced by peace keepers.

He said: “It is easy for anyone to be a peace protester on any given day, but it is only the select few that must be peace-keepers every day,”

The most poignant highlight was the laying of wreaths during the 90-minute service; the Irish Defence Forces, the Irish United Nations Veterans’ Association, the Organisation of National Ex-service men and women, the French consul, An Garda Siochána, the Royal British Legion, Gorey Fire Service (representing Wexford County Fire Service), Courtown RNLI (representing the RNLI nationwide), the Ambulance Service, the Irish Coast Guard, Gorey Boys Brigade, Gorey Girls Brigade, Civil Defence, the North Wexford Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Masonic Order, “for all those involved in the cause of Irish freedom” and Mary Kenny of the Irish Great War Society representing the nursing professions contribution.

Full coverage this week in THE GOREY ECHO.