3 years ago
27
ARTICLE AD BOX
By Mark Simpson
BBC News NI
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, The service is to be held in St Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral in Armagh on Thursday morningPrime Minister Boris Johnson will visit Northern Ireland to attend a church service to mark the centenary of partition and the formation of Northern Ireland.
Politicians from both sides of the Irish border will also attend the cross-community church service.
The event on Thursday in Armagh has been organised by the main Protestant and Catholic church leaders.
The Queen was due to attend but was unable to travel for medical reasons.
Irish president Michael D Higgins declined an invitation, as he felt the service was "not politically neutral".
Sinn Féin also decided not to attend.
Northern Ireland was established in May 1921 after the partition of Ireland.
About 150 people will attend the service at St Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral. It has room for 500 but numbers have been restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan, DUP, will attend, as will DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie, Alliance leader Naomi Long and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.
The BBC News NI website has a dedicated section marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland and partition of the island.
There are special reports on the major figures of the time and the events that shaped modern Ireland available at bbc.co.uk/ni100.
Year '21:You can also explore how Northern Ireland was created a hundred years ago in the company of Tara Mills and Declan Harvey.
Listen to the latest Year '21 podcast on BBC Sounds or catch-up on previous episodes.
Two representatives from the Irish government will be present, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, who is a Fine Gael politician, and chief whip Jack Chambers who is a member of Fianna Fail.
Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, will not be at the service and neither will the speaker of the Stormont Assembly, Alex Maskey.
An assembly spokesperson said: "The speaker is receiving a senior parliamentary delegation, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Swiss Parliament, at Parliament Buildings on Thursday but he has asked deputy speaker Roy Beggs MLA to attend in his place to ensure that the assembly is formally represented at the Armagh service."
The sermon will be delivered by the Reverend Dr Sahr Yambasu, who was elected president of the Methodist Church in Ireland earlier this year.
Born in Sierra Leone, he is the first African-born leader of one of Ireland's main churches.
Speaking to BBC News NI ahead of the service, he said he would be issuing a challenge to the congregation.
"Try and understand our history from the perspective of others, and have the humility to respect that, because in conversation we can overcome a lot of differences," he said.
A small choir of children from different backgrounds in the Armagh area will perform a song.
English (US)