Press Releases14 Oct 09

Countess of Wessex attends Service for Military Nurses at Belfast Cathedral

Service Honouring Military Nurses Held at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast

The Dean of Belfast and HRH the Countess of Wessex

The Countess of Wessex, Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC), today (14th of October 2009) attended a service held in St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast recognising the dedication and work of thousands of Military Nurses. The Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd Dr Houston McKelvey, who conducted the service and gave an address, welcomed the Countess to the Cathedral, and the Bishop of Connor, the Right Revd Alan Abernethy, dedicated a new stained glass window in the cathedral's sanctuary.

Hundreds of serving and retired men and women and their families attended the interdenominational service and witnessed the dedication of the Memorial Window in recognition of the service of The Royal Army Medical Corps in the preservation of life in peace and war.

Her Royal Highness was greeted by Dame Mary Peters DBE, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, and went on to meet Colonel (Retd) Rosie Kennedy CBE Colonel Commandant, QARANC; the Very Revd Dr Houston McKelvey QVRM TD; Councillor Naomi Long MLA, the Rt Hon The Lord Mayor of Belfast; Councillor Francis McCoubrey, Sheriff for the County Borough of Belfast; and Mr Michael McGimpsey MLA, Minister, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

For the formal dedication of the window, the Dean escorted the Countess to the south side of the sanctuary where the window was installed in 2007. The Countess then petitioned the Bishop of Connor to dedicate the stained glass memorial, depicting the Corps Badge, in remembrance of the service given in times of peace and conflict by members of the Corps.

Following the service Her Royal Highness was Guest of Honour at a reception in the Cathedral Hall where Major Shirley Laverick-Stovin, Second-In-Command Operating Theatres DCU, presented a number of guests who attended the service.

The Board of St Anne's Cathedral approved the installation of a window honouring the role of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, and its predecessors, in peace and in war worldwide. It was installed in the south side of the sanctuary in September 2007, opposite the memorial window for the Royal Army Medical Corps which was installed in October 2006.

The window was designed and installed by CWS Design Stained Glass Studios of Hilden, Lisburn. The centre illustrates the Corps Badge and below is the inscription 'In Memory of all Military Nurses', both of which are set into a delicate grey French glass.  The border shows the Corps colours interrupted by Celtic Crosses.

In his address at today's service, the Dean said, 'I hope that those who have served and especially those from the province from the Corps Association and those serving here, will come and look at this window, remember those whom it represents, remember the spiritual and professional values it represents and say "Thank God" for all that tradition of army nursing service to the suffering.'

ENDS