Dumfries and Galloway Council has revealed that it has no plans to mark next year’s 35th anniversary of the Lockerbie Air Disaster with a major commemoration.
Every year the local authority lays a wreath at the wall of remembrance in Dryfesdale Cemetery on the December 21 anniversary in a “low-key” manner and for milestone anniversaries there have been special commemorations at the cemetery and in Dryfesdale Church which have attracted everyone from First Minsters to the Royal Family, as well as bereaved families from around the globe and the world’s media.
However, a message was posted on the council’s Facebook page showing its simple annual wreath laying and the message: “Whilst agreeing that no formal commemorations would take place after the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie Air Disaster, our council is still committed to the memory of the victims of this terrible atrocity. We continue to pay our respects informally, as the years pass.
It also said that this year the Annandale North Ward councillors who laid the wreath had also been joined at the “private remembrance” by Consul General Jack Hillmeyer from the USA Consulate General in Edinburgh.