Stonemasons' pride over memorial

By Fiona Murray
BBC News

The memorial was built by a County Down firm

The head of a County Down firm which constructed a new memorial to the armed forces in Staffordshire has spoken of his pride at its completion.

McConnell and Sons of Kilkeel built a £6m stone circle and engraved on it the names of 16,000 service personnel.

It honours thousands killed in combat and training since World War II, as well as those killed in the Troubles.

Norman McKibben of the stonemasons said they had been involved with the memorial project for about two years.

"We are very proud to be involved with something that is going to mean so much to so many people down through the years," he told the BBC.

The firm was also behind the memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales

His colleague Harvey McConnell said it was a fitting tribute.

"I just said to some of the boys one evening as they were looking at the names. Most of them would be in their teens or 20s," he said.

"They gave their lives for their country. It just makes you full of gratitude for people like them."

McConnell and Sons has a high profile in monumental stonework.

Its most prestigious work to date has been producing the intricate stonework for the Princess of Wales memorial fountain in Hydepark, London.

IRA bomb

Senior members of the Kilkeel company attended the ceremony to dedicate the £6m stone circle in Alrewas, Staffordshire to those who died.

Among the guests were the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales, as well as Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Queen took a moment to examine the name of the Earl Mountbatten, her cousin, who was killed by a Provisional IRA bomb in 1979.

The memorial also includes the names of 59 people who were targeted in Northern Ireland after they had left the armed forces.

There is room for 15,000 more names to be carved on the Portland stone walls of the memorial, at the National Memorial Arboretum.

It will open to visitors on 29 October.