Belfast city hall celebrates VE Day 80 with tea dance: "It really does mean a lot to us - we weren’t born then, but we owe everything we have to them"

Belfast hosted a series of events marking VE Day 80, with city hall boasting a replica Spitfire in its grounds that proved a real crowd-puller for locals and tourists alike.

Inside the building, a lunchtime tea dance brought back the sounds of the Forties in the plush surroundings of its banqueting hall – a room badly damaged by a Luftwaffe bomb in one of the earliest attacks of the Belfast Blitz.

Celebrating 80 years since the Allies beat back and destroyed the Nazi war machine, the event included musical guests and was broadcast on Radio Ulster.

​​Several revellers came in vintage costume including Sharon Robinson, who was dressed in a WAC uniform. Her grandfather fought in the Africa campaign; captured in Tobruk, he was held as a prisoner of war for several years, and she hoped to bring some of her grandmother’s joy at seeing him return back to life.

“The joy that must have been felt seeing all of them home, really,” she said. “It must have been a fantastic time to realise family members were coming back – my grandmother hadn’t seen him in all that time, while her younger sister didn’t know who he was; she was only three when he went away.

"My granny always had a photograph of him when we were young, pride of place in the living room; it’s just respect for my grandfather.”

Putting on a patriotic display with Union flags and hats were Jacqueline Bell, Annie Cherry, Liz Dawson, who said they were at the tea dance for a sing-song and to mark the heroism of the Allies – whether that was at the front lines or on the home front.

“We need to make sure people’s suffering before VE Day is never forgotten, that we appreciate what they did for us and how our lives have been so free because of them,” said Jacqueline, while Liz added: “It’s important this is a day of remembrance as well as celebration.”

Annie’s brother-in-law was taken prisoner during the war. She remembers: “When he came home, there was no flesh on him; my mother tried to build him up.

"It must have been terrible in concentration camps, but his brother was one of the ones who got them out of it – there’s a bit of history there.”

Charmaine McRoberts and Carol Hanna said the 80th anniversary is a reminder of the value of peace and need to avoid conflict.

"There’s so much going on at the minute, but you’d think people would have learned from previous wars,” said Carol. “To me, VE Day means peace.”

Audrey Lavery had already been to three VE Day events in Dundonald’s Ballybeen estate this week, and was planning to hit up more after the tea dance.

She was determined to honour the wartime experiences of her evacuee mother and air raid warden grandfather, stating: “We always remember mummy telling stories about it – the bomb hits, the blackouts and gas masks.

"It had a huge impact on her and it really does mean a lot to us too. We weren’t born then, but we owe everything we have to them.”

Among the revellers were Belfast councillors Sarah Bunting and Tracy Kelly, who were at city hall’s tea dance in a personal capacity as much as they were representing their political constituents.

"It’s about remembering the sacrifices made by our forefathers,” said Sarah. “Eighty years ago may seem like a long time, but it wasn’t that long – a lot of people here today either have direct memories of the war, or heard stories straight from their parents.

"Especially in that room, which was damaged during the Belfast Blitz, it’s very poignant to have these commemorations.”

Tracy adds that it was important to push the boat out for the 80th anniversary, especially as the march of time means few Second World War veterans are left in Northern Ireland.

"We needed to make this a big event, especially for our older generation,” she said. “Listening to the stories of older people over the last few days, it’s clear that although they celebrate VE Day, at the time it was great relief as well as joy; this day does mean a great deal.”

Other events taking place around Belfast included walking tours and talks in the city centre, an evening parade and vintage dance in CS Lewis Square, the unveiling of a memorial arch on Shankill Road, and a series of smaller street parties all over Northern Ireland’s capital.