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The Dean of Armagh Anglican Cathedral has spoken of how poignant it is that the 80th anniversary of D-Day is perhaps the last such milestone the survivors will see.

Shane Forster was speaking as the cathedral hosted a cross-denominational service marking the occasion today – one of many events across Northern Ireland.

Beacons were lit tonight in Lisburn, Newtownards, Bangor, Ballyhalbert, Portrush, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne, Armagh, Enniskillen, Antrim, and Mossley.

In Belfast, City Hall was lit up in blue for the occasion. A D-Day panel discussion took place there, and a 1940s-themed tea dance was staged for senior citizens.

There was a wreath-laying at Larne War Memorial Gardens highlighting the role Larne and her seafarers played in the landings, and an evening parade with Magheramorne Silver Band.

There were Royal British Legion parades in Rathfriland, Cookstown and Strabane, and one in Enniskillen by the RAF Association.

The legion also organised tributes at Magilligan Strand and Limavady War Memorial in the morning, while legion members later took part in a remembrance ceremony in Coleraine.

Emma Little-Pengelly, the DUP deputy first minister, was in Normandy itself for the commemorations.

The D-Day landings were preceded by a handful of airborne attacks late on the night of June 5 to seize vital points like bridges before the Germans realised a full-scale invasion was underway and blew them up.

The seaborne landings the next morning were a reversal of the Dunkirk evacuations of May and June 1940, when an out-fought British army left most of its equipment on French beaches as over 300,000 men were haphazardly shipped back to England.

According to the US National D-Day Memorial, some 4,426 Allied soldiers died in the initial D-day landings: 2,509 Americans, and 1,917 other Allies – mainly from the UK, but also Canadians, French, Australians and Norwegians.

‘CHURCH WAS SHELLED BUT NEVER FELL’

Tens of thousands of other Allied soldiers (including over 10,000 UK troops) went on to die in the wider Battle of Normandy, as did tens of thousands of civilians.

During the service, Dean Forster told the congregation: "Lord of the nations, we honour the bravery and sacrifice of those who served.

"Grant us similar courage to recognise and restrain evil in our own day and may those who lead the nations of the world work together to defend human liberty, that we may live peaceably one with another.

"This we ask in the name of the Prince of Peace, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."

A passage from the recollections of Lt Gen RN Gale was read out by Maj Richard Scott of C Coy, 2 Batt, the Royal Irish Regiment.

He said: "The church at Ranville [a village outside Caen city] came to mean a lot to us: it was a landmark standing clear above the village, rising above the hubbub of battle; somehow it seemed to stand for us.

"Though hit by shells it never fell. Coming over the bridges it greeted us...

"Our comrades who were killed in the fighting nearby found their resting place in graves which the troops dug for their lost friends in the churchyard.

"But the churchyard was not big enough. So it was that outside we built another, our own, cemetery."

There followed the Last Post, a two-minute silence, and the National Anthem.

‘CATHOLIC & PROTESTANT, THEY STOOD TOGETHER’

Speaking to the News Letter about the fact that this may be the last major D-Day anniversary any veterans will see, Dean Forster said: “It's very poignant indeed. We have the widow of a soldier who was there on Sword beach at Normandy, and to think that people of that generation are slowly passing away is particularly moving.”

The soldier died in 1984, but the shellshock he suffered affected him “his whole life”.

“We all know it when we look at the frailty of those survivors of D-day in their late 90s,” added Canon Barry Paine.

"It's just an honour actually to see them, to maybe meet one or two widows, because we won't have them around much longer and I just pray it’s not forgotten at all.

“We [Northern Irish soldiers] were there on the beaches and that's the most important thing.

"Regardless of religion, denomination, or whatever, men from north and south stood together, and fought together, and died together.

"And to me that's something we should never lose as well. That's fact. That's history."

This was echoed by Father Barry Matthews, administrator of the Catholic cathedral, who said “people stood shoulder to shoulder in this war for justice and peace and an outcome of an end to the conflict – that's why I think it's important we all take note of moments like this”.

Northern Ireland honours D-Day's 80th anniversary with beacons and prayer - 'Catholic and Protestant fought together... and died together'

‘CHURCH WAS SHELLED BUT NEVER FELL’

‘CATHOLIC & PROTESTANT, THEY STOOD TOGETHER’