Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt, has praised the Royal British Legion for today's ceremony commemorating local soldiers serving in the British Army who lost their lives in the 1916 Easter Rebellion.

29 of the 116 soldiers who died 100 years ago were from Irish Regiments, including 19 year old Alexander "Sandy" McClelland, who had volunteered to join his elder brother on the Western Front, but was sent to Dublin amid rumours of a rebellion, and died on the 27th April 1916.

His memory was honoured today when the local branch of the RBL paraded from Greyabbey Village Hall to Rifleman McClelland's grave at St Saviour’s Parish Church, a few miles from his home in Balligan on the Ards Peninsula.

Mr Nesbitt said:

"It was good to see the Royal British Legion take steps to ensure we remembered all who died in Dublin 100 years ago, not just the leaders of the Rebellion.

"Sandy McClelland was just 19 years old, far too young to die, as were so many of those who were killed in the Rebellion.

"No one needed to die that weekend, just as no one needed to die to get us to where we are today, a place where self-determination saw huge numbers vote for peace following the 1998 agreement.

"I look forward to leading an Ulster Unionist delegation to Dublin in ten days time, when we will offer a unionist perspective on the Rebellion, challenging the causes and consequences of what happened.

"The Rebellion was a seismic event, which reverberates today. It cannot be ignored. I am grateful to the organisers of today's commemoration who have ensured young lives, lost too early and without reason, are not forgotten."