WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A LORD LIEUTENANT CADET

The Lord Lieutenants are an important part of Civil Society in Northern Ireland, as they are across the rest of the UK. As The Kings’ representative in each county, they represent His Majesty at local civil, voluntary and social events including Royal Visits and award presentations to name but a few.

Each Lord Lieutenant will have (at least one) Lord Lieutenant Cadet appointed to them each year to accompany them and assist at events. These are cadets who are selected from their peers as being exemplary members of their respective cadet organisation as well as contributing to society in other ways outside their cadet experiences.

One of these cadets is Matthew Neilly, an Army Cadet from 2nd (Northern Ireland) Battalion Army Cadets. This is what he had to say when we asked him to sum up his experience so far:

“When I was first appointed as Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for the County Borough of Belfast, I didn’t quite know what to expect and was a little nervous about meeting some important people and maybe meeting some members of the Royal Family! When I first met Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle DBE DStJ she was fantastic at putting me at ease and made me feel welcome straight away.

I’ve attended so many events, including the Band of the Royal Irish Regiment’s award ceremony, the Centennial Remembrance event for the Police Service, many events relating to her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, a Garden Party at Hillsborough Castle where we welcomed Princess Anne and an event at the Belfast Arts Centre welcoming the Duke and Duchess of Wessex. I can’t deny that being an Army Cadet has given me some fantastic opportunities.

I have also been involved in a number of events relating to Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral and the Proclamation of His Majesty the King. Although this was an incredibly sad time for everyone, I was very proud and honoured that I was able to be involved”

Another one of Dame Jay-O’Boyle’s Cadets is Bertie Turkington – an Air Cadet from Campbell College, Combined Cadet Force. He has had similar experience to Matthew as he has been busy attending the Lord Lieutenant a various events – but he took the time to explain the other side of his cadet experience to us:

“After a busy few months of revising and exams, it was a pleasure to be outside doing practical things with good friends. I spent 8 days at Magilligan Camp on the north coast. We practiced reconnaissance, platoon attacks, TIBUA (Training In Built Up Areas), ambushes, stalking, we spent a night under a bivouac and got to also did some valuable navigation and first training. 

Thankfully, I also had the opportunity to practice 7.62 shooting on the 300m range, as just after 36 hours at home I flew with the school shooting team to Bisley for the Schools Imperial Meeting (shooting completion). I felt proud that, despite our teams inexperience we shot really well, featuring in the top 50 (out of nearly 400) and we even took home a medal of two. 

 

Then, after 15 hours at home I was off to Ballykinler Army Camp (the opposite side of Northern Ireland from Magilligan) with senior cadets from across the province to gain our Senior Cadet Instructors Cadre (SCIC) where we practiced methods of teaching and phraseology and also got to take part in section and dawn attacks, this time with peers instead of junior cadets.

My final week of activity was at Palace Barracks with the school Pipe Band, where as well as performing we also took part in a variety of activities including caving, climbing, sailing (including RIB Sailing) and we even got to visit the Bomb Disposal Unit! The trip to the Royal Irish Museum and Enniskillen Castle (home of the Inniskillings) was an extra treat.

A fantastic four weeks of activity, facing challenges, learning new skills and having some great laughs. The CCF is so much more than military training and connections to the forces. It gives pupils easy access to activities, expertise, experience and exciting equipment and is where I have made trusted friendships that will last forever.”

The opportunities afforded to young people across all of the Cadet Forces are truly second to none. You can make enquiries on how to get involved at: [email protected]