| The changeable weather in the run-up to D-Day delayed the landings and, 80 years on, there is a mix of cloud and sun in Belfast and in France, where the king has spoken of his profound gratitude to the veterans. I was in London on the 50th anniversary, 1994, and I have been looking back at my interviews with Northern Ireland D-Day veterans on the 60th anniversary, 2004, and 70th, 2014. They are all dead now. I am struck by the horror of what they saw. Stanley Burrows told me that with people being killed and having limbs blown off it was every bit as harrowing as depicted in Steven Spielberg's brilliant film Saving Private Ryan. Sam Lowry said, looking back, it was grotesque to see things such as hand-to-hand combat. William Cooke was a mere 18, and as a Morse code operator just off the beaches recounted to me looking over his landing craft at one stage and seeing dead bodies floating all around. George Spencer, from Ballymena, still alive aged 98, tells Philip Bradfield that as a survivor he still feels guilty. George Horner, 97 from Carrick, recalls the "slaughter house" of Sword beach. There are commemorations today in Belfast and in Lisburn. Emma Little Pengelly, as deputy first minister, writes here about representing Northern Ireland in France today. Meanwhile, Michael Dunlop at the TT has surpassed even his uncle Joey's record. Here is Kyle White, writing from the Isle of Man, on that triumph. Enjoy your day. We are so fortunate not to have been sent into battle like those young men 80 years ago. Ben | 