United Nations – 80th anniversary

The United Nations Association of Northern Ireland (UNA-NI) has invited all local councils to highlight the 80th anniversary of the United Nations on Friday 24 October 2025 – UN Day.

“We in UNA-NI are grateful that several have agreed to light up their civic buildings in UN blue on that special day and thank Newry Mourne and Down District Council sincerely for agreeing to do so.

UNA-NI is a branch and region of UNA-UK which is a non-governmental, voluntary organisation. Its aims are to encourage public and governmental support for the goals of the UN, to seek a safer, fairer and more sustainable world. Our mission in 2025 remains the same as it was in 1945: enshrining the values of the UN in the hearts and minds of the public, ensuring strong UK support for the organisation, and advocating ways to make the UN more effective.”

In 2020, UNA-NI invited all eleven local councils to light up their buildings in UN blue, to highlight the UN’s 75th anniversary and they did so. We later learned that, at a European level, the number of buildings exceeded all expectations with more than 400 buildings lit up on UN Day. 22 of those buildings were in Northern Ireland, so we helped to turn Europe UN Blue.

“We would ask people to photograph their civic buildings in UN blue and send the photographs to us at unassocni@gmail.com We will then carry them on our website at unani.weebly.com and forward them to UNA-UK for further recognition.

We are also grateful that on the morning of UN Day, BBC Radio Ulster’s Thought for the Day will refer to the 80th anniversary, and BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence will have a panel of speakers to talk about the UN. A special prayer has also been written for the UN.”

UNA-NI is a regional branch of the United Nations Association and is the hub for individual members and local groups of UNA-UK in N. Ireland. It is a volunteer-run group which supports UNA-UK's work by organising a diverse range of activities, such as awareness-raising events with keynote speakers. It supports and works with other like-minded organisations which help to promote the United Nations at a local level.