This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Dominic Meiklejohn

Part of UK in USA [New York]

15th September 2010 New York, USA

9/11 at the British Memorial Garden

 

September 11 is, of course, a hugely important day in New York. Each year the Consulate and the British Memorial Garden Trust hold a small ceremony at the British Garden in Hanover Square to remember the 67 British victims of the attacks on the USA of 11 September 2001.
 
This year, as in previous years, we were joined by members of the victims’ families.  It’s a privilege to share this moment in the Garden with them.   I am struck by how much it means to them to have a place in New York dedicated to their loved ones. That significance is all the greater after the Garden’s opening by HM The Queen in July. 
 
The Garden exists because the City of New York allowed the space to be used to commemorate the loss of British lives. We were touched that  NY City Parks Commissioner Bill Castro joined us on Saturday.  He has always been a real friend  to the Garden. 
 
And, as in each of the past nine years, law enforcement agencies also helped mark the occasion. New Jersey State Troopers, Toronto police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were represented. It was great to meet again the British policemen who have worked hard to maintain the links forged after the attacks.


Photos: Luke Locurcio
 
We continue to work on the Garden, to keep it a fitting memorial for those who died, a place of remembrance for their families, a park for New Yorkers seeking some respite from the hectic pace of Downtown and a symbol of the links between the UK and this great city.  If you’d like to help us, please visit The British Garden website.

About Dominic Meiklejohn

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise…

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. After working for the European Community Department, I learned Polish and began a posting at the British Embassy Warsaw, where I headed the British Know How Fund for Poland (1993-96). In 1997, I worked for the OSCE Mission in Albania, before heading up the India team in the South Asian Department of the FCO. In 2000, I was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy Warsaw, with a particular focus on European Union issues in the run-up to Poland’s accession to the EU. In 2003, I returned to the UK as Deputy Head of the Environment Policy Department. From 2004-2005, I led the FCO’s Knowledge Management Programme. During this period, I led two deployments of the FCO’s Consular Rapid Deployment Team– to Sri Lanka, after the tsunami in 2004 and to Pakistan, after the earthquake in 2005. From 2006-2007, I served as Deputy Consul-General, Basra, Iraq. From June 2007 I worked with the FCO’s Change Unit.

I took up my current appointment on 22 January 2008. My wife Joanne and I are the proud parents of Olivia. Outside of the office, I cycle around Manhattan, play soccer (football) and, when parenting duties allow, enjoy the cultural riches offered by New York. I try hard to understand baseball.

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