The Belfast City Council had conferred the Freedom of Belfast on The Royal Ulster Rifles in 1954 and on 3 May 1976 declared that the freedom was to be transferred to The Royal Irish Rangers. The first opportunity to exercise the freedom was on 4 July 1976 when the Regiment marched through Belfast to St Anne’s Cathedral as Freemen of the City to attend a service commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of The Somme.