The siren, which was installed at Victoria Tower and dated back to the 1970s, stopped working in November 2024. It could not be repaired and the States decided to replace it to continue the tradition of sounding the siren on Liberation Day and Remembrance Day. Guernsey Museums found a specialist supplier for a suitable refurbished replacement in the UK and bought it for £2,875, and then spent another £500 on hiring a crane and traffic management while it was installed on a Sunday morning.
Several States staff supported the weekend work in their own time, and the Education, Sport & Culture Committee said it had received no negative feedback about the work being done.
‘A small number of online comments following social media posts by the States of Guernsey in connection with the installation of the siren suggest that the sounding of the siren is valued for its authenticity and emotional resonance,’ it said.
The old siren has been kept.