Derry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other places with similar names, see Derry (disambiguation) and Londonderry (disambiguation).

Derry/Londonderry
Doire/Doire Cholm Cille
Derrie/Lunnonderrie

Vita Victoria Veritas
"Life victory truth"

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
54.9958° N 7.3074° W

Statistics

? km²

Population (2001)

City Proper:
83,652
Derry Urban Area:
90,736

Website: www.derrycity.gov.uk

Derry (in Irish, Doire or Doire Cholm Chille), often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. The old walled city of Londonderry lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, but the city now covers both banks and is connected by two bridges. The district extends to rural areas to the southeast of the city. The population within the city proper was 83,652. The Derry Urban Area (including Culmore, New Buildings and Strathfoyle) had a population of 90,736 people in the 2001 Census and is the second largest city in Northern Ireland, or fourth on the island of Ireland. Derry is near the border with the Republic of Ireland, and serves much of western Ulster, including County Donegal, as well as the west of County Londonderry. The district is run by Derry City Council and has an airport, City of Derry Airport, and a seaport, Londonderry Port.

The River Foyle at Night.

[edit] Name

Main article: Derry/Londonderry name dispute

The "No Surrender" mural right outside the city wall: "Londonderry west bank loyalists still under siege no surrender"

The "Free Derry" sign in the Bogside: "You are now entering free Derry"

The city is currently officially named Londonderry according to the city's Royal Charter and usually appears as such on maps.^[1] The city is otherwise known as Derry, which is an anglicisation of the Irish Doire. Doire, means ‘Oak-grove’ and comes from the settlement's original name Daire Calgaich, translating as ‘oakwood of Calgach’. Calgach was an ancient warrior and Caledonian leader who claimed this area of North West Ulster to be his.The name was changed from Derry in 1613 during the Plantation of Ulster to reflect the establishment of the city by the London guilds. However, most Irish people, at home and abroad, still prefer "Derry". And thus the proper name of the city remains a matter of dispute.

Derry is used by nationalists in Northern Ireland, with most unionists preferring the city's official name, Londonderry. As for the city's inhabitants, the nationalist majority call it Derry - as do some unionists. (In the Republic of Ireland, the city and county are almost always referred to as Derry.) In official use the city is always known as Londonderry,^[2] although some local organisations name themselves after Derry - for example, City of Derry Airport. The name of the local government district covering the city was changed to Derry, on May 7, 1984, by the council, which was consequently renamed Derry City Council.^[3] This did not change the name of the city itself (although the city is coterminous with the district), and in law the city council are also the "Corporation of Londonderry" or, more formally, the "Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Londonderry".^[4] In April 2006 the city council lodged papers in Belfast's High Court to obtain a Judge's ruling on the official name of the city.^[5] On December 6, 2006, a judicial review opened at Belfast High Court to decide the name of the city. ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]

The city is also nicknamed the Maiden City by virtue of the fact that its walls were never penetrated during the siege of Derry in the late 17th century. It is also nicknamed 'Stroke City' by local broadcaster, Gerry Anderson, due to the occasional 'politically correct' use of the oblique notation Derry/Londonderry.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Derry

St Columb's Cathedral

Derry is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in Ireland. The earliest historical references date to the 6th century when a monastery was founded there by St. Columba, but for thousands of years before that people had been living in the vicinity.

Before leaving Ireland to spread Christianity elsewhere in Britain, St Colmcille founded a monastery in the then Doire Calgaich. According to oral and documented history the site was granted to Colmcille/Coumba by a local King. The monastery then remained in the hands of the federation of Columban churches who regarded Colm Cille as their spiritual mentor. In the year 546 the area was rebaptised Doire Cholm Cille, Colmcille’s Derry in remembrance. At this stage, in the 6th Century, Derry was known primarily as a monastic settlement.

Planters organised by London livery companies through The Honourable The Irish Society arrived in the 1600s as part of the plantation of Ulster, and built the walled city of Londonderry across the Foyle from the earlier town. The city has long been a focal point for important events in Irish history, including the 1688-1689 siege of Derry and Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972.

Londonderry was the first ever planned city in Ireland: it was begun in 1613, with the walls being completed 5 years later in 1618. The central diamond within a walled city with four gates was thought to be a good design for defence. The grid pattern chosen was subsequently much copied in the colonies of British North America.^[9]

The modern city preserves the 17th-century layout of four main streets radiating from the Diamond to four gateways - Bishop's Gate, Ferryquay Gate, Shipquay Gate and Butcher's Gate. Historic buildings within the walls include the 1633 Gothic cathedral of St Columb. In the porch is an inscription:

If stones could speake then London's prayse should sound Who built this church and cittie from the grounde.

[edit] Climate

**Climate Table**
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average daily maximum temperature (°C)	10	10	11	12	14	17	18	19	17	15	11	11	13.75
Average daily maximum temperature (°F)	50	50	52	54	57	63	64	66	63	59	52	52	56.75
Average daily minimum temperature (°C)	0	0	2	3	5	8	10	10	9	6	4	1	4.8
Average daily minimum temperature (°F)	32	32	36	37	41	46	50	50	48	43	39	34	40.7
Mean total rainfall (mm)	110	80	90	60	60	70	70	90	100	120	120	100	1070
Mean total rainfall (in)	4.3	3.1	3.5	2.4	2.4	2.8	2.8	3.5	3.9	4.7	4.7	3.9	42.1
Source: Yahoo! Weather

[edit] Economy

The economy of Derry was based significantly on the textile industry until relatively recently. For many years women were often the sole wage earners working in the shirt factories while the men predominantly in comparison had high levels of unemployment.^[10] This led to significant male emigration.^[11] In more recent times the textile industry jobs have increasingly moved to the Far East, leaving the district to bear an increased jobless total. The history of shirt making in the city dates back as far as 1831 and is said to have been started by William Scott and his family who first exported shirts to Glasgow.^[12] Within 50 years, shirt making in the city was the most prolific in the UK with garments being exported all over the world. In fact it was known so well that the industry even received a mention in Das Kapital by Karl Marx when discussing the factory system:

The shirt factory of Messrs. Tille at Londonderry, which employs 1,000 operatives in the factory itself, and 9,000 people spread up and down the country and working in their own houses.^[13]

A long term foreign employer in the area is Du Pont, who have been based at Maydown since 1958, this was its first ever European production facility.^[14] Originally Neoprene was manufactured at Maydown and subsequently followed by Hypalon. More recently Lycra and Kevlar® production units were active.^[15] Thanks to a healthy world-wide demand for Kevlar which is made at the plant, the facility recently undertook a £40 million upgrade to expand its global Kevlar production. Du pont have stated that contributing factors to their continued commitment to Maydown are: "low labor costs, excellent communications, and tariff-free, easy access to the UK mainland and European continent."

Seagate Production Facility, 1 Disc Drive, Springtown Industrial Estate.

In the last 15 years there has been a drive to increase inward investment in the town, more recently concentrating on digital industries. Currently the three largest private-sector employers are American firms.^[16]

Even though Derry provides cheap labour by standards in Western Europe, critics have noted that the grants offered by the Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board have helped land jobs for the area that only last as long as the funding lasts.^[17] This was reflected by 1990 questions to The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Richard Needham).^[18] It was noted that it cost £30,000 to create one job in an American firm in Northern Ireland.

Successes have included call centres and a large investment by Seagate who have operated a factory in the Springtown Industrial Estate since 1993, they currently sponsor the city film festival, but more significantly they employ over 1,000 people in the Springtown premises which produces more than half of Seagate's total requirement for hard drive read-write heads.

A success for the Invest NI was Stream International, who opened an outsourced technology contact centre operation at Peninsula Hi-Tech's Ulster Science & Technology Park ^[19] in January 1995, it is now the third largest employer in the district.^[20] Other tenants on the Science Park include Homeloan Management Ltd from Skipton in the UK who opened a financial services centre employing up to 400 at Building 3 on the 1st January 2004

A recent but controversial new employer in the area is Raytheon, Raytheon Systems Limited, was established in 1999, in the Ulster Science & Technology Park, Buncrana Road.^[21] Although some local people welcomed the jobs boost some in the area objected to the jobs being provided by a firm involved heavily in the arms trade.^[22] Following four years of protest by the Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign, in 2004 Derry City Council passed a motion declaring the district a "A 'No–Go' Area for the Arms Trade".^[23]

The most significant employers in the region are:

International:

DuPont (US)
INVISTA (US)
Stream International (US)
Seagate Technology (US)
Perfecseal, Bemis (US)
NTL (US)
Arntz Belting (Germany)
Raytheon (US)
Northbrook Technology (US)
Invision Software (Germany)
Homeloan Management Ltd - HML (UK)

Local:

Desmonds – Northern Ireland’s largest privately owned company. (International garment manufacturing and sourcing)
E&I Engineering
St. Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur Ltd
Singularity (software products and services)

Source (pdf)

Magee campus, University of Ulster

Londonderry Port at Lisahally is the United Kingdom’s most westerly port and has capacity for 30,000 ton vessels. The port played a vital part for the Allies in WWII during the war's longest running campaign, The Battle of the Atlantic and eventually saw the surrender of the German UBoat fleet at Lisahally on May 8, 1945.

In spite it being the second city of Northern Ireland, road and rail links to other cities are below par for its standing. Many business leaders claim that government investment in the city and infrastructure has been badly lacking. Some have stated that this is due to its outlaying border location whilst others have cited a sectarian bias against the west of the province due to its high proportion of Catholics.^[24]^[25] In any event, there is no motorway link with Belfast or Dublin. Additionally the rail link to Belfast has been downgraded over the years so that presently it is not a viable alternative to the roads for industry to rely on. Mr Garvan O'Doherty, local business man and board member of the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commission, stated in the Irish Times, October 2005:

It is vital that road, rail and air links are all maximised with particular emphasis on the two principal road axes - connections to Belfast and Dublin.

Much has been made of the City of Derry Airport. However, local taxpayers themselves directly subsidise its running through the council.

Critics of investment decisions affecting the district often point to the decision to build a new university building in nearby Coleraine rather than developing the University of Ulster Magee Campus. Another major government decision affecting Derry was the decision to create the new city of Craigavon outside Belfast, which again was detrimental to the development of Derry. Even in October 2005, there was perceived bias against the comparitvely impoverished North West of the province, with a major civil service job contract going to Belfast. Mark Durkan, the SDLP leader and MP for Foyle was quoted in the Belfast Telegraph as saying:

The fact is there has been consistent under-investment in the North West and a reluctance on the part of the Civil Service to see or support anything west of the Bann, except when it comes to rate increases, then they treat us equally.^[26]

Shipquay Street with a view of the Guildhall and the River Foyle

Many observers note that politics will need to play a part in the future development of the economy of the city. Whether it is a future devolved Northern Ireland government or the British or Irish or European parliaments that will provide the impetus it is clear that cross border digital and physical infrastructure improvements are needed. In July 2005, the Irish Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen called for a joint task force to drive economic growth in the cross border region. This would have implications for Derry, Tyrone and Donegal across the border.

Given the affordability of housing in the city, the student population has boomed in recent years bringing a revival in the fortunes of Magee, the oldest campus within the University of Ulster established in 1865 as Magee College.

In 2002 the new 145 bedroom "City Hotel" was opened. This four-star hotel, part of the Great Southern Hotels group, was built at a cost of £13.8 m - partly funded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s Tourism Development Scheme and the International Fund for Ireland. In May 2006 it was used by the Conference of European Churches for the annual meeting of its Central Committee - the first time the meeting had taken place on the island of Ireland.

[edit] Protestant Alienation

Concerns have been raised by the Protestant community over the increasingly divided nature of Derry. During the course of the Troubles, it is estimated that as many as 15,000 Protestants fled the cityside due to safety concerns. Less than 1,000 are now living on the west bank of the River Foyle and it is feared that Derry could become a permanently divided city ^[27].

Although concerted efforts have been made by local community, church and political leaders from both traditions to redress the problem. A conference to bring together key actors and promote was held in October 2006.Dr Ken Good, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, said he was happy living on the cityside. "I feel part of it. It is my city and I want to encourage other Protestants to feel exactly the same," he said.

Support for Protestants in Derry has been strong from the Nationalist Mayor Cllr Helen Quigley. Cllr Quigley has made inclusion and tolerance key themes of her mayorality. The Mayor Helen Quigley said it's time for "everyone to take a stand to stop the scourge of sectarian and other assaults in the city."^[28]

[edit] Transport

Derry’s transport network is built out of a complex array of old and modern roads throughout the city and county, which are serviced by buses and trains. The city's road network also makes use of two bridges to cross the River Foyle, the Craigavon Bridge, which is the only double decker road bridge left in Europe and the Foyle Bridge, the longest bridge in Ireland.

[edit] Buses

City and Suburban

Ulsterbus Foyle logo

Most public transport in Northern Ireland is operated by the subsidiaries of Translink. Originally Derry’s internal bus network was run by Ulsterbus, which still serves the city's connections with other towns in Northern Ireland. However the city's buses are now run by Ulsterbus Foyle, ^[29] just as Translink Metro now provides the bus service in Belfast. The Ulsterbus Foyle network now offers 13 set routes across the city into the popular suburban areas of the city. It is hoped that the new service will make transportation in Northern Ireland’s second city a lot easier and will encourage people to make use of Derry's public transport system.

There is also an Easibus link connecting to the Waterside and Drumahoe, and a free Rail Link Bus now runs from the Waterside Railway Station to the city centre. All the buses leave from the Foyle Street Bus Station in Derry City Centre.

Long Distance

Long Distance buses depart from Foyle Street Bus Station regularly to a number of destinations throughout Ireland. Buses are operated by both Ulsterbus and Bus Eireann on cross-border routes and also by Lough Swilly buses to Co.Donegal. There is a half-hourly service to Belfast every day, called the Maiden City Flyer, and is the Goldline Express flagship route. There are also hourly services to Strabane, Omagh, Coleraine and Letterkenny, as well as 9 services a day to Dublin. There is also a daily service to Sligo, Galway, Shannon Airport and Limerick

[edit] Railways

Northern Ireland Railways provides a single route from Derry out to Belfast via Bellarena, Castlerock, Coleraine, Ballymoney, Cullybackey, Ballymena, Antrim, Mossley West and Whiteabbey. The service which had been allowed to deteriorate in the 90’s has since been boosted by increased investment and passenger numbers. However, many still refuse to use the train, due to the fact that it is still quicker to use the Ulsterbus Goldline Express Service to Belfast than the train.

[edit] Road Network

Derry's road network has historically seen under-investment and has lacked good road connections to both Belfast and Dublin for many years. Long overdue, the largest road investment in the North West’s history is now taking place in Derry with the construction of new dual-carriageways and roads linking the city to Dungiven and helping to speed up the time it takes to get to Belfast.^[30] This development is bringing a direct dual-carriageway linking between Northern Irelands two largest cities a step closer. The project is costing £111 million and is expected to be completed in 2015. In October 2006, the Irish Government announced that it was to invest €1bn in Northern Ireland;^[31] and one of the planned projects was the complete upgrade of the A5 Derry-Omagh-Aughnacloy(-Dublin) road to motorway standard, which is around 90km long.

[edit] Taxis

Multiple major taxi services operate in Derry, the largest being Foyle Delta, a new company formed from the merging of two companies, Foyle Taxis and Delta Cabs and also including firms such as Derry Taxis, Culmore Taxis and Jay Cabs. There are now more taxis in the Derry City area, than any other town or city in the north. There are now also more illegal taxis in the Derry City area, than any other town or city in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Air

City of Derry Airport, Derry’s own growing commercial airport has also been growing in recent years with new investment in a new runway and £10 million pounds towards redeveloping the site.^[32] It is hoped that the new investment will add to the airports already impressive array of domestic and international flights. At the moment the airport already links to multiple European cities as well as those closer to home including Dublin Airport, London Stansted, Birmingham International Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Nottingham East Midlands Airport. On 20th September 2006, the airport's main carrier, Ryanair, announced that it was starting flights to Glasgow Prestwick Airport to complement its already established flights to Stansted, Liverpool and the East Midlands. A previously sucessful and very convnient route between Derry and Manchester was axed by British Airways in 2005.

[edit] Sport

Derry is the home of many sporting establishments, teams and organisations, the foremost of these being Derry City F.C. and Derry GAA. Other soccer teams include Institute F.C. and Oxford United Stars F.C.. There are many Gaelic teams in and around the city, for example Steelstown GAC and Slaughtmanus. The local soccer league is the Derry and District League and teams from the city and surrounding areas participate, including Don Bosco's F.C. and Trojans F.C. There are also countless boxing clubs, one of which the established Boxer, John Duddy, graduated from. There are countless gyms situated throughout the city, including Fitness First. Others include Pro Gym and Platinum. Pro Gym is run by Dave Fox and Malika Zitouni. Dave is a native of Derry and is the Nabba Northern Ireland 1997/98 winner. Malika recently won the Nabba Universe Class 1 2006.

[edit] 2001 Census

Derry Urban Area (DUA), including the City as well as the neighbouring settlements of Culmore, New Buildings and Strathfoyle, is classified as a city by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population exceeding 75,000). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 90,736 people living in Derry Urban Area. Of these:

27.0% were aged under 16 years and 13.4% were aged 60 and over
48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female
77.8% were from a Roman Catholic background and 20.8% were from a Protestant background
7.1% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

[edit] Places of interest

Derry Guildhall

'Hands Across the Divide' sculpture, by Maurice Harron

Tourism is set to be central to the future economic success of Derry. There are many museums and sites of interest in and around the region. Future projects include the Walled City Signature Project, which intends to ensure that the city's walls become a world class tourist experience.^[33]

Other existing attractions are:

Templemore Sports Complex, which has hosted the European Boxing Championships and is claimed to be capable of hosting "any indoor sport up to international level". ^[34]
Amelia Earhart Centre And Wildlife Sanctuary
Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall
The Bogside
Murals by the Bogside Artists
Grianan of Aileach (Royal seat of the Ui Neill family for 700 years ^[35])
Guildhall
Harbour Museum
Museum of Free Derry Online
St Columb's Cathedral and Chapter House Museum
Tower Museum
Workhouse Museum
Foyle Bridge - Second longest bridge in Ireland.
Craigavon Bridge - Only double-decker bridge in Europe.
Foyle Valley Railway Centre
The Nerve Centre - Centre of Culture and Arts
Brunswick Super Bowl, Pennyburn
St. Columb's Park and Leisure Centre
Creggan Country Park

[edit] Events

The now world famous "Banks of the Foyle Hallowe’en Carnival" in Derry also prove a huge tourism boost for the city, the carnival is promoted as being the first and longest running Halloween carnival in the whole of Ireland,^[36]^[37] it is the largest street party in Ireland with more than 40,000 ghoulish revellers taking to the streets annually.^[38]

In March, Derry hosts the Big Tickle Comedy Festival, which in 2006 featured Dara Ó Briain and Colin Murphy. In April the city plays host to City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival and in November the Foyle Film Festival, the biggest film festival in Northern Ireland.

Every summer the city hosts Tomo-Dachi, Ireland's largest Anime convention, which in July 2006 was held at Magee College, University of Ulster.^[39] Hundreds of fans from across the UK and Ireland descended upon the city for the event.

The siege of Derry is commemorated annually by the fraternal organisation the Apprentice Boys of Derry in the week long Maiden City Festival.

The Foyle Cup is a youth soccer tournament held every year in the City. It has attracted many notable teams in the past. For example Werder Bremen, IFK Goteborg and Ferencvaros.

[edit] Famous people from Derry

Nadine Coyle - Singer (Girls Aloud)
Seamus Ball - Actor
Amanda Burton - (Born in Ballougry, County Londonderry) Actress. Best known for her role as forensic pathologist Doctor (later Professor) "Sam Ryan" in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness.
Willie Carson - Photo-journalist and author.
Joyce Cary - Author. Two of his novels were made into films: The Horse's Mouth (1958) starring Sir. Alec Guinness and Mister Johnson (1990)
Phil Coulter - Songwriter. Wrote The Town I Loved So Well (See below)
Peter Cunnah Born 1966. Lead singer with 1990's pop outfit D-ream.
Edward Daly, Catholic bishop of Derry from 1974 to 1993.
Dana - In 1970 represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, later became a politician.
Seamus Deane - Writer
Nigel Dodds - DUP MP for Belfast North
Richard Doherty - Catholic Unionist/RUC reservist, writer, military historian
Willie Doherty - Visual Artist. Twice nominated for the Turner Prize.
Roma Downey - Actress. Best known for her role as Monica, the main character of the religious TV series Touched by an Angel
John Duddy - Boxer
Mark Durkan - MP for Foyle (the Derry area)
George Farquhar - Restoration dramatist.
Bronagh Gallagher - Actress/singer. Films include Pulp Fiction and The Commitments.
Neil Hannon - Lead singer of The Divine Comedy.
John Hume - Nobel Peace Prize-winning former leader of the SDLP and former MP for Foyle 1983-2005.
John Lawrence - soldier and administrator in 19th century India and Viceroy of India
Josef Locke - Tenor singer, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
Johnny McCauley - Singer/songwriter. Founder of the "Country & Irish" sound who penned "Pretty Little Girl From Omagh", "Hometown On The Foyle" and many more.
Martin McGuinness - Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster, formerly a senior member of the Provisional IRA.
Charlie Nash - Boxer. Former European and British lightweight champion.
Martin O'Neill - Former manager of Celtic Football Club current manager of Aston Villa F.C.; from Kilrea.
Feargal Sharkey - Lead singer of The Undertones and current chairman of the Live Music Forum.
Whan William Taylor Botanist see Irish plant Collectors 1811-1866

[edit] Derry in song

I was born in Londonderry
I was born in Derry City too
Oh what a special child
To see such things and still to smile
I know that there was something wrong
But I kept my head down and carried on.
—The Divine Comedy "Sunrise" Full lyrics

We'll fight and don't surrender
But come when duty calls
With heart and hand and sword and shield
We'll guard old Derry's Walls
—traditional song associated with the Apprentice Boys of Derry Full lyrics

In 1803 we sailed out to sea,
Out from the sweet town of Derry,
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown,
And the marks of our fetters we carried...
—Bobby Sands "Back Home In Derry" Full lyrics

It is old but it is beautiful, and its colours they are fine.
It was worn at Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.
My father wore it as a youth in bygone days of yore.
And on the Twelfth I love to wear the sash my father wore
—Anon "The Sash"

...In the early morning the shirt factory horn called women from Creggan, the Moor and the Bog.
While the men on the dole played a mother's role, fed the children and then trained the dogs.
And when times got tough there was just about enough.
But they saw it through without complaining.
For deep inside was a burning pride in the town I loved so well.
There was music there in the Derry air, like a language that we all could understand...
—Phil Coulter "The Town I Loved So Well" Full lyrics