Irish President thanks Londonderry for showing ‘path from conflict to peace’

Irish President Catherine Connolly has said she is “deeply grateful” to the people of Londonderry for showing “the path from conflict to peace”.

She also said that “justice is still awaited” by the families of victims of Bloody Sunday.

The President saw out day two of her three-day official visit to Northern Ireland with a number of engagements in Co Londonderry.

Ms Connolly was greeted on arrival to the Guildhall by the Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry Ian Crowe and Derry City Mayor Ruairi McHugh.

She also stopped to have a brief conversation in Irish with someone who had waited to see the President.

In her address, Ms Connolly said she had visited Derry many times in the past and always left “with a feeling of wanting to return”.

The President praised the city’s contributions to the peace process, saying “Derry has shown us the path from conflict to peace” after she had viewed the Nobel Peace Prize shared by John Hume and David Trimble.

She added: “The other thing that jumps out, of course, as someone who’s been quite critical of the government, let me praise the Irish government in terms of the reconciliation fund, because all of these projects have been funded by the reconciliation fund, and they’re full of hope and vision and the champion of diversity and building a brighter future.”

Ms Connolly said she was conscious that her visit to the city came as last Friday marked the 54th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

On Bloody Sunday 13 people were shot dead when members of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30 1972, regarded as one of the darkest days of the Troubles.

“I’m particularly conscious of recent judgments, and justice is still awaited,” she said.

She added: “The suffered people, the weak, do not need to suffer. We have voices. We can speak up.

“And an injustice in Derry is the same as an injustice in Gaza, is the same as an injustice in the Sudan. We’re all human beings at the end of the day.

“I’m deeply grateful to you and Derry for showing us that way forward in a practical way, with vision, with humour and with wit you have shown us.

“And I will finish by saying, I think Derry is a dune that’s hidden in front of our eyes, and for the rest of us outside of Derry to discover that.”

Ms Connolly then visited the Museum of Free Derry where she viewed the exhibition on Bloody Sunday and met about 30 survivors and their families.

Tony Doherty, chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said it was “very heartening to see that the President was very keen to meet us and to share with us her solidarity”.

Mr Doherty’s father Patrick Doherty was one of the victims of Bloody Sunday, shot in the back at the age of 32 while attempting to assist others, leaving behind a wife and six children.

Mr Doherty said: “Catherine Connolly is a very popular woman, not just for those who voted for, but for those who couldn’t vote.

“And what we actually did say is that hopefully, in the not too distant future, that some of us will actually canvas for the future president of Ireland on our own streets.

“So we were very glad to have her with us. The visit went swimmingly well. We’re very pleased to see her and she was very pleased to see us.”

He added: “Bloody Sunday has made its own imprint on the history of the city and in response, ourselves, as families, have made our own imprint in terms of addressing the injustice of what has happened on that day and for decades subsequently.

“So we’re very happy that she’s referenced us and the way that she has it’s, I suppose, a sign of maturity as well that the President’s office isn’t reticent or afraid to address sort of core issues.”

The President’s three-day visit to Northern Ireland marks the first official visit of Ms Connolly’s presidency and fulfils a commitment made in her inauguration address that her first one would be to Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday, the President met First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Stormont Castle, and gave an address at Ulster University. She also carried out a number of community engagements.

Her visit will conclude with a further engagement in Derry on Friday.