For ever Londonderry
30 April 2013
Below is the speech by TUV leader Jim Allister during today’s debate on the granting of Londonderry’s charter in 1613:
There is no doubt that there was settlement in and about Londonderry before 1613, but it is utterly foolish to pretend that the granting of the charter on 29 March 1613 by James I was not the seminal moment that kick-started the growth of Londonderry, saw the building of the walls and the empowerment of the Irish Society, which then saw the agreements with the London companies, all of which activated the growth, prosperity and development of Londonderry. Indeed, from one perspective, you could say that the charter and all that it gave rise to in 1613 is an advert not just for the British connection but, indeed, for privatisation, which had such a positive effect on the growth of Londonderry in consequence of the agreements with the London companies.
Yet that seminal moment, which the granting of the charter was, is, by some, swept away as if it never existed. It is quite remarkable that something as significant as that is not being celebrated in the city of Londonderry. It is quite remarkable — remarkable in one sense but unremarkable in another — that the cultural Minister and Department of Culture should have no room, no opportunity and no plans to celebrate something as significant as that, and, that, indeed, the UK City of Culture and the Culture Company should also have ignored it and swept it away, to the point where, on 29 March this year, the only event in Londonderry was a comedy show. There was nothing to celebrate, recognise or acknowledge the significance of the granting of the charter.
As I said, it is remarkable that the Minister did not see to it that those things were celebrated, but it is unremarkable in the sense that the Sinn Féin Minister's bigotry got the better of her. That is the plain truth of it. What sticks in the throat of Sinn Féin in regard to the 1613 charter is that, as Mr Hussey reminded us, it decreed in those immutable words:
"that the said city or town of Derry, for ever hereafter be and shall be named and called the city of Londonderry".
Of course, when the 1662 charter came along from Charles II it expressly reiterated that the city:
"shall be named and called the City of Londonderry".
It is pretty clear that that is some people's problem with celebrating the charter.
Ms McLaughlin treated us to some reminiscences about things that have been said about the civil people of Londonderry, and I am sure that, in the main, they are. Recently, however, I think that some of the residents of the Fountain might have dearly liked it had some of their neighbours treated them with a bit more civility. Likewise, when it came to the scurrilous, vindictive and hateful protests to celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher, there was not much civility shown by some who today reside in Londonderry.
The charters are something to celebrate. I wish that they had been properly celebrated in the city and across the Province, because it is our second city. It was a missed opportunity, which was deliberately and consciously missed by some because they want to downplay the significance of the British connection and the empowerment and growth of Londonderry that came with the charters. That is something to celebrate, nonetheless.
Perhaps it passed me by, Mr Speaker, but, because you come from the city, I was watching out for and hoped that there would have been a celebration of the charter in this Assembly. Perhaps I missed it, but I am unaware of any such celebration.
The granting of the charter on 29 March 1613 was a most seminal moment upon which the future prosperity and growth —
Mr Dallat: Will the Member give way?
Mr Allister: Yes, indeed.
Mr Dallat: For the record, would Mr Allister agree that every elected politician of every hue condemned the disgraceful attacks on the Fountain and, equally, showed their disapproval of the so-called celebrations that took place following the death of Baroness Thatcher? It is important to have that on record.
Mr Allister: I certainly accept that the honourable Member expressed his condemnation; I have his word for it that every public representative did so. I am well aware that some of the celebrations across Northern Ireland were orchestrated and promoted by Sinn Féin, so I question whether it was as effusive as the Member suggests in condemning those disgraceful scenes of celebration of the death of Margaret Thatcher. The people in the Fountain were shown no civility over that period by other residents in the city, and that is shameful.
The granting of the charter should be celebrated.
It is a matter of great regret that, for political reasons, it has not been celebrated.
