The Guildhall Chamber where the new “super council” meets.
The name chosen for the new Derry-Strabane “super council” must not cause division in the way the choice of Derry City Council did in 1984, DUP East Derry MP Gregory Campbell has said.
Mr Campbell was speaking after the new council – currently sitting in shadow form alongside Derry City Council and Strabane District Council – decided to pay a consultant £30,000 to look at a name and logo for the new local authority which will take over in April next year.
Mr Campbell said the appointment of the consultant to look at the name of the new council would “only be good news” if the opportunity was taken “to start afresh” after what he claimed was “30 years of community division” caused by the changing of the council name in the past.
Mr Campbell said: “In 1984 the then Londonderry Council decided by a sectarian vote to dispense with the name Londonderry and demand that the Direct Rule Minister at the time instate a ‘Derry City Council’ name.
“We still live today with the legacy of that extremely divisive move.
“Disillusionment and resentment was only fuelled amongst the minority unionist community in the city when those behind the divisive campaign claimed they wanted an acceptance of diversity.”
Gregory Campbell.
Mr Campbell said “all sides” now had an opportunity to prove “we have moved beyond that time and decision.”
He added: “The SDLP as well as Sinn Fein now have an opportunity to demonstrate what they mean when they talk about ‘partnership’ and ‘parity of esteem’.”
Mr Campbell added unionists in the Derry and Strabane area wanted a Council name that would not cause division.
He added: “The cold hard fact is that the ‘Derry’ Council name did exactly that.
“The consultant will do a job of work, but the real test will be when the majority Sinn Fein/SDLP members on the Council take the decision. Talk is cheap, but actions are what the parties will be judged by.”
A meeting of the shadow council was held earlier this week was told a public consultation process will take place at the start of next year before a final decision was made.
