Mark Lusby, Co-ordinator, Niall McCaughan, Chairperson, and Anne McCartney, Secretary, Friends of Derry Walls
THE historic walls of Derry are disappearing, according to a heritage group in the city
The Friends of the Derry Walls have laid siege to officialdom after they said new street lights and traffic control poles were sited “inappropriately” close to the historic structure.
The group said this is spoiling views of the Walls, and the street furniture could have been sited a little further away.
But the members have also raised concerns over how the Walls are being ignored by tourism chiefs when selling the city.
Friends of the Derry Walls coordinator Mark Lusby said some views of the Walls are “for the first time in 30 years interrupted by lighting and traffic control poles, all of which could easily have been located on the side of the street, furthest from the monument”.
The group said that photos on social media tend to show what can be seen from the Walls, rather than the Walls themselves.
Chairman Niall McCaughan noted that in publicity for tourists, the Derry Walls are left off a list of key landmarks that includes the Giant’s Causeway, the Titanic and the Dark Hedges
“It may be that we have made it impossible to take photographs and videos that communicate the scale and drama of the Walls because we not have not protected the setting of the Walls, especially the bastions and the gates,” he said.
