Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the

local government authority A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

for the city of Derry in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become

Derry and Strabane District Council Derry City and Strabane District Council ( ga, Comhairle Chathair Dhoire agus Cheantar an tSratha Báin; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie & Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') is the local authority for Derry and Strabane district in Northern Ireland. ...

. The council provided services to nearly 108,000 people, making it the third-largest of the then 26 district councils in Northern Ireland by population. The council was made up of 30 councillors, elected every four years from five electoral areas and held its meetings in The Guildhall. The mayor for the final 2014–2015 term was Brenda Stevenson of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

, with

Gary Middleton Gary Middleton (born 20 June 1990) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since April 2015, when he was co-opte ...

of the Democratic Unionist Party serving as deputy mayor.

History

Londonderry City Council became Derry City Council in 1984 when it changed the name of the district it governed. The city itself retained the name "Londonderry". (See

Derry/Londonderry name dispute The names of the city and county of Derry or Londonderry in Northern Ireland are the subject of a naming dispute between Irish nationalists and unionists. Generally, although not always, nationalists favour using the name ''Derry'', and unio ...

.) The district was formed in 1973 under the

Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 The Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, passed in 1971 to replace the previous system of local authorities established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system ...

and the

Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1972 (1972 c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland that constituted district councils to administer the twenty-six local government districts created by the Local Government (Boundaries ...

by merging Londonderry

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

and Londonderry rural district, which had been jointly administered since 1969 by the unelected Londonderry Development Commission. The rural district covered an area around the county borough, roughly corresponding to the baronies of

Tirkeeran Tirkeeran () is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It connects to the north-Londonderry coastline, and is bordered by four other baronies: Keenaght to the east; Strabane Lower to the south-east; North West Liberties of Londonde ...

and

North West Liberties of Londonderry The North West Liberties of Londonderry is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by two other baronies in Northern Ireland. They are Tirkeeran to the east, across Lough Foyle; and Strabane Lower to the south. It als ...

. The Development Commission, formed with the aim of creating a " new town", replaced both Londonderry Corporation, which had run the city since 1613, and Londonderry Rural District Council, which dated from the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, ...

Coat of arms and motto

The devices on the city's arms are a skeleton and a three-towered castle on a black field, with the ''chief'' or top third of the shield depicting the arms of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

: a red cross and sword on white. In the centre of the cross is a gold harp. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

of the arms is as follows: ''Sable, a human skeleton Or seated upon a mossy stone proper and in dexter chief a castle triple towered argent on a chief also argent a cross gules thereon a harp or and in the first quarter a sword erect gules''Letters Patent certifying the arms of the City of Londonderry issued to Derry City Council, sealed by Garter and Norroy and Ulster Kings of Arms dated 30 April 2003 According to documents in the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...

in London and the

Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland The Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland ( ga, Príomh Aralt na hÉireann), the authority in Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Heral ...

in Dublin, the arms of the city were confirmed in 1613 by Daniel Molyneux,

Ulster King of Arms Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the Provincial King of Arms at the College of Heralds with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of Arms is t ...

. The College of Arms document states that the original arms of the City of Derry were ''ye picture of death (or a skeleton) on a moissy stone & in ye dexter point a castle'' and that upon grant of a charter of incorporation and the renaming of the city as Londonderry in that year the first mayor had requested the addition of a "chief of London". Theories have been advanced as to the meaning of the "old" arms of Derry, before the addition of the chief bearing the arms of the City of London: * That the castle is related to an early 14th-century castle in nearby Greencastle belonging to the Anglo-Norman

Earl of Ulster The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's elde ...

Richard de Burgh * The most popular theory about the skeleton is that it is that of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

De Burgh knight who was starved to death in the castle dungeons in 1332 on the orders of his cousin the above-mentioned

. Another explanation put forward was that it depicted

Cahir O'Doherty Sir Cahir O'Doherty ( ga, Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh or ga, label=none, Caṫaoir Ó Doċartaiġ; 1587–5 July 1608) was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a ...

(Sir Charles O'Dogherty), who was put to death after Derry was invested by the English Army in 1608. In 1979, Londonderry City Council, as it was then known, commissioned a report into the city's arms and insignia, as part of the design process for an heraldic badge. The published report found that there was no basis for any of the popular explanations for the skeleton and that it was "purely symbolic and does not refer to any identifiable person". The 1613 records of the arms depicted a harp in the centre of the cross, but this was omitted from later depictions of the city arms, and in the Letters Patent confirming the arms to Londonderry Corporation in 1952. In 2002 Derry City Council applied to the College of Arms to have the harp restored to the city arms, and

Garter A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms accepted the 17th century evidence, issuing letters patent to that effect in 2003. The motto attached to the coat of arms reads in Latin, "Vita, Veritas, Victoria". This translates into English as, "Life, Truth, Victory".

Mayor

The 'Mayor of Derry' was an honorary position bestowed upon a citizen of Derry, who was in practice a member of Derry City Council, chosen by his or her peers on the council to serve a one-year term. The last mayor of Derry City Council was Brenda Stevenson of the

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irela ...

, while

of the DUP was the last deputy mayor of Derry City Council. The post has a long history. A provost was appointed in the initial city charter of 1604. In 1613, this post was replaced with that of mayor, with John Rowley being the first to serve.Thomas Colby, ''Ordnance Survey of the County of Londonderry'', p.87 The City charter of 1665 which provided: During much of its history, it has been held by Unionists (largely due to the practice of

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

), but in later years, the majority of mayors were

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, reflecting the make-up of the city's population and council. In the 1990s the post was alternated between nationalist and unionist councillors regardless of the size of the vote of either side. From 1921 until 1969, the mayor was automatically entitled to a seat in the

Senate of Northern Ireland The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Powers In practice the S ...

Political makeup

From 1973 elections to Derry City Council were conducted under the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

system, and are normally held every four years. Elections took place in five electoral areas, the boundaries of which were changed for the 1985 local elections, when the number of councillors was increased from 27 to its final figure of 30. The last elections to Derry City Council were held on 5 May 2011, with the city's voters electing thirty councillors across five electoral areas. The election resulted in all four parties returning the same number of seats they had won in the 2005 elections, with the SDLP remaining the largest party, only two seats short of overall control of the council.Derry City Council 1993–2005
, Northern Ireland Elections The results are summarised below: ^†Unionist parties fought the 1973 elections in an electoral pact, as United Loyalists. Of the 9 councillors elected under this label, 5 contested the 1977 elections for the UUP, 1 for the DUP, 1 for the

Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig, the party emerged from a split in the Ulster Un ...

, 1 as a Loyalist, while one councillor did not stand again.

Local politics

Prior to 1969, elections to the Londonderry

council were based on

block voting Block voting or bloc voting refers to electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected at once and a group (voting bloc) of voters can force the system to elect only their preferred candidates. Block voting may be used at large (in a si ...

. The electoral wards had been drawn and redrawn to ensure a unionist majority on the council even though more voters supported

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

parties. With local government reorganisation in 1973, the old county borough was merged with the surrounding Londonderry Rural District to form the new local government district of Londonderry. In addition, a system of STV was introduced which has resulted in a majority of councillors from nationalist and republican parties being elected, with the SDLP consistently being the largest party. The

affected the council, notably in 1984 when it decided to rename itself from "Londonderry City Council" to "Derry City Council"; this was purely a name change and its powers remained that of a district council. At the same time it changed the name of the municipally-owned airport from " Londonderry Eglinton Airport" to "

City of Derry Airport City of Derry Airport , previously known as RAF Eglinton and Londonderry Eglinton Airport, is a regional airport located northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle, a short distance from the village ...

". At that time, it did not seek to change the name of the city from "Londonderry" in its charter. The name change led to a temporary unionist boycott of the council which was broken by two UUP councillors, Jim Guy and David Davis. They were expelled from their party for this but successfully contested the subsequent elections as Independent Unionists. Unionists also called for the establishment of a separate "Waterside" council covering the East Bank and rural areas, but this was rejected by the Local Government Boundary Commission in 1991. In 1993, David Davis lost his seat with the result that there were no unionist councillors from the West Bank, and in 2005 for the first time, no unionist stood for election in the West Bank. The Derry City Council area was largely coterminous with both the Foyle UK Parliament constituency (first used in 1983) and the Foyle Northern Ireland Assembly Constituency (first used 1996). The MP was

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

, who was first elected in 2005 and again in the 2010 General Election. He was also a leader of the

(SDLP) (2001–10) and was an MLA for the constituency from 1998 to 2010. In the 2011 election, the constituency's voters returned 3 SDLP, 2 Sinn Féin and 1 DUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Boundary changes for the 2010 Parliamentary elections transferred two wards in the east of the district from the Foyle constituency to the East Londonderry constituency, whose current MP is the DUP's Gregory Campbell.

Shadow Council

Derry formerly had a Shadow Council for young people, from about 1999 to 2008. This was made up from 16- to 22-year-olds elected from geographical areas in the city, as well as interest, political groups and also LGBT community groups. The Shadow Council worked in cooperation with Derry City Council and selected a "Junior Mayor" as its representative to the media and public.

Population

The area covered by Derry City Council had a population of 107,877 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

Notes

References

External links

Derry City Council

{{Authority control District councils of Northern Ireland, 1973–2015 Organisations based in Derry (city) Politics of Derry (city) 1973 establishments in Northern Ireland 2015 disestablishments in Northern Ireland