Derry City Council facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Derry City Council |
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| Area | 387 km2 (149 sq mi) Ranked 18th of 26 |
| District HQ | Derry |
| Catholic | 60% |
| Protestant | 30% |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| EU Parliament | Northern Ireland |
| Councillors | 40 |
Derry City Council (Irish: Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: Derry Cittie Cooncil) was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Derry and Strabane District Council.
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, with Gary Middleton 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 district was formed in 1973 under the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 by merging Londonderry county borough 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 and North West Liberties of Londonderry. 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.
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: a red cross and sword on white. In the centre of the cross is a gold harp. The blazon 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
According to documents in the College of Arms in London and the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland in Dublin, the arms of the city were confirmed in 1613 by Daniel Molyneux, Ulster King of Arms. 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 Richard de Burgh
- The most popular theory about the skeleton is that it is that of a Norman De Burgh knight who was starved to death in the castle dungeons in 1332 on the orders of his cousin the above-mentioned Earl of Ulster. Another explanation put forward was that it depicted Cahir O'Doherty (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 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, The council selected a member of the council to serve a one-year term. The last mayor of Derry City Council was Brenda Stevenson of the SDLP, while Gary Middleton 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. The City charter of 1665 which provided:
And further we will, and by these presents for us our heirs and successors do grant and ordain, that for ever hereafter there be and shall be within the city of Londonderry aforesaid one of the more honest and discreet citizens of the said city, or of the more honest and discreet inhabitants within the liberty of the same, in form hereafter in these presents mentioned, from time to time to be elected, who shall be and called the mayor of the said city.
During much of its history, it has been held by Unionists (largely due to the practice of gerrymandering), but in later years, the majority of mayors were nationalists, 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.
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.
