The above quote is from an article carried in the Derry Journal, one young Derry man's experience of the City of Culture. The Article is a stark reminder of the day to day reality people face, and as this person puts it ' I could see and hear the false positives while only half a mile away there was abject poverty. It was as if the town was ready to accept a veneer so the hoteliers and pub owners could make money.
What did the everyday Derry person get?
In March, I wrote in my diary: “A feel good factor doesn’t put food in the fridge or shoes on your feet.” And that was becoming the general consensus in the dole queues in the mornings.
In April I wrote: “Baronet St sums up the city at the minute. The derelict houses have got fake ‘scene windows’ to cover years of neglect, and the pigeons don’t know where to go..this is a joke!”
It's been announced today that there are fears for jobs at City of Derry Airport. Airport Director Damien Tierney told Derry City Council he expected passenger numbers for 2013 to be down on previous years. And the the City of Culture celebrations made "no significant impact" on passenger numbers.
Ratepayers in Derry currently pay more than £2m a year towards the running of the airport and a number of years ago Derry City Council faced legal challenges over their refusal to tell exactly what they were doing with ratepayers money.
This is the same Derry City Council that evicted families to build a runway extension that never happened.
As the writer in the Derry Journal asked,what did the everyday Derry person get?
http://www.derryjournal.com/news/features/the-feel-good-factor-just-doesn-t-put-food-on-the-table-1-5788012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-25649192
No comments:
Post a Comment