Can Derry come out of the dark?

Derry confounded the cynics when it was named UK City of Culture for 2013. While the team behind the success says it will transform the city, others aren’t quite so sure – and both say the programme must deal with Derry’s darker side

WHEN DERRY was entered in the new UK City of Culture competition many saw it as an audacious, controversial and wildly optimistic bid. After all, this has always been a city caught in hostile stasis between Irishness and Britishness, a city where nationalists and unionists cannot even agree on its name.

But Derry confounded the cynics and convinced the judges, and in July it was named UK City of Culture for 2013, to euphoria on both sides of the River Foyle. It will host a year-long celebration of culture, with the possibility of high-profile ceremonies such as those for the Turner and Stirling prizes, plus the Bafta and Brit awards, being held there, as well as home-grown pageants, theatre commissions and arts festivals. One of the plans is for children across the city to have access to music training.

Although there was a wobble midway through the process, when a Sinn Féin councillor wanted the “UK” stripped from the title if the city won, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness welcomed the honour emotionally and unequivocally. “Becoming the City of Culture will represent a turning point, a pivotal moment when ‘hope and history rhyme’,” he said, “making us a beacon of transformation to communities across the world.”

Despite the divided nature of the city, and its well-documented problems with rioting, dissident violence and homophobia, Derry managed to defeat impressive bids from Norwich, Sheffield and Birmingham, with their array of museums, art galleries, ballet companies and symphony orchestras. It seemed like a small miracle. So how was the win achieved, and who were the people behind it? How did Derry/Londonderry, with all its messy historical baggage, transform itself into the culture powerhouse now to be known as Legenderry – a place, according to the successful bid, of “hope, optimism, determination, enquiry, history and joy”?

Everyone involved is keen to emphasise that it was an enormous communal effort. There were encouraging words from Seamus Heaney and strong support from the US economic envoy to Northern Ireland, Declan Kelly. Declan McGonagle, director of the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, and one of the most influential figures to emerge from the Derry arts scene, was cultural adviser to the bid. He was certain that it offered a precious opportunity to “internationalise the conversation”: to bring people from all over the world to see what the city had to offer.

The Derry author and journalist Garbhan Downey, who was involved in the bid process, said the economic boost wouldn’t go amiss either. “Let’s just say that if Derry were an artist, he would be living in an unheated, windowless garret, with the arse out of his trousers. So, yes, a few bob wouldn’t harm us.”

But at the very heart of the bid were two determined women: Aideen McGinley, chief executive of the Ilex Urban Regeneration Company, and Derry City Council town clerk and chief executive Valerie Watts. They were helped by a team led by Oonagh McGillion, the council’s director of development. The Derry film maker Margo Harkin describes the women as “the brains trust” who galvanised the city and ensured the bid’s success.

“The energy on the streets in the weeks before we knew the outcome of the bid was amazing,” says Watts. “It was like a palpable heartbeat in the city. There was enormous excitement, and you could see people were really motivated.” Watts says that although she was delighted by the win, there was little time to savour the victory. “It’s a case of be careful what you wish for,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a huge responsibility, so we only allowed ourselves to bask in the glory of it for 24 hours. Now it’s time to get down to work.”

Having been involved in Belfast’s attempt to become a European Capital of Culture almost a decade ago, McGinley knew how challenging the process would be. “I describe the Belfast bid as one of my most successful failures,” says McGinley. “That’s because, although we didn’t win, it brought £165 million [€200 million] of capital investment into the city. I saw the power and benefit of taking part in a bid.” In the same way the City of Culture project is part of a wider regeneration plan for Derry: “It has been a real driver for change and a focal point for the regeneration process, bringing together jobs, the economy and tourism.”

But it’s not all dancing in the aisles. McGinley is adamant that the City of Culture team won’t shy away from the difficult issues. “Derry really is a hidden gem with some wonderful innate talent, but, as I’ve said all along, this is not just about joyous celebration. We need to debate our identity too; we can’t afford not to. We won because of the authenticity of our story, and our capacity to deliver.”

The need to demonstrate step change – that the bid would make a significant economic, social and cultural difference to the lives of everyone in the city – was central to the bid, and McGillion says “that was our big strength. No other city was able to show that they could do this the way we could.”

The City of Culture team know it won’t be an easy ride. Even supporters of the bid have qualms about its outcome. The writer and activist Eamonn McCann says there was a definite political dimension to the judges’ decision, and he has described the win as a benign but patronising pat on the back. “There is a feeling how nice it is that ‘tragic wee Derry’ got an award.”

McCann says the “darkness” of the city must be reflected in the 2013 events, and Margo Harkin strongly agrees: “Derry is a city known for contesting its identity, and this is a golden opportunity to address that. There can’t be any smoothing over the cracks; this can’t be some prettified pageant. We need to have an exhilarating, deep discussion – and that’s healing in itself.”

While emphasising her backing for the project, Harkin is also concerned that, despite the initial outpourings of joy, not enough community support is in place. “There is a bit of a backlash happening at the moment. The people behind the bid need to be proactive and tell everyone at every level that they can get involved and take part. They need to say to the people of Derry: ‘Don’t walk away from this – get in there.’ This can’t just be our one day in the sun: it has to be about the sustained enhancement of the cultural life of the city.”

RESERVATIONS ASIDE, most people in the Derry arts community are delighted that they are suddenly on the wider cultural map. “It’s great because it allows me to internationalise what we do,” says James Kerr, director of Verbal Arts Centre. “People are taking my calls now, and even coming to me with proposals, rather than me chasing them.”

In the city itself, Kerr says, there has been a reawakened interest in all things cultural. “People are talking about culture and the arts who have never talked about them before.”

The city’s problems haven’t gone away; the recent car bomb outside Strand Road police station is evidence enough of that. But Aideen McGinley and Valerie Watts say that 2013 will be about telling a new story in Derry. And they’re determined that their hopeful story will be heard, no matter what the obstacles. “After the car bomb, people have been stopping me in the street and saying: ‘Don’t let this hold you back.’ It takes a lot to break that spirit,” says Watts.

“It’s all the more reason to keep going,” says McGinley. “We’re going to show that there is a way forward for this city.”