Derry braces itself for potential €115m boost

BELFAST BRIEFING:THERE IS a tale of two cities emerging in Derry as it prepares to become the first UK City of Culture next year.

There is the city that Derry is today: the one desperate to free itself from a legacy of economic uncertainties because of its particular history.

A city which is normally top of the jobless polls every month, with more people out of work in Derry compared with anywhere else in Northern Ireland.

Then there is also the city which is beginning to embrace a new wave of optimism, which believes its fortunes are about to radically change with new jobs and millions of pounds of investment around the corner.

But can “Derry -Londonderry” – as it styled itself in a bid to win the inaugural UK celebration of culture – really create enough economic momentum in just one year to create one new city for the future?

Derry City Council is betting on it. The council believes 2013 will create a new chapter in its journey “from plantation to peace and its legacy will last for generations”.

Sharon O’Connor, the city’s chief executive, says £100 million will be invested in infrastructure alone and it will net an “economic and profile gain” by welcoming thousands of visitors.

“There is a real buzz around the city, there is a new attitude about – it is palpable, it really is in the air. It is very apparent that there is something very exciting happening here. Physically the city has been fundamentally transformed in the last few years. I think it is breathtakingly beautiful and there are so many more new elements to the city.

“We have an unbelievable opportunity next year to deliver real, long-term economic benefits for the city,” O’Connor says.

Derry plans to stage a host of events and a range of high-profile cultural, arts and musical celebrations next year, from a major concert to the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the UK’s top contemporary art award, the Turner Prize. It aims to showcase local talent and entice world talent.

Ahead of 2013, O’Connor claims that the investment in infrastructure and major improvement projects have already helped transform the city centre into an urban landscape which has generated “tangible economic benefits”.

But the big dividend will be the opportunities it will create for Derry when it comes to “tourism, creative industries and for indigenous business growth”.

She says anyone who doubts that 2013 will be a “long-term game-changer” for Derry should look at Liverpool’s experiences when it was the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Research commissioned by the city’s council and carried out by two universities in Liverpool suggest that the city attracted 9.7 million additional visits in 2008 which “generated an economic impact of £753.8 million”. Overall the European Capital of Culture year generated an additional 1.14 million staying-visitor nights in Liverpool hotels.

According to Garbhan Downey, a director of the Culture Company, the independent firm formed to manage and deliver the programme in partnership with other bodies, tourism generates £30 million for the local economy.

Downey says Derry now has a “tremendous opportunity” to emulate Liverpool’s success.

“We know that the European Capital of Culture year created significant and sustained growth in tourism for Liverpool and we are also seeing encouraging signs – for example there is a big increase in conferences coming to Derry next year.

“The City of Culture is going to be very significant in terms of the cultural economy and the tourism economy in the city. We are on the verge of something quite brilliant,” Downey says.

According to Neil Gibson, a director of Oxford Economics, the City of Culture 2013 represents “the step change” that Derry desperately needs to build a “vibrant and sustainable city”.

Gibson said it is potentially a “watershed time for the city”.

He estimates that between this year and next year, the City of Culture 2013 could generate more than 2,000 construction jobs in the city, potentially attract 570,000 extra visitors to Derry and net the city an extra £40 million in tourism revenue.

Gibson estimates that by 2020 its legacy could have generated 2,700 net additional jobs and delivered an economic boost in terms of wages and profits in the region of £96 million (€115 million) for the city – and that would be something for Derry to really celebrate.

The City of Culture is going to be very significant in terms of the cultural and tourism economy