SINN FÉIN politicians in Derry have been criticised for failing to offer support for the city’s bid to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2013.
The party’s leader on Derry City Council, Maeve McLaughlin, said she had yet to be convinced the bid “as it currently stands reflects the views of Irish nationalists and republicans”. She said she believed the bid was “very heavily weighted in terms of cementing our relationship with London”.
The winning city could host high-profile media events including the Turner Prize, BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling prize.
DUP East Derry MP Gregory Campbell said: “If I wanted to be facetious, I would say that at the very outset of this bid, the clue was in the name: ‘UK City of Culture’.
“Why on earth would they plump for a city whose elected representatives are divided on whether we should take the accolade if they’re awarded it?”
SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan said: “This bid is an opportunity for Derry to promote itself as a city and to promote the wider region. It is about our civic ambition. It is about our cultural ambition. It is nothing to do with political aspiration . . . What we have to do now is make sure that all parts of the . . . community can get behind the bid.”
Derry is competing with Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield to become UK City of Culture in 2013.
A decision is to be made in June.