ONE of Northern Ireland's biggest community surveys, in Derry, shows the city has a high degree of political tolerance. The survey, which got 6,000 responses, was carried out by the City Partnership Board and the Department for the Environment. It aimed to find out how Derry people want their city to look in 25 years. A final report will be ready in the summer.
The heading which attracted the largest response was "Peace and Reconciliation", where there was widespread tolerance for the use of dual English-Irish street names and public notices. There was also a high tolerance for murals and paintings but little support for graffiti.
The survey's co-ordinator, Mr Declan O'Hare, said yesterday that within both communities a number of public displays of political difference were tolerable without being acceptable. "Display of flags and parades are the most marked case of this."
He said the survey showed that a caring city was the first choice of respondents, followed by a city of community harmony. The third most popular vision of Derry in 25 years was a high-technology city and the fourth most frequent choice was for a city of strong family life.
Derry's reputation as one of Ireland's most historic cities received a setback - it came sixth in the list of priorities.