Derry/Londonderry Name Dispute - Incidents

Incidents

A visible sign of the dispute to the visitor is in the road signs; those pointing to the city from the Republic refer to it as Derry (and in Irish, Doire), whilst signs in Northern Ireland use Londonderry. It is not uncommon to see vandalised road signs—the "London" part of the name spray painted over on "Londonderry" road signs by nationalists, or occasionally "London" added to "Derry" signs by unionists. Some sign-posts are even occasionally vandalised in such a way that "London" is replaced with the word "Free" (see Free Derry).

In 2003, Lord Laird asked in the House of Lords why a recent press release by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland had listed grants for "Derry City" rather than "Londonderry City"; he was told the heading should have been "Derry City Council area".

In 2005, a judge in the Republic complained when a defendant's address was written as "Londonderry", stating "It's just Derry with a capital D." DUP MLA Arlene Foster said she would complain to the Irish Minister for Justice. In 2007, a Canadian tourist asking for a Translink bus ticket to "Derry" was confused when told that Derry "didn't exist". The incident was reported in the media and the bus company apologised and disciplined the employee responsible.

A review of local government from 2005 agreed to Arlene Foster's 2008 proposal to replace the 26 districts with 11 councils. Under the proposed reorganisation, now abandoned, the areas of Derry City Council and Strabane District Council were to be merged. Assistant Commissioner Mark Orr recommended the name "Derry City and Strabane Regional Council" for the merged body, even though Unionist representatives had favoured a name which used "Londonderry" or avoided either word.

In the Republic's state Leaving Certificate examination in geography in 2009, a map of Ireland's counties included the label "Londonderry" rather than "Derry". The State Examinations Commission explained the map was sourced from the European Society for Geography. Cecilia Keaveney criticised the incident in the Seanad, saying 'If we must have "Londonderry", we should also have "Derry". ... it is offensive and insensitive to the majority of people to use "Londonderry" at the total exclusion of "Derry".'

In a 2012 debate in Dáil Éireann, minister Alan Shatter referred to "two pipe bombs set off in Londonderry on the 19th of January 2012". His use of "Londonderry" rather than "Derry" attracted comment on social media. He later told the BBC "I would use either the term Derry or Londonderry interchangeably ... It's a place that I want to see live in peace and I don't have hang-ups about which name you attach to it."