2011: The Opening of the Peace Bridge in Northern Ireland’s City of Derry

June 25, 2011

A dedication ceremony was held for the Peace Bridge in the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. This 771-foot (225-meter)-long bridge, which crosses the River Foyle, was built for pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge serves as a link between Ebrington Square, a public space, on the east bank of the river; and the remaining central section of Derry on the west bank.

A major reason for constructing the bridge in the first place was to improve access and hopefully also the long-strained relations between Derry’s regions of Waterside on the east bank and Cityside on the west bank. Westside is mostly populated by Protestant unionists who support the current political union of Northern Ireland with the United Kingdom. Cityside, for its part, is largely comprised of Catholic nationalists who advocate instead for the political integration of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

The goal of furthering reconciliation between these factions was highlighted during the inauguration of the Peace Bridge. These festivities included having approximately 600 local schoolchildren who represented various faiths walk from opposite sides of the bridge to meet in the middle and perform a song especially commissioned for the occasion.

The Peace Bridge was officially opened on that Saturday afternoon by Johannes Hahn, who was serving the European Union (EU) at the time as its commissioner for regional policy. “One of the key objectives of the European Union is to bring people together to live in peace, with a common respect both for shared values and for diversity,” Hahn said during his remarks at the ceremony. “I believe that the Peace Bridge will help further this goal for the people of Derry . . . It will encourage greater levels of cross-community integration and usher in a new period of peace and reconciliation for the city.” (The Peace Bridge was funded in large part by the EU Programme for Peace & Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland.)

In her coverage of that day’s festivities for the Peace Bridge, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter Elaine Magee noted that there were people “absolutely everywhere.” She added, “They’re standing on walls, they have crowded in along the [platforms on the edge of the river], everybody is so eager to get that first glimpse of the bridge’s official opening.”

Stanley Page, another one of the many people in attendance that day, expressed similar astonishment when discussing what he saw and heard. “It’s absolutely unbelievable — all the colors and the children on the bridge and the sun has just come out, it’s an incredible sight,” he said. “The whole city is behind it and I hope everybody’s aspirations come to fruition.”

Photo Credit: Aaronwarduk (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

For more information on the Peace Bridge in Derry, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Bridge_(Foyle)