Holiday Inn Express city centre hotel opens in Derry ~ Londonderry creating 44 jobs

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The city of Derry~Londonderry’s tourism sector is thriving, enjoying record occupancy levels and welcoming thousands of visitors each year. The latest addition to the city’s portfolio is the new Holiday Inn Express Hotel, which opened its doors in July 2019.

The Holiday Inn Express is part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, a global company representing 12 hotel brands including Intercontinental Hotels, Crown Plaza Hotels and Hotel Indigo, with over 5,000 partner hotels worldwide. The hotel will be managed by Interstate Hotels and Resorts, one of the world’s leading independent multinational hotel operators. These International partnerships and globally renowned brands will provide the hotel and its team with unique access to a world-class portfolio of knowledge, operational and reporting systems and training initiatives to achieve the very highest standards of delivery.

The £7m development will support the wider tourist and hospitality industry in Northern Ireland and provide a new base for visitors to explore the city and surrounding areas. The hotel will create 44 new jobs, generating employment and business opportunities for service providers in the region.

General Manager Stephen Redden commented “We are committed to building a dynamic, passionate and professional team capable of delivering a first-class service for our guests. Our global brand partnerships will enable us to offer ongoing development opportunities for our employees ensuring the hotel is committed to continually enhancing skills, capabilities and knowledge.”

The hotel is the second largest in the city with 119 modern bedrooms and plans are already underway to further increase capacity to 150 bedrooms by early 2020. All bedrooms are air-conditioned and offer appealing amenities such as internet ready Smart TVs, blackout blinds and a free Express Start™ Breakfast for all guests. The hotel’s Express Bar and Café offers an informal all-day dining menu and two on-site meeting rooms can accommodate up to 12 delegates.

Phase 2 of the development is currently in progress to further transform the site with the addition of a stylish independent bar, a chic destination restaurant and 22 modern self-catering apartments, all due to open in 2020.

W: www.hiexpress.com/derry-ldnderry

Contact: Aoife Thomas salesmanager@hixderry.com

T: +44 2871 162400

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Road Cycling Championships a ‘defining moment for NW road racing’

Foyle Cycling Club have welcomed the finest cyclists from home and abroad for the Cycling Ireland National Road Championships.

The three-day festival of racing saw a series of solo time trials on Thursday June 27, followed by road race action on Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30.

International professionals battled with top locally-based amateurs for the title of national champion and the right to wear the coveted shamrocks on their jersey for the next 12 months.

The women’s and men’s elite road races were filmed for a highlights TV programme to be broadcast in the week after the championships.

Race Director Chris McElhinney of the promoting Foyle CC said: “This is a defining moment for our club and for the history of road racing in the North West.”

The action got under way on Thursday with the time trial, using a 36km course laid out on a traditional ‘out and back’ format starting and finishing near Speenoge, County Donegal.

The road race action began on Saturday afternoon with the Women’s Elite race and the men’s junior events utilising the 20.29km circuit beginning and ending in the heart of Derry/Londonderry.

They culminated with a final race to finish line on Shipquay Street, where the champions of Ireland were crowned.

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Over 1,000 compete in Walled City Marathon

Athletes from around the globe descended on Derry to take part in the O’Neills Walled City Marathon 2019 in June.

More than 1,000 competitors embarked from the Everglades Hotel on a stunning 26.2 mile course that took in all the sights and sounds of the city.

They ran through an urban and rural odyssey of streets, parks and greenways, in and out of the Walled City to an iconic finish in a spectator-packed Guildhall Square.

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Foyle Cup 2019 prepares for kick off

O’Neills Foyle Cup returns to the city in July, with around 1,500 matches set to take place.
The tournament, which runs from July 22 to July 27, attracts interest from around the world, and has seen demand and quality increase each year.
The contest began in 1992 and was originally staged over one day, with eight teams taking part in an U14 and U16 event.
Now, top clubs in the UK and Republic of Ireland travel to Derry to compete as well as entrants from mainland Europe, North America, and even South Africa.

http://foylecup.com/

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Derry Halloween scoops top tourism award

Derry’s world-famous Halloween celebrations have been named Best International Event Experience at the Northern Ireland Tourism Awards.

The ghoulish gathering, which had its most ambitious year ever in 2018 with a Return of the Ancients theme, beat tough competition from the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Experience and Odyssey International’s Leaders of Excellence.

Derry’s Bishop’s Gate Hotel was also a winner, earning the title of NI’s Best Hotel Stay.

Updates on the 2019 Derry Halloween celebrations, plus travel and accommodation information, will be posted on www.derryhalloween.com.

https://www.derrystrabane.com/Council/News/Derry-Halloween-scoops-prestigious-NI-Tourism-Awar

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Iconic Walls turn 400

An exciting programme of events is underway to mark the 400th anniversary of the completion of Derry’s Walls.

From June to September, the historic Walls will be celebrated through dance, music, exhibitions, films, symposiums and much more.

One of the oldest and best-preserved fortifications in Europe, the Walls have witnessed centuries of dramatic and tragic events since the first stones were laid.

The special programme of activities marking this major milestone is led by Derry City and Strabane District Council and its partners The Honourable, The Irish Society – the original builders and owners of the Walls – and the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division.

The Walls 400 programme is also PEACE IV funded by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), and will introduce a series of animation activities and stories from characters who have helped shaped the city’s history, bringing to life the Walls alongside key shared spaces and heritage attractions.

For more information on the Walled City 400 events programme, visit

www.walledcity400.com

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Derry and its Diaspora

From the late 1600s, in the age of the sailing ships, to the onset of the Second World War in 1939, when the last transatlantic steamer sailed from the port, Derry was one of the principal emigration ports in Ireland.

From 1680 to 1860, Derry was the port of departure for the people of Derry, Donegal and Tyrone. With the development of steamships and railways from 1861 to 1939, migrants from Ulster, north Connacht and north Leinster left Ireland through Derry.

In 1883, emigrant departures from Derry exceeded the number that went through the port in the peak famine year of 1847 (12,385); when 15,217 emigrants boarded 154 steamers calling at Moville, with 10,496 destined for the United States and 4,721 for Canada.

Annual Emigration Reports from the Port of Londonderry published in the Londonderry Sentinel show that between 1877 and 1897, 193,887 passengers embarked at Moville for North America; with 153,886 destined for USA and 40,001 to Canada.

The journey for 9 million of the Irish Diaspora, now living in Great Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, began in Derry. Their ancestors boarded a sailing ship at Shipquay Place, or stopped at Gweedore Bar, Waterloo Street, on their way from west Donegal to Glasgow on the Scotch Boat. They may have lodged in Bridge Street and then headed down the Foyle, on a tender, to connect with transatlantic liners at Moville.

Derry remained a major Irish emigration port throughout all significant periods of emigration from Ireland, including the 18th century outflow of Ulster-Scots to colonial America; pre-Famine, Famine and post-Famine emigration to North America; and cross-channel migration to Britain via Glasgow and Liverpool.

Just as Ellis Island is seen as the entry point for American immigrants (100 million Americans can trace an ancestor back to Ellis Island), Derry can be positioned as the starting point of this journey.

Bernadette Walsh, Archivist

bernadete.walsh@derrystrabane.com

Brian Mitchell, Genealogy

genealogy@derrystrabane.com

www.derry.rootsireland.ie

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Who do you think you are? Find out at the Tower Museum

Whether you’re based abroad and want to connect with your Irish roots, or living locally and keen to find out more about your ancestry, the Archive and Genealogy service at Derry’s Tower Museum can assist.

Staffed by a professional Archivist and Genealogist, the department collects, researches, curates and interprets historical collections for visitors. The vast archive collections include records of major shipping lines like the McCorkell and Mitchell families, and minute books of Londonderry Corporation.

The database of Derry Genealogy, at www.derry.rootsireland.ie, is an essential tool for anyone researching ancestors. It contains the bulk of pre-1922 civil birth and marriage registers for the city and county of Derry, the early baptismal and marriage registers of 97 churches, headstone inscriptions from 118 graveyards, and census substitutes and census returns dating from 1628 to 1921.

Appointments can be made with staff, who are also available to deliver information sessions for groups. While staff do not carry out research for visitors, they can advise how to use and access collections, and how to navigate the online databases.

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FinTrU unveils #WalledCityOnWallStreet campaign

Financial services company FinTrU has launched a #WalledCityOnWallStreet campaign giving local talent the chance to train with its Assured Skills Academy.

Graduates who successfully complete the six-week training programme are guaranteed a job interview with the award-winning company, which works on a global stage with international investment banks.
Applications for the latest academy have now closed, but candidates can keep informed of when the next recruitment period opens by signing up for the Graduate Academy newsletter.

To date, FinTru has employed around 215 people who have attended the academy, which is funded by the Department for the Economy. Last year, the company announced plans for 605 new jobs (300 in Belfast and 305 in the North West) over the next five years.

Leah McStravick, FinTrU Academy Manager, said: “This was our third Assured Skills Academy in the North West as we look to build on the success of our academies to date in Derry/Londonderry and Belfast. The six-week course at North West Regional College provides participants with real world skills in fields including compliance, risk, legal, operations, KYC and consultancy.”

As part of the #WalledCityOnWallStreet campaign, FinTrU is currently recruiting for Client Onboarding KYC Specialists and Senior Client Onboarding KYC Specialists in its North West Office. See more at

https://www.fintru.com/careers
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£105m investment boost for Derry and Strabane

A £105m government investment package has been hailed as a “significant catalyst for change and economic growth” for Derry City and Strabane District and the wider North West.

The funding, which comprises of a £50m City Deal and a £55m Inclusive Future Fund, will help progress plans for a landmark riverfront university medical education and innovation hub, and advance the delivery of smart city and digital infrastructure projects.

It’s hoped that the £105m will be at least matched by the NI Executive and will lead to further investment from project partners and other third party sources, resulting in an overall injection of over £300m.

Council Chief Executive John Kelpie said: “This funding package, if directed at the key agreed strategic growth projects and if used to lever significant further public and private sector investment, will deliver a new era of unprecedented growth and development for the City and Region providing tangible benefits for all of our citizens and a promising future for our children and young people.”

https://www.derrystrabane.com/Council/News/Significant-City-Deal-and-Economic-Growth-Funding-

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