Dreaming of a move back? There’s no better time to come home!

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Are you returning to the North West for Christmas? A new campaign is encouraging local diaspora to consider moving home for good.

Job opportunities, career progression, quality of life and the benefits of the £250m City Deal are among the key draws highlighted by the ‘Come Home to Us’ campaign, spearheaded by Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Investment team.

It features testimonials from local people who have returned to live, work and invest in the region after working abroad, plus information about the range and quality of jobs available, from attractive entry level roles to senior executive positions.

A range of ‘Work Life Balanced’ promotional videos, social media and digital advertising will be released over the festive period to support people who want to move home and build a life in the North West – whether it’s setting up their own business, finding a great job, working remotely, or availing of the excellent schools and natural beauty on our doorstep.

The campaign will also showcase the transformative £250m Derry and Strabane City Deal, which will further boost the local economy through cutting edge innovation and research, job creation and regeneration.

Meanwhile, the Invest Derry Strabane website also features a special round-up of companies currently hiring in the North West, including global firms such as Allstate and Seagate, local success stories such as Learning Pool and Elemental, and ground-breaking gaming company Hypixel Studios.

Rosalind Young, investment manager at Derry City and Strabane District Council said: “This is a fantastic time to consider a move home. There are a wide range of opportunities available in the North West, whether you’re a graduate, on your second or third job, or looking for an experienced, senior level role.

“We have a great variety of sectors here who are currently hiring – from financial services and software development, to advanced manufacturing, engineering and life sciences – and a fantastic ecosystem of businesses, both homegrown successes and multinational companies all serving global clients from the North West.

“The recent shift towards remote working has also demonstrated that people don’t have to live in a major metropolis to do business, stay connected and progress their career path. This campaign is a chance to showcase the opportunities available in the Derry and Strabane region, and celebrate what makes it such a great place to live, work, invest and come back to.”

Ryan Williams is director of home care innovator Connected Health, and founder of business incubator and co-working space The AMP, which recently opened a new site at Derry’s Ebrington Square.

“I think there’s an increasing ecology of career progression in Derry, of moving from one company to the next. There are more senior positions, more technical positions here now, and a much better standard of life than somewhere like London or Dublin,” he said.

Jennifer Neff is co-founder of the award-winning social prescribing software company Elemental. She moved home to Derry and founded the company with Leeann Monk after living in Edinburgh and Manchester.

She said: “I am getting everything I need from this city and region and I am giving back too, having created 35 jobs at Elemental with my business partner, Leeann Monk. There is an energy here right now that I haven’t seen before. Lots of people are making great things happen and there is a chance to be part of that by moving to this wonderful place.”

For a round-up of companies currently hiring in the North West, visit https://investderrystrabane.com/worklife/

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Our Place in Space prepares for take-off

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A captivating new sculpture trail designed by the bestselling children’s author and artist Oliver Jeffers is coming to Derry this Spring.

Centred around an epic scale model of the solar system created by Jeffers with support from astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt, Our Place in Space combines a three-dimensional sculpture trail, interactive AR (augmented reality) app, and exciting learning and events programmes.

The sculpture trail will stretch over 10 kilometres and will travel from a riverside location in Derry in April/May, to Divis and Black Mountain in Belfast in June/July. It will then head to Cambridge in August before returning to Northern Ireland at the Transport Museum and North Down Coastal Path in September/October.

The team behind Our Place in Space is led by Derry’s Nerve Centre, with location partners including Derry City and Strabane District Council.

David Lewis, executive producer at the Nerve Centre, said: “From creating a star to writing a symphony for the universe, inventing a new form of transport, building a Minecraft planet or connecting with space watchers in Vietnam or Iraq, Our Place in Space invites participants to look at our solar system in a different way – exploring what it means to live on Earth in 2022, and how we might better share and protect our planet in future.”

Our Place in Space is Northern Ireland’s project for UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, commissioned by Belfast City Council.

To find out more and sign up to the mailing list, visit: www.ourplaceinspace.earth

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Illumination festival set to light up the city

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A two-week illumination festival will be held in Derry in February, with some of the city’s most iconic buildings transformed into pieces of art.

The ‘Illuminating the Walled City’ spectacular will run from February 14 to 27, from 5pm to 10pm daily.

It will consist of three main elements including an Illuminated Trail of Light, with props, performers and lanterns, a music programme embracing the theme of light in unique locations, and live illumination experiences featuring landmark buildings.

The plans follow the major success of the Lumiere light festival as part of the City of Culture 2013 programme, which highlighted the requirement for an out-of-season experience that will attract visitors to the city.

Derry City & Strabane District Council has received a Service Level Agreement (SLA) from Tourism NI for £451k to the two-week long festival. It is 100% funded with no additional budget required by council.

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WATCH: Merry Christmas from Derry and Strabane

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The festive season is in full swing in Derry City and Strabane, with a series of magical events getting people in the mood for Christmas.

The Uncover the Magic of Christmas programme included a magical procession through the streets of Derry and Strabane for the Christmas lights switch-ons (with Santa as the guest of honour), and the Mayor’s Magical Christmas Experience.

The Walled City Christmas Markets also made a welcome return to Guildhall Square on the first two weekends of December, offering unique, locally produced artisan food and crafts.

Christmas shopping left to do? You can support Council’s support local campaign using the hashtags #ChristmasDS and #GiftLocal on social media.

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Halloween homecoming for North West expats

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Derry’s Millennium Forum was the stage for a special cultural showcase for returning expats in October.

The event, sponsored by new diaspora association, Futureproof Northwest, featured snapshots of the region’s music, literature and art.

It included a choral recital, hosted by Maurice Kelly of Allegri and guests, a new exhibition of paintings of Derry street-scenes from the last century, by Bridget Murray, and the launch of the late John Bryson’s historical reference guide to the city, Derry’s Streets: 521-2021.

Futureproof chair Sean Downey said the diaspora group, which was inaugurated at Dublin’s Mansion House in 2019 and is made up of expats from Derry, Donegal and Tyrone, aims to support conversations that will help the region.

He added: “We want to encourage the diaspora of the North West to connect, share ideas and experience, exchange contacts and create opportunities. As part of this, we plan to organise activities and events to promote networking and relationship-building, and strengthen the community of Northwesterners across the islands and further afield.

“We also hope to provide support through the network to people in the North West and the diaspora across these islands and further afield seeking to develop business, promote culture and foster educational opportunities.”

Further information on the group is available at futureproofnorthwest.com 

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Boston and NW join virtually for Golden Bridges conference

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The 13th annual Golden Bridges Conference has taken place, showcasing the best of Ireland North West to influential US business and political leaders.

This year’s event was held virtually at Gteic in Gweedore, County Donegal, and featured prominent speakers discussing themes of investment, innovation, tourism, culture and education.

The conference, held last month, gave the global audience a unique insight into how people in the border region of Derry, Strabane and Donegal are continuing to work in close collaboration to attract investment, create jobs and boost the economy post-pandemic.

The event, jointly coordinated by Derry City and Strabane District Council and Donegal County Council, aims to promote partnerships between Ireland Northwest and Boston, Massachusetts.

Catch up on Golden Bridges 2021 at https://aisling-events.com/watch-golden-bridges-2021/

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Council’s month of climate action

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November marked a month of climate action for Derry and Strabane with a series of events highlighting environmental issues and the action being taken locally to combat them.

The risks of severe weather such as flooding, storms, heatwaves, ice and snow, plus practical advice on how to prepare for them, were discussed at two pop-up roadshows in Foyleside Derry and Asda Strabane.

Derry City and Strabane District Council officers and resilience specialists provided information on measures to protect people, homes and communities in the event of severe weather emergencies.

Making homes more energy efficient was also a focus, as well as the appropriate contacts to have to hand in an emergency situation, depending on the type of severe weather event and local impact.

A full digital campaign coincided with the roadshows to broaden the reach across the City and District.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Alderman Graham Warke led a delegation to the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration Food Systems event taking place during the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

The Council also showcased some of its recent initiatives promoting food sustainability, including the launch of the Sustainable Food Places network, a growing collaboration between local food producers and manufacturers.

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Letterkenny named as new Technological University

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Students will soon be able to go to university in Letterkenny after Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris TD announced that an application from Galway-Mayo, Sligo and Letterkenny Institutes of Technology had been successful.

This is the fourth Technological University to be created since 2019 and represents a milestone in higher education provision for the West and North West, providing for the establishment early next year of a multi-campus university presence across the North West region.

Students graduating in the 2021-2022 academic year will do so with university qualifications.

Donegal TD Joe McHugh said: “This is a really significant development and will undoubtedly have massive benefits for our whole region. This will create stronger regional growth in the North West, and will further encourage the development of our close cross-border links here in Donegal.”

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Magee unveils new manufacturing and engineering degree apprenticeship

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Ulster University is partnering with Manufacturing & Engineering Growth & Advancement (MEGA) to provide Northern Ireland’s first degree-level apprenticeship in Manufacturing & Engineering.

This first-of-its-kind course, funded by the Department for the Economy, is now underway and represents a new chapter in higher education for the Magee campus.

This new offering aims to create a pipeline of skilled talent fit for industry’s needs now and into the future, ensuring Northern Ireland is in a position to maximise the opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution.

An alternative to the traditional degree route, it will see apprentices employed from day one. This means participants incur no cost in their higher-level education; in fact, they earn a salary.

Robotics, artificial intelligence and digitalisation will be among the key themes studied within the new programme offered by the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems at Magee.

Apprentices who train at Magee will also benefit from access to Centres of Excellence such as the Centre for Industrial Digitalisation, Robotics and Automation (CIDRA) and the Cognitive Analytics Research Laboratory (CARL) that are being developed as part of the emerging Derry and Strabane City Deal, and which will become a destination for Research and Development for industry partners.

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Mayor welcomes The Honourable The Irish Society

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Members of grant-giving charity The Honourable Irish Society have met with Council officials to hear about the progress of the City Deal.

The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Alderman Graham Warke, and Council representatives met the delegation in the Guildhall and also discussed the region’s growing Fintech cluster, and plans for Ebrington and Fort George. 

During the visit, hosted by the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, the group also visited C-TRIC (the Clinical Translational Research and Innovation Centre), the new Visit Derry Visitor Information Centre, and North West Regional College’s Springtown Campus.

Mayor Warke said: “It’s vitally important that we continue to strengthen the unique relationship that our city and district has with The Irish Society and the City of London, and I was delighted to discuss many of the exciting projects and opportunities that are developing within this region.”

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