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Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Foyle. Cityside and the old walled city being on the west bank and Waterside on the east, with two road bridges and one footbridge crossing the river in-between.
The population of the city was 85,279 in the 2021 census, while the Derry Urban Area had a population of 105,066 in 2011. The district administered by Derry City and Strabane District Council contains both Londonderry Port and City of Derry Airport. Derry is close to the Irish border with County Donegal, with which it has had a close link for many centuries. The person traditionally seen as the founder of the original Derry is Saint italic=unset, a holy man from italic=unset, the old name for almost all of modern County Donegal, of which the west bank of the Foyle was a part before 1610.
In 2013, Derry was the inaugural UK City of Culture, having been awarded the title in 2010.
Derry has been used in the names of the local government district and council since 1984, when the council changed its name from Londonderry City Council to Derry City Council. This also changed the name of the district, which had been created in 1973 and included both the city and surrounding rural areas. In the 2015 local government reform, the district was merged with the Strabane district to form the Derry City and Strabane district, with the councils likewise merged.
According to the city's royal charter of 10 April 1662, the official name is Londonderry. This was reaffirmed in a High Court decision in 2007.
The 2007 court case arose because Derry City Council wanted clarification on whether the 1984 name change of the council and district had changed the official name of the city and what the procedure would be to effect a name change. The court clarified that Londonderry remained the official name and that the correct procedure to change the name would be via a petition to the Privy Council. Derry City Council afterwards began this process and was involved in conducting an equality impact assessment report (EQIA). Firstly it held an opinion poll of district residents in 2009, which reported that 75% of Catholics and 77% of Nationalists found the proposed change acceptable, compared to 6% of Protestants and 8% of Unionists.Draft EQIA, Appendix pp.91–2 The EQIA then held two consultative forums and solicited comments from the general public on whether or not the city should have its name changed to Derry. A total of 12,136 comments were received, of which 3,108 were broadly in favour of the proposal, and 9,028 opposed it. On 23 July 2015, the council voted in favour of a motion to change the official name of the city to Derry and to write to Mark H. Durkan, the Northern Irish Minister for the Environment, to ask how the change could be effected.
The name Derry is preferred by nationalists and it is broadly used throughout Northern Ireland's Catholic community, as well as that of the Republic of Ireland, whereas many unionists prefer Londonderry; however, in everyday conversation Derry is used by most Protestant residents of the city. Linguist Kevin McCafferty argues that "It is not, strictly speaking, correct that Northern Ireland Catholics call it Derry, while Protestants use the Londonderry form, although this pattern has become more common locally since the mid-1980s, when the city council changed its name by dropping the prefix". In McCafferty's survey of language use in the city, "only very few interviewees—all Protestants—use the official form".
Apart from the name of the local council, the city is usually known as Londonderry in official use within the UK. In the Republic of Ireland, the city and county are almost always referred to as Derry, on maps, in the media and in conversation. In April 2009, however, the Republic of Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, announced that Irish passport holders who were born there could record either Derry or Londonderry as their place of birth. Whereas official road signs in the Republic use the name Derry, those in Northern Ireland bear Londonderry (sometimes abbreviated to L'derry), although some of these have been defaced with the reference to London obscured. Usage varies among local organisations, with both names being used. Examples are City of Derry Airport, City of Derry Rugby Club, Derry City FC and the Protestant Apprentice Boys of Derry, as opposed to Londonderry Port, Londonderry YMCA Rugby Club and Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. The bishopric has always remained that of Derry, both in the (Protestant, formerly-established) Church of Ireland (now combined with the bishopric of Raphoe) and in the Roman Catholic Church. Most companies within the city choose local area names such as Pennyburn, Rosemount or Foyle from the River Foyle to avoid alienating the other community. Derry~Londonderry railway station is often referred to as Waterside railway station within the city, but is called Derry/Londonderry at other stations. The council changed the name of the local government district covering the city to Derry on 7 May 1984, consequently renaming itself Derry City Council.Change of District Name (Derry) Order 1984 This did not change the name of the city, although the city is coterminous with the district, and in law the city council is also the Corporation of Londonderry or, more formally, the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Londonderry.Sections 7, 8 and 132 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (Eliz II 20 & 21 c.9) The form Londonderry is used for the post town by the Royal Mail; however, use of Derry will still ensure delivery.
The city is also nicknamed "the Maiden City" by virtue of the fact that its walls were never breached despite being besieged on three separate occasions in the 17th century, the most notable being the Siege of Derry of 1688–1689. It was also nicknamed "Stroke City" by local broadcaster Gerry Anderson, owing to the politically correct use by some of the dual name Derry/Londonderry (which has itself been used by BBC Television). The One Show, BBC1, 15 July 2010 A later addition to the landscape has been the erection of several large stone columns on main roads into the city welcoming drivers, euphemistically, to 'the Walled City'.
Derry is a common place name in Ireland, with at least six towns bearing that name and at least a further 79 places. The word Derry often forms part of the place name, for example, Derrybeg, Derryboy, Derrylea and Derrymore.
Londonderry, Yorkshire, near the Yorkshire Dales, was named for the Marquesses of Londonderry, as is Londonderry Island off Tierra del Fuego in Chile. In the United States, twin towns in New Hampshire called Derry and Londonderry lie about 75 miles from Londonderry, Vermont, with additional namesakes in Derry, Pennsylvania, Londonderry, Ohio, and in Canada Londonderry, Nova Scotia and Londonderry, Edmonton, Alberta. There is also Londonderry, New South Wales and the associated Londonderry electorate.
The Walls were built in 1613–1619 by The Honourable The Irish Society as defences for early 17th-century settlers from England and Scotland. The Walls, which are approximately in circumference and which vary in height and width between , are completely intact and form a walkway around the inner city. They provide a unique promenade to view the layout of the original town which still preserves its Renaissance-style street plan. The four original gates to the Walled City are Bishop's Gate, Ferryquay Gate, Butcher Gate and Shipquay Gate. Three further gates were added later, Magazine Gate, Castle Gate and New Gate, making seven gates in total. The architect was Peter Benson, a London-born builder, who was rewarded with several grants of land.
It is one of the few cities in Europe that never saw its fortifications breached, withstanding several sieges, including the famous Siege of Derry in 1689 which lasted 105 days; hence the city's nickname, The Maiden City. Historic Walls of Derry Discover Northern Ireland website
Before leaving Ireland to spread Christianity elsewhere, Colmcille founded a monastery at Derry (which was then called Doire Calgach), on the west bank of the Foyle. According to oral and documented history, the site was granted to Colmcille by a local king. The monastery then remained in the hands of the federation of Columban churches who regarded Colmcille as their spiritual mentor. The year 546 is often referred to as the date that the original settlement was founded. However, it is now accepted by historians that this was an erroneous date assigned by medieval chroniclers. It is accepted that between the 6th century and the 11th century, Derry was known primarily as a monastic settlement.
The town became strategically more significant during the Tudor conquest of Ireland and came under frequent attack. During O'Doherty's Rebellion in 1608 it was attacked by Sir Cahir O'Doherty, Irish chieftain of Inishowen, who burnt much of the town and killed the governor George Paulet. The soldier and statesman Sir Henry Docwra made vigorous efforts to develop the town, earning the reputation of being "the founder of Derry"; but he was accused of failing to prevent the O'Doherty attack and returned to England.
This city was the first planned city in Ireland: it was begun in 1613, with the walls being completed in 1619, at a cost of £10,757. The central diamond within a walled city with four gates was thought to be a good design for defence. The grid pattern chosen was subsequently much copied in the colonies of British North America. The charter initially defined the city as extending three (about 6.1 km) from the centre.
The modern city preserves the 17th-century layout of four main streets radiating from a central Diamond to four gateways – Bishop's Gate, Ferryquay Gate, Shipquay Gate and Butcher's Gate. The city's oldest surviving building was also constructed at this time: the 1633 Plantation Gothic cathedral of St Columb. In the porch of the cathedral is a stone that records completion with the inscription: "If stones could speake, then London's prayse should sound, Who built this church and cittie from the grounde."
During the Glorious Revolution, only Derry and nearby Enniskillen had a Protestant garrison by November 1688. An army of around 1,200 men, mostly " Redshanks" (Highlanders), under Alexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim, was slowly organised (they set out on the week William of Orange landed in England). When they arrived on 7 December 1688 the gates were closed against them and the Siege of Derry began. In April 1689, King James came to the city and summoned it to surrender. The King was rebuffed and the siege lasted until the end of July with the arrival of a relief ship.
Also during the 19th century, it became a destination for migrants fleeing areas more severely affected by the Great Famine. One of the most notable shipping lines was the McCorkell Line operated by Wm. McCorkell & Co. Ltd. from 1778. The McCorkell's most famous ship was the Minnehaha, which was known as the "Green Yacht from Derry".
In 1921, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Partition of Ireland, it unexpectedly became a 'border city', separated from much of its traditional economic hinterland in County Donegal.
The reason for such a high degree of military and naval activity was self-evident: Derry was the United Kingdom's westernmost port; indeed, the city was the westernmost Allied port in Europe: thus, Derry was a crucial jumping-off point, together with Glasgow and Liverpool, for the shipping convoys that ran between Europe and North America. The large numbers of military personnel in Derry substantially altered the character of the city, bringing in some outside colour to the local area, as well as some cosmopolitan and economic buoyancy during these years. Several airfields were built in the outlying regions of the city at this time, Maydown, Eglinton and Ballykelly. RAF Eglinton went on to become City of Derry Airport.
The city contributed a significant number of men to the war effort throughout the services, most notably the 500 men in the 9th (Londonderry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, known as the 'Derry Boys'. This regiment served in North Africa, the Sudan, Italy and mainland UK. Many others served in the Merchant Navy taking part in the convoys that supplied the UK and Russia during the war.
The border location of the city and the influx of trade from the military convoys allowed for significant smuggling operations to develop in the city.
At the conclusion of the Second World War, eventually some 60 U-boats of the German Kriegsmarine ended in the city's harbour at Lisahally after their surrender. The initial surrender was attended by Admiral Sir Max Horton, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Approaches, and Sir Basil Brooke, third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Catholics were discriminated against under Unionist government in Northern Ireland, both politically and economically.Lawrence John McCaffrey (1997). 9780813208961, Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 9780813208961 In the late 1960s the city became the flashpoint of disputes about institutional gerrymandering. Political scientist John Whyte explains that:
A civil rights demonstration in 1968 led by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was banned by the Government and blocked using force by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The events that followed the August 1969 Apprentice Boys parade resulted in the Battle of the Bogside, when Catholic rioters fought the police, leading to widespread civil disorder in Northern Ireland and is often dated as the starting point of the Troubles.
On Sunday 30 January 1972, 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area. Another 13 were wounded and one further man later died of his wounds. This event came to be known as Bloody Sunday.
Violence eased towards the end of the Troubles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Irish journalist Ed Maloney claims in The Secret History of the IRA that republican leaders there negotiated a de facto ceasefire in the city as early as 1991. Whether this is true or not, the city did see less bloodshed by this time than Belfast or other localities.
The city was visited by an orca in November 1977 at the height of the Troubles; it was dubbed Dopey Dick by the thousands who came from miles around to see him.
The councillors elected in 2019 for the city are:
| Angela Dobbins | |
| Brian Tierney | |
| Rory Farrell | |
| Shauna Cusack | |
| Mary Durkan | |
| Sinéad McLaughlin | |
| Martin Reilly | |
| Sandra Duffy | |
| Aileen Mellon | |
| Mickey Cooper | |
| Tina Burke | |
| Patricia Logue | |
| Christopher Jackson | |
| Sean Carr | |
| Gary Donnelly | |
| Hilary McClintock | |
| David Ramsey | |
| Shaun Harkin | |
| Eamonn McCann | |
| Darren Guy | |
| Philip McKinney | |
| Anne McCloskey |
The arms were confirmed by Daniel Molyneux, the Ulster King of Arms, in 1613, following the town's incorporation. Molyneux's notes state that the original arms of Derry were "the picture of death (or a skeleton) sitting on a mossie ston and in the dexter point a castle". To this design he added, at the request of the new mayor, "a chief, the armes of London". Molyneux goes on to state that the skeleton is symbolic of Derry's ruin at the hands of the Irish rebel Cahir O'Doherty and that the silver castle represents its renewal through the efforts of the London guilds: "Derry hath since bene (as it were) raysed from the dead by the worthy undertakinge of the Ho'ble Cittie of London, in memorie whereof it is hence forth called and knowen by the name of London Derrie."
Local legend offers different theories as to the origin of the skeleton. One identifies it as Walter de Burgh, who was starved to death in the Earl of Ulster's dungeons in 1332. Another identifies it as Cahir O'Doherty himself, who was killed in a skirmish near Kilmacrennan in 1608 (but was popularly believed to have wasted away while sequestered in his castle at Buncrana). In the days of gerrymandering and anti-Catholic discrimination, Derry's Catholics often claimed in dark wit that the skeleton was a Catholic waiting for a job and a council house. However, a report commissioned by the city council in 1979 established that there was no basis for any of the popular theories and that the skeleton "is purely symbolic and does not refer to any identifiable person".L E Rothwell, An inquiry initiated by Derry City Council into the ensigns armourial and related matters of the City of Londonderry
The 1613 arms depicted a harp in the centre of the cross, but this was omitted from later depictions of the city arms, and in the 1952 letters patent confirming the arms to the Londonderry Corporation.Letters Patent ratifying and confirming the arms of the City of Londonderry sealed by Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms dated 28 April 1952 In 2002 Derry City Council applied to the College of Arms to have the harp restored. Garter and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms issued letters patent to that effect in 2003, having accepted the 17th-century evidence.
The motto attached to the coat of arms reads in Latin, "Vita, Veritas, Victoria". This translates into English as "Life, Truth, Victory".
Today, modern Derry extends considerably north and west of the city walls and east of the river. The half of the city on the west of the Foyle is known as the Cityside and the area east is called the Waterside. The Cityside and Waterside are connected by the Craigavon Bridge and Foyle Bridge and by a footbridge in the centre of the city called Peace Bridge. The district also extends into rural areas to the southeast of the city.
This much larger city, however, remains characterised by the often extremely steep hills that form much of its terrain on both sides of the river. A notable exception to this lies on the northeastern edge of the city, on the shores of Lough Foyle, where large expanses of sea and mudflats were reclaimed in the middle of the 19th century. Today, these are protected from the sea by miles of sea walls and dikes. The area is an internationally important bird sanctuary, ranked among the top 30 wetland sites in the UK.
Other important nature reserves lie at Ness Country Park, east of Derry; and at Prehen Wood, within the city's south-eastern suburbs.
The lowest temperature recorded at Carmoney was on 27 December 1995.
The city was one of the few in Ireland to experience an increase in population during the Great Famine as migrants came to it from other, more heavily affected areas.
However, concerted efforts have been made by the local community, church and political leaders from both traditions to redress the problem. A conference to bring together key actors and promote tolerance was held in October 2006. Ken Good, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, said he was happy living on the cityside. "I feel part of it. It is my city and I want to encourage other Protestants to feel exactly the same", he said.
Support for Protestants in the district has been strong from the SDLP politician Helen Quigley, who formerly served as the mayor of Derry. She made inclusion and tolerance key themes of her mayoralty. Cllr. Quigley said it was time for "everyone to take a stand to stop the scourge of sectarian and other assaults in the city."
The industry reached its peak in the 1920s employing around 18,000 people. In modern times, however, the textile industry declined due largely to lower Asian wages.
A long-term foreign employer in the area is Du Pont, which has been based at Maydown since 1958, its first European production facility. Originally Neoprene was manufactured at Maydown and subsequently followed by Hypalon. More recently Lycra and Kevlar production units were active. Thanks to a worldwide demand for Kevlar, which is made at the plant, the facility undertook a £40 million upgrade to expand its global Kevlar production.
A controversial new employer in the area was Raytheon, a software division of the American defence contractor, which was set up in Derry in 1999. Although some of the local people welcomed the jobs boost, others in the area objected to the jobs being provided by a firm involved heavily in the arms industry. Following four years of protest by the Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign, in 2004 Derry City Council passed a motion declaring the district "a 'no – go' area for the arms trade", and in 2006 its offices were briefly occupied by anti-war protestors who became known as the Raytheon 9. In 2009, the company announced that it was not renewing its lease when it expired in 2010 and was looking for a new location for its operations.
Other significant multinational employers in the region include Firstsource of India, INVISTA, Stream International, Perfecseal, Arqiva, Northbrook Technology of the United States, Arntz Belting and Invision Software of Germany and Homeloan Management of the UK. Major local business employers include Desmonds, Northern Ireland's largest privately owned company, manufacturing and sourcing garments, E&I Engineering, St. Brendan's Irish Cream Liqueur and McCambridge Duffy, one of the largest insolvency practices in the UK.
Even though the city provides cheap labour by standards in Western Europe, critics have noted that the grants offered by the Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board have helped land jobs for the area that only last as long as the funding lasts. This was reflected in questions to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Richard Needham, in 1990. It was noted that it cost £30,000 to create one job in an American firm in Northern Ireland.
Critics of investment decisions affecting the district often point to the decision to build a new university building in nearby (predominantly Protestant) Coleraine rather than developing the Ulster University Magee Campus. Another major government decision affecting the city was the decision to create the new town of Craigavon outside Belfast, which again was detrimental to the development of the city. Even in October 2005, there was perceived bias against the comparatively impoverished North West of the province, with a major civil service job contract going to Belfast. Mark Durkan, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle was quoted in the Belfast Telegraph as saying:
In July 2005, the Irish Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, called for a joint task force to drive economic growth in the cross-border region.
The city centre has two main shopping centres; the Foyleside Shopping Centre, which has 45 stores and 1,430 parking spaces, and the Richmond Centre, which has 39 retail units. The Quayside Shopping Centre also serves the city side and there is also Lisnagelvin Shopping Centre on the Waterside. These centres, as well as local-run businesses, feature numerous national and international stores. Crescent Link Retail Park, located in the Waterside, has several chain stores and has become the second largest retail park in Northern Ireland (second only to Sprucefield in Lisburn). Plans have also been approved for Derry's first Asda store, which will be located at the retail park sharing a unit with Homebase. Sainsbury's also applied for planning permission for a store at Crescent Link, but Environment Minister Alex Attwood turned it down.
Until the store's closure in March 2016, the city was also home to the world's oldest independent department store, Austins. Established in 1830, Austins predates Jenners of Edinburgh by 5 years, Harrods of London by 15 years and Macy's of New York by 25 years. The store's five-story Edwardian building is located within the walled city in the area known as The Diamond.
In the three centuries since their construction, the city walls have been adapted to meet the needs of a changing city. The best example of this adaptation is the insertion of three additional gates – Castle Gate, New Gate and Magazine Gate – into the walls in the course of the 19th century. Today, the fortifications form a continuous promenade around the city centre, complete with cannon, avenues of mature trees and views across Derry. Historic buildings within the city walls include St Augustine's Church, which sits on the city walls close to the site of the original monastic settlement; the copper-domed Austin's department store, which claims to be the oldest such store in the world; and the imposing Greek Revival Courthouse on Bishop Street. The red-brick late-Victorian Guildhall, also crowned by a copper dome, stands just beyond Shipquay Gate and close to the riverfront.
There are many museums and sites of interest in and around the city, including the Foyle Valley Railway Centre, the Amelia Earhart Centre And Wildlife Sanctuary, the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall, Ballyoan Cemetery, The Bogside, numerous murals by the Bogside Artists, Derry Craft Village, Free Derry Corner, O'Doherty Tower (now home to part of the Tower Museum), the Harbour Museum, the Museum of Free Derry, Chapter House Museum, the Workhouse Museum, the Nerve Centre, St. Columb's Park and Leisure Centre, Creggan Country Park, Brooke Park, The Millennium Forum, the Void Gallery, and the Foyle Bridge and Craigavon Bridge bridges.
Attractions include museums, a vibrant shopping centre and trips to the Giant's Causeway, which is approximately away, though poorly connected by public transport. Lonely Planet called Derry the fourth best city in the world to see in 2013.
On 25 June 2011, the Peace Bridge opened. It is a cycle and footbridge that begins from the Guild Hall in the city centre of Derry City to Ebrington Square and St Columb's Park on the far side of the River Foyle. It was funded jointly by the Department for Social Development (NI), the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government along with matching funding, totalling £14 million, from the SEUPB Peace III programme.
Future projects include the Walled City Signature Project, which intends to ensure that the city's walls become a world-class tourist experience. The Industry Website of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Retrieved 10 September 2006.
In spite of it being the second city of Northern Ireland (and it being the second-largest city in all of Ulster), road and rail links to other cities are below par for its standing. Many business leaders claim that government investment in the city and infrastructure has been badly lacking. Some have stated that this is due to its outlying border location whilst others have cited a sectarian bias against the region west of the River Bann due to its high proportion of Catholics. There is no direct motorway link with Dublin or Belfast. The rail link to Belfast has been downgraded over the years so that, presently, it is not a viable alternative to the roads for industry to rely on. As of 2008, there were plans for £1 billion worth of transport infrastructure investment in and around the district. Planned upgrades to the A5 Dublin road agreed as part of the Good Friday Agreement and St Andrews Talks fell through when the government of the Republic of Ireland reneged on its funding citing the post-2008 economic downturn.
Long-distance buses depart from Foyle Street Bus Station to destinations throughout Ireland. Buses are operated by both Ulsterbus and Bus Éireann on cross-border routes. Lough Swilly formerly operated buses to County Donegal, but the company entered liquidation and is no longer in operation. There is a half-hourly service to Belfast every day, called the Maiden City Flyer, which is the Goldline Express flagship route. There are hourly services to Strabane, Omagh, Coleraine, Letterkenny and Buncrana, and up to twelve services a day to bring people to Dublin. There is a daily service to Sligo, Galway, Shannon Airport and Limerick.
TFI Local Link provides additional cross-border public transport routes, with route 244 (Moville/Derry), 245 (Greencastle/Derry), 288 (Ballybofey/Derry), 952 (Carndonagh/Derry), 957 (Shrove/Derry, via Moville), 1426 (Stranorlar/Derry) all servicing the city.
Private coach operator, Patrick Gallagher Coaches, also runs 2 routes during the week that service the city. The first goes from Crolly in County Donegal to Belfast (to the Leonardo Hotel in Belfast city centre, formerly Jurys Inn), and another that runs from County Donegal to the city.
The A2 (a dual carriageway) from Maydown to Eglinton, serves the airport. City of Derry airport is the main regional airport for County Donegal, County Londonderry and west County Tyrone as well as Derry City itself.
The airport is served by EasyJet, Loganair and Ryanair with scheduled flights to Glasgow Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Manchester Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Heathrow Airport all year round with a summer schedule to Mallorca with TUI Airways. EasyJet is scheduled to begin flights to Birmingham Airport on 1 September 2025.
In 1900, the gauge Donegal Railway was extended to the city from Strabane, with construction establishing the Londonderry Victoria Road railway terminus and creating a junction with the LPHC railway. The LPHC line was altered to dual gauge which allowed gauge traffic between the Donegal Railway and L&LSR as well as Irish gauge traffic between the GNR and B&NCR. By 1905, the government of the United Kingdom offered subsidies to both the L&LSR and the Donegal Railway to build extensions to their railway networks into remote parts of County Donegal, which soon developed Derry (alongside Strabane) into becoming a key rail hub by 1905 for the county and surrounding regions.Hajducki, op. cit., maps 2, 3 & 6 In 1906 the Northern Counties Committee (NCC, successor to the B&NCR) and the GNR jointly took over the Donegal Railway, making it the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee (CDRJC).
Alongside the railways, the city was served by a standard gauge () tramway, the City of Derry Tramways.. The tramway was opened in 1897 and consisted of Horsecar that operated along a single line, long, which ran along the City side of the Foyle parallel to the LPHC's line on that side of the river. The line never converted to electrically operated trams, and was closed in 1919.
The decline of most of Derry's rail links took place after the Second World War, due to increasing competition by road links. The L&LSR closed its line in 1953, followed by the CDRJC in 1954.. The Ulster Transport Authority, who took over the NCC in 1949 and the GNR's lines in Northern Ireland in 1958, took control of the LPHC railway before closing it in 1962, before eventually shutting down the former GNR line to Derry in 1965, after the submission of The Benson Report to the Northern Ireland Government two years prior to the closure.. This left the former L&CR line to Coleraine as the sole railway link for the city, providing a passenger service to Belfast, alongside CIÉ freight services to Donegal. By the 1990s, the service began to deteriorate.
In October 2006 the Government of Ireland announced that it was to invest €1 billion in Northern Ireland; with the planned projects including 'the A5 Western Transport Corridor', the complete upgrade of the A5 Derry – Omagh – Aughnacloy (– Dublin) road, around long, to dual carriageway standard.
In June 2008 Conor Murphy, Minister for Regional Development, announced that there will be a study into the feasibility of connecting the A5 and A6. Should it proceed, the scheme would most likely run from Drumahoe to south of Prehen along the south east of the city.
The port gave vital Allied service in the longest-running campaign of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic, and saw the surrender of the German U-boat fleet at Lisahally on 8 May 1945.
The North West Regional College is also based in the city and accommodates over 10,000 student enrolments annually.
One of the two oldest secondary schools in Northern Ireland, Foyle College, is located in Derry. It was founded in 1616 by the Merchant Taylors. Other secondary schools include St. Columb's College, Oakgrove Integrated College, St Cecilia's College, St Mary's College, St. Joseph's Boys' School, Lisneal College, Thornhill College, Lumen Christi College and St. Brigid's College. There are also numerous primary schools.
In addition to these clubs, which all play in national leagues, other clubs are based in the city. The local football league governed by the IFA is the North-West Junior League, which contains many clubs from the city, such as BBOB (Boys Brigade Old Boys) and Lincoln Courts. The city's other junior league is the Derry and District League and teams from the city and surrounding areas participate, including Don Boscos and Creggan Swifts. The Foyle Cup youth soccer tournament is held annually in the city. It has attracted many notable teams in the past, including Werder Bremen, IFK Göteborg and Ferencváros.
In May 2013 a perpetual Peace Flame Monument was unveiled by Martin Luther King III and Presbyterian minister Rev. David Latimer. The flame was lit by children from both traditions in the city and is one of only 15 such flames across the world.
There are numerous radio stations receivable: the largest stations based in the city are BBC Radio Foyle and the commercial station Q102.9.
There was a locally based television station, C9TV, one of only two local or 'restricted' television services in Northern Ireland, which ceased broadcasts in 2007.
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