‘A farther shore really is reachable’

“Saturday, June 25 is a date that will indelibly be written onto people’s hearts and minds, primarily because the opening of the Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge succeeded in lifting our great and historic city onto the threshold of a new beginning.

“Walking back over the bridge, having listened to the various speakers and particularly to our First and Deputy First Ministers, whose inspirational and visionary speeches unquestionably lit a candle of hope for a myriad of people, it was unbelievably uplifting to encounter a sea of genuinely friendly, happy, smiling people of all ages. Even the weather was in our city’s favour with the sun appearing for the first time in weeks.

“All around the city, on both sides of the River Foyle and from one end of the new bridge to the other, there was a wonderful display of what in reality was a Symphony of Brotherhood. The people of Ireland’s fourth city and Northern Ireland’s second were basking in what was nothing short of being a’ bright brand new day.’ The jangling discords perpetuated by inter-communal fear, mistrust and suspicion and so frequently a blot on both our community’s copybooks were relegated to the background and in their place appeared unequivocal evidence of community transformation.

“How powerfully accurate are the words of JF Kennedy and how utterly appropriate for our divided city, when he declared ‘enmities between nations do not last forever’. Saturday, June 25 allowed a city and its people long separated by cultural identity, political affiliation, religion and a river to catch a glimpse of how different life could be for us all were we each enabled to view each other as brothers and sisters within the same worldwide human family.

“Just as a bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle for the purpose of passing over that obstacle, Protestants, Roman Catholics, Unionists, Nationalists, Loyalists and Republicans on either side of the River Foyle must therefore be provided with opportunities to confront those obstacles that separate, divide and weaken.

“The time is now right for fractured people, living on both the City side and the Waterside, to lift their eyes away from the troubles of the past and to hopefully anticipate a happier, more prosperous and stable future. ‘A farther shore is reachable,’ which is something more than crossing over to the other side of Derry/Londonderry’s new bridge. First and foremost its, ‘the brave and the good who see a reason to move forward hand in hand and know that a bridge joins people not just land.’

“Clearly the new bridge is a superb visual aid as to how a gap can be closed and of how two different parts within the same city can be connected. Moreover, the new bridge will serve as a daily reminder of how both communities can in fact be stronger when they work together. Only by moving in the direction of each other will the building blocks fall into place and progressively, this will lead to a better, shared and more peaceful future for everyone.”