Dalai Lama willvisit city in April

He will visit the city as guest of Richard Moore, the Director of the local Children in Crossfire charity.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet has described Mr Moore as ‘my hero.’ Children in Crossfire is a local charity dedicated to promoting early childhood care and development in some of the poorest countries in the world.

His Holiness will be guest of honour at Children in Crossfire’s event called ‘Culture of Compassion’ at the Vital Venue in Ebrington where people can hear His Holiness speak about the importance of compassion.

This event will also feature a host of other guests who will be announced in due course.

Mr Moore said: “We are thrilled to welcome His Holiness back to Derry/Londonderry.

“He came to the city six years ago as part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations and has been a dedicated patron of the charity since that time.

“We are delighted that people from across Northern Ireland and beyond will have an opportunity to see and hear him speak during this City of Culture year.

“We know that His Holiness is looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland and we hope to make this visit very special.

Tickets for the ‘Culture of Compassion’ will be available from Wednesday (February 13) at the Box Office at the Millennium Forum with all proceeds going to Children in Crossfire.

“We will have other elements of the visit to announce in the coming week but this event will be His Holiness’s only public speaking event during the visit,” said Mr Moore. “We also hope to launch a Youth Compassion Award from the Office of Tibet which will give local school children an opportunity to be rewarded for their charity work as well as other legacies from the visit,” he said.

Further details of the visit will be announced in the coming weeks and information about tickets is available by logging onto www.childrenincrossfire.org.