Factory Girl application has yet to be lodged

Environment Minister Mark H. Durkan said: “I am advised that Derry City and Strabane District Council has not received a planning application for the sculpture.

“My officials in Historic Environment Division have been engaged in pre-application discussions with council officers.

“Historic Environment Division was consulted with revised plans by Derry City and Strabane District Council on August 12, 2015 and responded on August 28, 2015.

“I also held a meeting on November 2, 2015 so options to progress the proposal could be explored with interested parties.

“As you will be aware this matter is now the responsibility of Derry City and Strabane District Council.”

The sculpture will commemorate the thousands of local women who staffed the local textile industry, often working under terrible conditions, for decades.

The idea for a memorial was first mooted over twenty years ago.

In the 2000s, it was proposed the sculpture would be sited at the King Street roundabout but that has since been shifted to Harbour Square.