UUP: Ridiculous to spend £30,000 on new council name

The Ulster Unionist Party in Londonderry says it is ridiculous that £30,000 is to be spent on rebranding the new council.

UUP Councillor Mary Hamilton expressed horror that the compromise name of Foyle looks unlikely to be considered.

“The correct name of the town is Londonderry. I believe the new council should have Londonderry in the name but I wouldn’t hold out much hope because of the way the majority of the council is made up.

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“It should be named Londonderry and Strabane but Foyle would be something that we could both agree on. That would be the name for it because the river runs right up to Strabane.

“I don’t expect that to be used. We will have to wait to see what the SDLP has to say on it but I wouldn’t hold out much hope.

“It is vitally important that our history and identity aren’t taken away even further. We have so many

London connections and that is important for the new logo as well as the name. This is the second city of Northern Ireland after all and we don’t want to lose our history and identity.”

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Asked about the use of a consultant at an expense of £30,000, the UUP councillor said: “I think it is ridiculous. There is enough expertise within the two councils without the need for the use of a consultant at a cost of £30,000.

“I am strictly against the use of consultants and I think that it goes on too often. We should make use of the expertise that we already have here and this is just another example of the wastefulness of using a consultant for something that we really don’t need to. I am sure there are a lot of consultants who won’t be too happy with me saying that but that is how I see it.”

The new organisation has been called Derry City and Strabane District Council up to this point.