Derry: A city with a unique history and a bright future

By Jim Sammon

Derry's euphoria from winning the UK City of Culture 2013 title has not yet died down, yet the hard work of delivery has begun.  Derry has been overwhelmed by support and good wishes from across Ireland and our city has never been more united in its determination to succeed.

Civic pride is at an all time high, with a shared commitment to embrace, celebrate and respect each community's rich cultural heritage.   For once, our unique history is playing to our advantage and the Chamber of Commerce - as the leading voice of business in the region - is determined to help shape this into a permanent economic advantage.

Derry's business community is intent on maximising the investment required to deliver a comprehensive cultural and arts programme in 2013 and to support this with improvements across the hospitality and leisure sector.  We must create a positive and lasting legacy for the region and Northern Ireland as a whole.

Businesses in the city have got behind the bid, pledging over £200M for major capital investment to improve the hotels, cultural venues, restaurants, retail and other tourism infrastructure required to deliver a successful programme in 2013. 

Over the next two years Derry will engage in a hectic phase of transformation.  The city is intent on creating a major new industry around cultural tourism and our Chamber will help to drive and extend those improvements into our retail and leisure sectors.  Collectively these initiatives will provide a tremendous boost to employment and local prosperity, with over 1,500 new jobs expected in the construction sector alone.

Yet despite all this positive news, the Chamber is not complacent.  Cultural tourism will be just one facet of an expanded and successful economy in Derry in the future.  Another - we are determined - will be based around the high quality research and development that we want to see emerge from the University of Ulster's expanded Magee campus in the city.

Working with local partners, the Chamber is also seeking a 25% growth in Derry's creative industries through the expansion of our digital sector.  Digital technologies are a priority for Derry, backed by the city hosting the Project Kelvin telehouse that brings direct trans-Atlantic high speed communications connections into the heart of Derry.   Our Chamber has created a high powered Digital Action Team, whose focus is to provide leadership for the development of a successful digital content industry in the city. We are determined that Derry becomes Ireland's Centre for Digital Excellence.

At the heart of the Digital Action Team are leaders from our city's digital industries, which includes some of Ireland's fastest growing firms in the sector, including Learning Pool, EyeSpyfx , 360 Production, the Nerve Centre and Smalltown America.

We have the backing of public bodies and local third level institutions.  We have also appointed a Digital Ambassador - Derry native Colm Long - who is operations director for Facebook in Ireland.   The team is already working to ensure that Derry competes in digital infrastructure, that our schoolchildren - our future labour force - have advanced digital skills and that our city can host world class digital conferences. 

Derry~Londonderry~Legenderry, call us what you will - we are the City of Culture 2013.  But we are an awful lot more.  We are Northern Ireland's second city and proud to be so.  We will also increasingly be recognised as a centre for excellence in digital technologies and in higher education.  The City of Culture is only the start for a city that has both a unique history and a very bright future.

Jim Sammon is President of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of SAMMON Chartered Surveyors