The Ulster Unionist Party’s Foyle spokesperson, Julia Kee, has launched an online petition to retain Londonderry as the official title of Northern Ireland’s second largest city. The petition on the change.org website has attracted over 1,700 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Julia said;
“This latest attempt by Sinn Fein to seek to change the official name of the City of Londonderry is completely divisive and unnecessary and sends a message to the minority unionist community that they are not welcome.
“There are very real problems in our city which need to be urgently addressed but the name is not one of them. We should instead be concentrating on issues such as education, employment, housing and healthcare.
“Since last week’s Council meeting I have been inundated with calls from people, who are extremely angry at the stance taken by both Sinn Fein and the SDLP on Derry City & Strabane Council in seeking to change the official title of the City of Londonderry.
“London is one of the world’s great cities and I believe we should cherish and seek to strengthen the historic ties between Londonderry and London. Dropping the London from Londonderry sends entirely the wrong message and I urge people to sign the petition.”