Derry's new mayor is calling on everyone to add the city to their bucket list.
Graham Warke is approaching his first month in his new post as Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council. He has been an elected representative of the Faughan ward since 2015.
Coming out of repeated lockdowns, Mayor Warke has an incredibly positive message in encouraging visitors from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to make Derry an essential destination on their holidays.
He said: “Obviously this year is going to be different. This summer you are not going to be travelling further afield but instead holidaying more locally."
He added: "You have the Wild Atlantic Way, an absolutely stunning drive down Ireland and the North Coast Causeway Coastal route and we in Derry are stuck in the middle of those two beautiful drives. For anybody coming here walking the beautiful walls of Derry should be on your bucket list.”
Mayor Warke is keen to see the return of the booming tourism Derry enjoyed pre-covid. He said: “Unfortunately when lockdown came the tourism coming to the city was massive, something the city has not seen. Now the focus is about getting that level of tourism back up again."
"We have everything here for the tourists. You only have to look at the city it is beautiful with all the restaurants and the nightlife. It has everything," he added.
Looking forward, he said: “I think honestly the potential in this city and district is humongous and coming out of Covid times now it is about getting the green light to re-open fully so we can welcome everybody back to the city."
He added: "On the weekends we are seeing more people throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic coming up and visiting the city, which is great. It is a good sign for hospitality, but tourism is going to be a major player for the city to move forward.”
Derry will see the return of major events such as the famous Derry Halloween and the ever-exciting Clipper Race Festival in July 2022. While careful consideration needs to be taken regarding the usual numbers of people expected during these events, Mayor Warke is optimistic in seeing them return.
He said: “Halloween is going to be more local while being bigger and spread out further throughout the district area. We have the return of the Clipper Festival which will be a major bonus to the city. Personally, what I want to see is events happening in Ebrington Square particularly for the young people of the district.”
Mayor Warke faces a unique year in balancing the re-opening of local businesses while ensuring a safety message to prevent the re-introduction of further restrictions.
He said : "Hopefully I will not see any more lockdowns in my term here. Now it is about getting that positivity to the community and obviously getting that safety message out there while moving forward with the vaccines so we can see better times ahead.”
To sum up his goals for the year, Mayor Warke said: “If I can come out of my term next year and we are back to normality with no more lockdowns, business is booming, and we have tourists coming through the guildhall and visiting this beautiful city and district. All while raising a lot of money for my charity which is Foyle Down Syndrome Trust.”
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