Sinn Féin pulls out of Derry mediation group

Sinn Féin has withdrawn from the Derry City Centre Initiative which has enjoyed considerable levels of success in brokering agreement on parades in the city.

Sinn Féin’s two members on the board Gerry O’Hara and Barney O’Hagan have failed to renew their membership to the Board of the Derry City Centre Initiative (CCI) following concerns about the involvement of the police and the issue of CCTV.

CCI, which has charity status, was established to promote business interests in Derry and is led by businessman Brendan Duddy. It has been hailed as a success particularly in mediating between Orange Order groups and nationalists residents in the city during the parade season.

The board of the CCI comprises of independent business members, the Roads Service, Housing Executive, Derry Chamber of Commerce, the Planning Service, other statutory bodies and a representative from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Derry City Council voted to install the cameras following a safety review which made 74 recommendations about how to improve the business environment in Derry. The Council then voted on three occasions to ask the Initiative to set it up and manage it for two years.

CCTV was first used in Derry city centre in December 2001 after six months of research and consultation by the CCI. It was installed at a cost of £500,000 and was funded by the Police Authority.

In August 2003 the Initiative will hand back the stewardship of CCTV to Derry City Council.

Chairman of CCI Brendan Duddy said: “I think it is very sad that Sinn Féin have adopted this attitude, although I understand where they are coming from.

“The CCTV system, which is light years ahead of any in Belfast, is the best protected and controlled within the islands of Ireland and Britain. However Sinn Féin have a problem in that the police can have access to the footage if a crime or an assault has been committed in the area covered by these CCTV cameras.

“It is completely impossible to ignore the police on this issue and I am not going to enter into a political battle over who should police Northern Ireland,” he added.

However Mr Duddy said it was too early to gauge the benefits of the cameras, which have been running now for four months. “It would at least a year and a half,” he added.

(AMcE)