City's new £13.4m peace project will bridge the divide (Belfast Telegraph)

City's new £13.4m peace project will bridge the divide

Brendan McDaid (Belfast Telegraph)
15 January 2010

Londonderry's new Peace Bridge will be the beacon of economic renewal and an iconic symbol of a new, united Northern Ireland, business and political leaders have said.

Dignitaries, business figures, political leaders and cross-community groups gathered at the Waterfoot Hotel for the launch of the construction phase of the new £13.4 million project yesterday.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness returned to his native city to turn the first sod before the diggers moved in. The bridge will link traditionally divided communities at the former Army barracks at Ebrington on the east bank with the city centre at Guildhall Square on the west bank.

Mr McGuinness said: "It is my sincere hope that the new bridge will be a catalyst for change and will help transform this city and the local community in the widest sense.

"It represents a real opportunity to improve relationships by transcending the physical divide of the river which, for so long, has been viewed as a boundary between the Waterside and the city side.

"It will bring Ebrington into shared, public use for the first time in almost 170 years. Most importantly, it will enable the local community to reclaim this prime riverside location for their own enjoyment."

The Peace Bridge will measure 235 metres. The S-shaped construction, the largest single regeneration project in Derry since the Foyle Bridge was built 30 years ago, will be white with two vertical wings jutting into the sky on opposite sides near the centre.

It will be the third bridge to cross the River Foyle and has been given £13,343,476 from the European Union's PEACE III Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

Pat Colgan, chief executive of SEUPB, said: "This event marks a key milestone in the development of the Peace Bridge, a truly iconic project which has become a reality through the assistance of European funding."

Ilex chairman Sir Roy McNulty said a time capsule will be buried on completion of the project in December 2010.

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