Member's statement: Foyle Maritime Festival
Member's statement by Mrs Julie Middleton on .
- MLA
- Mrs Julie Middleton
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 29 June 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Foyle Maritime Festival
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5644577
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I speak on the return of the Maritime Festival to my constituency of Foyle, an event that has rightly become a jewel in the crown of our events calendar. The festival is of immense importance to our city. It brings tens of thousands of visitors to our historic quayside and injects vital revenue into our local hospitality, retail and tourism sectors. It showcases the very best of our warmth and civic pride to the world. It is precisely because the festival is such a positive and unifying showcase for our city that I must highlight my disappoint at the treatment from some quarters of the presence of the Royal Navy vessel gracing our shores. It is deeply regrettable that a vocal minority attempted to cast a shadow of negativity and intolerance over the event. That opposition is not just tiring; it is completely divorced from the history of Londonderry. We are a city built on maritime heritage. During the darkest days of the Second World War, our city was the vital nerve centre for the Battle of the Atlantic. At the peak of the battle, the Royal Navy base at HMS Ferret hosted tens of thousands of British and Allied servicemen, serving as a shield against tyranny. Let us never forget that it was to the waters of the Foyle that the German U-boat fleet was ordered to sail to offer its historic surrender in May 1945. That pivotal moment in global history happened right on our doorstep, delivered by the courage and strategy of the Royal Navy and its allies. We are seeing the fantastic development of the new maritime museum at Ebrington Square, a site steeped in naval and military history. I say to those who tried to protest against a visiting ship over the past few days that history cannot be rewritten to suit a narrow political agenda. The stones of Ebrington and the waters of the Foyle bear testament to our true past. True tolerance means respecting all aspects of our shared history, not trying to airbrush out the parts that you find politically inconvenient. The Royal Navy is a vital part of who we are, where we come from and what we have achieved on the global stage. I commend the organisers of the festival and thank the crew of the visiting vessel for their service. I urge everyone in the House to reject the petty intolerance that seeks to diminish a proud historical legacy.
410 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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