FREE DERRY CORNER CIVIL RIGHTS MURAL UNVEILING

THE PUBLIC are being invited to attend the unveiling of a mural at Free Derry Corner this Friday, August 29th @ 2.30 pm which will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Derry’s first civil rights march on October 5th 1968. Civil rights veterans, some of whom became prominent politicians, former residents of Springtown Camp, trade unionists, community groups, and individuals from further afield, in addition to the media, are being invited to attend.

The 40th anniversary commemoration committee, chaired by Denis Haughey, a former Nicra chairman include Nobel Laureate John Hume, Austin Currie, Ivan Cooper,  Michael Farrell, Frank McManus, former Labour spokesman on N. Ireland Kevin McNamara, MP and a  Nicra co-founder in 1967, Fionnbarra O’Dochartaigh. Patrons include several leading academics, former Labour MP Paul Rose,  Dr. Conn and Patricia McCluskey, founders of the Campaign for Social Justice in the early 1960s, the well-known lawyer Claude Wilton, Michael Canavan, Paddy ‘Bogside’ Doherty, Paul Grace, Jane Coyle the widow of ‘Vinny’ Coyle who was an iconic leader of hundreds of stewards and Bernadette McAliskey (nee Devlin).

This week a 2-day programme of events at Derry Guildhall, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 4 and 5, will be released to the media, as well as trade unions and community groups in additions to interested members of the public. One of the highlights of the weekend events will be a address from the President of Ireland, Mrs. Mary McAleese, who will share a platform with Prof. Kader Asmal a member of the ANC government in South Africa, who sought sanctuary in Ireland over several years during the Apartheid era.

Programmes and invitations relating to all events will be available on request from the Derry civil rights office which can be contacted via 028 71286358 or rights.civil@googlemail.com  The 40th anniversary website, recently launched at an event attended by the Mayor of Derry, Gerard Diver, can be viewed on www.nicivilrights.org

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