‘Future Foyle’ team busy: PHA

A business case for the multi-million pound ‘Our Future Foyle’ project is still being worked through with government departments in Belfast, the Public Health Agency (PHA) has confirmed.
The Foyle Reeds proposed installation for the Foyle Bridge.The Foyle Reeds proposed installation for the Foyle Bridge.
The Foyle Reeds proposed installation for the Foyle Bridge.

The £25 m ‘cultural and health intervention’ was launched last October by the Public Health Agency, City Centre Initiative and Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design.

However, the ambitious proposals originated from a PHA review to address suicide prevention concerns around the River Foyle in 2010 that identified a need to eliminate negative perceptions of the city’s iconic waterway.

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Three landmark projects ‘Foyle Reeds’, ‘Foyle Bubbles’ and ‘Foyle Experience’ are proposed.

These, it’s hoped, will transform the way citizens perceive the river if and when they go ahead. ‘Foyle Reeds’ will involve the installation and illumination of thousands of ‘reeds’ across the Foyle Bridge that the designers believe will become the largest public art work in the North.

‘Foyle Bubbles’ will involve the installation of 40 moveable riverside pods along the riverside to stimulate art and business and change the way Derry looks at the river.

The third strand of the project, ‘Foyle Experience’, will result in the creation of digitally interactive sculptures and art installations along the Foyle. While there has been little visible progress on the ‘Our Future Foyle’ proposals since they were announced in the Guildhall last autumn work has been ongoing steadily behind the scenes.

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“The ‘Our Future Foyle’, team are progressing a business case with the relevant departments, and hope to provide further details in the very near future,” a spokesperson for the PHA told the ‘Journal.’

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