Opinion: Theft of poppy wreath after Derry Somme commemoration highlights persistence of sectarianism

In my position as a Unionist councillor I feel honoured that I am able to lay a poppy wreath to commemorate the brave men of the 10th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ‘The Derrys’, the 36th Ulster Division and the 16th Irish Division.

Many of these men fought for different reasons, but they all fought side by side against a common evil.

Fast forward 109 years, we have dealt with many issues, but the one that divides us most has been allowed to fester and manifest itself into something that has deeply divided both orange and green cultures for many years.

Sectarianism still exists, even after 27 years of the Good Friday Agreement and now social media is widely used to spread the flames of sectarianism by youths that should be enjoying the peace that many of us in Northern Ireland never knew as teenagers.

Stealing flags; painting sectarian words of hate on walls; desecrating monuments and burning symbols such as poppy wreaths is widely on the increase.

Catholic and Protestant youths across our city are becoming involved in tit for tat sectarian actions, captured for all to see in the form of TikTok videos which are used to fuel division at a level that has not been witnessed in the city for a long time.

We had barely finished the Battle of the Somme Commemoration service at the Cenotaph on Tuesday evening when a group of youths circled the Diamond on a mission to see what they could steal.

On advice from the PSNI all wreaths were removed, bar one, laid in Remembrance on behalf of the City and District by the Deputy Mayor Alderman Niree McMorris.

No one should have had to remove any poppy wreath on Tuesday night and no one, without permission, should have removed the only one that was left.

Where is the condemnation of this from Nationalist politicians? Who, with influence, will speak with these youths to explain what is wrong with their actions? Is it any wonder protestants feel more alienated than ever in their own city? Where does this end?

Community groups in Londonderry have witnessed an almost 60 per cent funding cut in the Good Relations budget supplied by the Executive Office. Yet we have witnessed an increase in sectarian tensions all over the city and district.

I believe that The Executive Office need to step up with funding of vital Good Relations projects, and not just ones that tick boxes, but ones that encourage dialogue with the opposite religion; that educates every participating teenager; that encourages respect of the other communities cultures and that tackles head on ALL the issues that sectarianism feeds off.

Every teenager from Northern Ireland should be taken to the Somme battlefields and educated on how both Catholic and Protestants fought side by side against a common enemy. 109 years on we need to once again fight side by side against the destructive enemy that is sectarianism.