Derry Against Fuel Poverty to hold rally in Derry on Saturday

The event will take place at Waterloo Place on Saturday afternoon at 3pm.

Spokesperson Sinead Quinn said: “In the week that Stormont went into recess to facilitate the May 5 election, it is beyond shameful that we are no further forward in resolving this crisis for the most financially vulnerable in our society.

“Poverty affects us all whether you’re from Top of the Hill or Tullyally, Clooney or Creggan. We can blame the DUP for resigning at the beginning of February, but the reality is that our governments knew this was coming as far back as last summer.”

She added: “It has become clear that our governments have no intention of taking the necessary steps to deal with the widening and deepening poverty that has long plagued the working classes in our city. Tinkering around the edges has become the norm when it comes to the deprivation that the working and non-working poor find themselves in through no fault of their own.

“It is our duty to challenge that dereliction of duty and agitate for change in whatever way we see fit. Whether that be sit-ins, protests, strikes or rallies, direct action is now our duty.

“Over 50 years ago, well before my time, people assembled from all areas of this city to defend our basic freedoms under one banner. That organic, grassroots, united front quickly developed into what is better known as the Civil Rights Movement. I grew up as a child in the Bogside in awe of the fearless determination - in the face of utter desperation and despair - shown by people like Eamonn McCann, Bernadette McAliskey and John Hume. At that time, a Unionist government was at the helm. Today, we have a coalition of green and orange voices and it’s failing us all. We desperately need to harness that same spirit that people exhibited in the late sixties to lift us up and carry us forward today.”