Mayor of Derry Michaela Boyle: 'Never have we encountered a darker place than now...the community is resilient....unite and work together'

Mayor Boyle who is adhering to the Government instruction on personal movement, by staying at home, said it was important that the people of Derry and Strabane remained united, strong, resilient, calm, and more importantly hopeful for the future.

She said: “We are all in this together, no one is more than, above than, or greater than the other. It is vitally important that at this difficult time of crisis that we are all facing within all of our communities, that we all remain united.

"We need to support each other in whatever way we can and in doing that we must do it safely. It does not have to be your feet on the street, it can be your presence over the phone. Just call someone if you need help, or call on someone that you think might need your help. Stay united, stay safe, stay well.”

The Mayor said that it was important that the public took to board expert advice and Government guidelines in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. She said the COVID-19 virus is not going away anytime soon however all of us have a responsibility to ensure we do not invite it into our homes or our place of work.

She said everyone must adhere to the advice to ensure we do not introduce it to our loved ones or to the many great men and women who are working hard on the frontline to keep us alive and to ensure we have food our tables.

“We need to Stay strong, stay safe, stay well and most importantly Stay at Home,” she said.

The Mayor spoke about the resilience and strong community spirit that exists in Derry and Strabane and how now more than ever people needed to work together.

She said: “We as a community have been to dark places before, I certainly remember them growing up. However, never in our lifetime have we encountered a darker place than now.

"The light will slowly be switched on again, we are strong people, strength is in our DNA. We have, as a community the resilience to get through this and to bounce back from this dark period.

“It’s also a time for calm, no war of words will help us get through this crisis. I appeal to people who are working hard within their communities to continue to do that, continue to work together, words divide us they don’t unite us. We are all in this for the cause not the applause. “

Concluding the Mayor said it was important that people remained hopeful and positive. She said she looked forward to brighter happier days and urged the people of Derry and Strabane to continue to have hope.

She said: “We have to have real hope. Hope is important in a time of crisis, we all pray and hope that we get through this together. Without hope we have nothing.

"For many people that will have lost a loved one there will be no positive outcome at the end of this crisis. Fear, anxiety, frustration, concern, is a reminder to us all that many hearts long for something to change. We have to have hope to effect that change."