Mayor wants to make Derry a city of hope

The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Michaela Boyle pictured with ladies from The Next Chapter during a visit to the Mayors Parlour, Guildhall, Derry on Monday night. Front from left, Marie Dunne (Hopeful Minds NI), Bronagh Hinds, Danielle Flood (Foyle Next Chapter), Cristina Keaveney (Foyle Next Chapter), Mary McDonald (Regional Coordinator, The Next Chapter). Back row- Eve Blair (BBC Radio Foyle), Liz Beaton (Communications Lead, Politics Plus), Catriona McHugh (Foyle Next Chapter), Rosemary ODoherty (Foyle Next Chapter), and Cathy Malcolm (Foyle Next Chapter).
(Photos: Jim McCafferty Photography) — The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Michaela Boyle pictured with ladies from The Next Chapter during a visit to the Mayors Parlour, Guildhall, Derry on Monday night. Front from left, Marie Dunne (Hopeful Minds NI), Bronagh Hinds, Danielle Flood (Foyle Next Chapter), Cristina Keaveney (Foyle Next Chapter), Mary McDonald (Regional Coordinator, The Next Chapter). Back row- Eve Blair (BBC Radio Foyle), Liz Beaton (Communications Lead, Politics Plus), Catriona McHugh (Foyle Next Chapter), Rosemary ODoherty (Foyle Next Chapter), and Cathy Malcolm (Foyle Next Chapter). (Photos: Jim McCafferty Photography)

Since taking up her position in May, Mayor Boyle has attended several engagements which centre on positivity and encouragement. One such event took place last night with The Next Chapter’s Peace IV project community outreach event ‘An Audience with Bronagh Hinds’ in the Guildhall, and it was during her speech that the Mayor announced that she hopes for Derry and the wider District to take inspiration from projects like theirs to continue to work towards making positive strides.

“I have been so inspired by the many events that I have attended in the past nine months and it’s clear that we need to come together and keep working on empowering one another and showing all of our citizens that they can have a big impact on our society.

“The word hope is something that I always find myself coming back to. Without that, there is nothing to build on and it’s our job as a collective in Derry and in this District to ensure that everyone has hope that they can achieve their ambitions.

“If we come together with hope then we are a powerful force, and one of my targets as Mayor is to leave behind a legacy for the next First Citizen to build upon – a legacy that encourages everyone to have the confidence and belief in themselves, and for our society as a whole to help one another.

“When I look at projects like Youth19, it only inspires me to keep encouraging generations of young people coming through that they, too, can change the course of history. We live in a world where so often people are quicker to put you down than they are to lift you up, but if we can give one another hope and encouragement then together we can go a long way.

“Derry and our District has an abundance of potential and talent, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be helping one another make the most of it. There is a famous quote from Aristotle that ‘hope is a waking dream’, and together I believe that we can realise that dream, which is how the ‘city of hope’ came about.”