'There's nothing in Derry for the young people'

Vincent said: “We have been let down miserably by government funding agencies. This is clear when you see the huge investments in Belfast with the Titanic museum and other things and then you look at Derry; the roads, housing, employment, the price of fuel, electric, gas. People say that Belfast has a larger catchment area but I would argue that we’re the gateway to the north west; we go as far as Sligo, Letterkenny, Lifford – we take it all in. Derry city should be the key to the northwest, as far as investment’s concerned, and we have been let down again miserably.

”People are saying that we’re going to get this hundred million ‘sometime’ and that we’re going to build this huge garden along the river Foyle but we need more than that.

"This city has suffered terribly in blood, sweat and tears and the city has been treated very unjustly as far as investment’s concerned. I would call on the government in Westminster, at this point, to look on Derry city as a very special case of need for investment, in light of the money that Belfast and other cities in the north have been given. ”Derry has a young and up-and-coming population. People rightfully condemn young men and women who wear masks and carry petrol bombs but it’s up to us, the people of this city, to make sure they don’t feel like they have a need to do those things. We must provide opportunities for them. The people I blame for young people going astray is the political leadership in this city. There is a huge political vacuum here. We’re complaining constantly about Stormont – Stormont was never going to work but we gave it a try. What we need to be drawing is the heart of politics in Westminster and demanding, making it known, that investment is needed in the northwest. We need a voice. I believe that Derry can do it. Derry has the young people, it has the vibrancy, and I would like to let everyone know that we have so many more good people in this city than a handful of young people that are being misled because of the politicians who have let them down and are not showing them a way forward. I believe that those young people have got to be given the opportunity to leave the balaclava behind and show them a better future through investment in this city and investment in what we have. The youth of this city is our future and that’s what we really should be investing in – our future. There’s nothing here for those young people so we need to invest in them through infrastructure, housing, employment and, especially, education. I always argued the point in the civil rights movement that education leads to freedom.

"Derry needs investment. We want what Belfast has got because we deserve it and we need to invest in the greatest gift of all; the young people of our city.”