A Tangled Web

It's 'Londonderry'!!

 

If you give Irish nationalists the entire cake, they will reciprocate with a few meaningless crumbs of comfort.  This habit is best illustrated in a piece penned by Seamus McKinney for the Irish News.  Nationalist councillors on Derry City Council have said they will respond generously (oh, how big of them!!  My cup runneth over!!) once the High Court 'confirms the 'official name of the city is Derry and not Londonderry'.

 

However, the High Court is unlikely to make any such ruling.  I believe the nefarious Sinn Fein/SDLP alliance on the council is being disingenuous with its own supporters.  Under United Kingdom law a town becomes a city once it has received a Royal Charter, which can only be conferred by the sovereign of the day.  Ergo, the repeal of that charter can only be made by the Queen on a recommendation from HM Government, the implementation of which would require an Act of Parliament.



How does this affect the titular controversy of Ulster's second city?, I hear you ask.  Well, the 'London' appendage was added by Royal Charter in 1613 under King James I, when the city was granted to the London companies who had been instrumental in its economic and trading growth.   Obliterating the official title would be tantamount to denying the city's proud history and strategic origins.   Towns dominated by Unionists do not see the need to adopt Anglo-Saxon names.  Unionists on Ballymena District Council, for example,  have not suggested the town's name be changed to 'Norwich' or 'Colchester'.  Nationalists, very much to the contrary, simply cannot bear something that might exemplify British historical connections with any part of the island of Ireland.   Attempting to shorten the title of Londonderry to suit Irish sensibilities is nothing more than a cognominal comparison with kristelnacht.



Underneath this insult to Unionism there lurks a darker objective motivated by spin and the illusion of nationalist victory.  As aforementioned, the status of a city can only be conferred by the Sovereign.  Nonetheless, the title of a borough or district in which a named settlement is located is vested in the council's powers.  I believe Sinn Fein and the SDLP are attempting to simply legally validate their senseless decision to rename the council area back in the 1980's, and then pass off such a declaration as proof that the city's official title is 'Derry'.  Watch this space.