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Audio: Alan Shatter calls Derry 'Londonderry'
Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter has come underfire for calling Derry - "Londonderry" in Leinster House today.
Shatter who was talking about the altogether more serious matter of members of the PSNI coming under attack by dissident republicans, made the gaffe when speaking to Dáil Eireann.
The name of the city has been in dispute since companies in London in the seventeenth century helped pay for the rebuilding of the city and added the prefix London.
The name has been in dispute between nationalists and unionists ever since with roadsigns in the Republic referring to "Derry."
Many are saying that Minister Shatter should have shown more sensitivity when dealing with the contentious issue.
Many official documents in Northern Ireland now use "Derry/Londonderry" giving rise to the nickname "Stroke City."
It really bothers me when Irish media - RTE, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Joe.ie, etc - constantly use the term "Northern Ireland". Surely the only people that use these resources are Irish. As a northern this has always borthered me. Is it not sufficient to say the north. Or Derry or Belfast, or wherever. We all know where these places are.
That's why I wonder how people see a difference between say Londonderry and saying Northern Ireland. To me they both symbolise the same thing.
On the statement by Shatter, I basically think less of him (if possible) because of his gaffe. The knob.
That's not my point anyway. I want to know why people are getting bent out of shape by someone using Londonderry, when no one cares if someone says Northern Ireland. They both represent British rule in Ireland, and I presume that is why people are annoyed about Shatter saying Londonderry.