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.”
