Naming of Ivan Barr Bridge planned for May

MORE than ten years after it opened, the pedestrian footbridge in Strabane will officially be named after a late Sinn Féin councillor.

Last September, Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC) agreed to a recommendation by its Recognition Panel to name the footbridge across the River Mourne after the former councillor and civil rights activist, Ivan Barr, who died in 2008. This was subsequently ratified by full council.

Details of the official naming ceremony have now been confirmed and were brought before a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council yesterday afternoon (Tuesday).

During the Governance and Strategic Planning committee, councillors were advised that following consultation with Mr Barr's family, the naming ceremony will take place on May 9 to mark the anniversary of his passing.

Mayor Ruairí McHugh will conduct the ceremony to unveil a name plate/plaque at the bridge.

The event will be followed by a Mayoral reception in the council offices on Derry Road for members of the Barr family and invited guests.

The structure was at the centre of a row back in 2015 when the then DUP Department for Social Development (DSD) Minister, Mervyn Storey - whose department was one of the project's main funders - threatened to withhold funding to the tune of £1m if the bridge was named after the late politician.

Following the Minister's intervention, the Barr family asked councillors not to proceed with the naming as they did not want to ratepayers pick up the cost if the funding was withheld.

When ownership for the bridge then passed to DCSDC, a new motion was brought forward by independent Strabane councillor, Paul Gallagher, in 2022.

The proposal passed with a recorded vote 23 for and five against.

At the time, councillor Gallagher said council should confer the naming of the bridge in honour of the late Mr Barr because he was instrumental in having it built.

"He was a gentleman of politics who gave leadership to the people of Strabane through very turbulent time," he said at the time. "He was a great man for building bridges through good relations and he successfully did that through the old council.

“In his lifetime he recognised the importance of this footbridge, he advocated for it, he worked hard for it.

“He was very much involved in the feasibility studies, the design and in securing funding."