Mayor Warke: Derry doesn't have one Peace Bridge, it has 100 invisible Peace Bridges

“This city doesn't just have one Peace Bridge”, says the outgoing Mayor of Derry City & Strabane District Council, “it has a hundred invisible Peace Bridges”.

Mayor Graham Warke today hangs up his Mayoral chain as his year-long term of office comes to an end in what has been a challenging, but also rewarding, last 12 months.

While the spectre of Covid did not loom as large as it did for his predecessor, Cllr Brian Tierney, its ongoing presence – and threat – had to be continually negotiated past in order to try and bring good health and a semblance of normality back to Derry.

The public return of Halloween was a resounding success – as were both the Christmas and St Patrick's Day celebrations as well.

But an endearing legacy of Mayor Warke's term of office will be his efforts in bringing all of Derry's communities together.

^{Covid-19 presented its challenges but Mayor Graham Warke help boost the city's vaccination drive}

Yes there have been DUP/Unionist Mayors in the past who all had degrees of cross-community success.

But Mayor Warke seemed to glid through the age-old barriers and showed that like the Hands Across The Divide sculpture on the western side of the Craigavon Bridge that if you hold out the hand of friendship, it will be reciprocated.

Mayor Warke did just that. There were those on social media, whose profiles suggested they were not natural supporters of Mayor Warke's party – the DUP – but would always post a reaction of “fair play to you” when commenting on a story of him visiting a school or a community project in nationalist areas, taking his son to the Brandywell to watch Derry City or welcoming GAA teams at the Guildhall.

Such things would sound strange to someone from another part of the world but in Northern Ireland where the politics of the nursery school playground seems to reign supreme at Stormont at the minute, Mayor Warke's approach to local governance was a welcome tonic.

However, as he says himself, he could not have fulfilled his term of office without the people of Derry itself.

He said: “I've taken off my political cap, poured my heart into the role of Mayor and done my best to represent everybody within this city.

“I take away a lot of good memories and have made a lot of friends from every corner of this district who I would count as friends for life.

“The only regret I have is just that it's ending now and I have to pass the (Mayoral) chain on.

^{Mayor Graham Warke hosting the charity, Mencap NI at the Guildhall}

“I am totally going to miss it but I'm going to continue to give 100 per cent to the city and district when I return as a Councillor.

“With this city here, I am honoured to have been in this position and to be in the position I'm returning to once my term as Mayor ends.

“I am very upbeat regarding the future of the city in five or ten years time. The potential in this city is so great. I love the city even more and I love everybody in it – they are the most generous people you'll ever meet.

“I'm looking out the window now at the Peace Bridge. What I've learnt over this last year is that this city has a hundred of invisible Peace Bridges.

“They are built by Primary Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Youth Groups, Community Groups... you name it.

“There is so much great work happening out there in the city. I've done my best to do as much as I could.

“As First Citizen of this city, you have a job to do. You are there to represent everybody.

^{The Supercars event at Guildhall Square helped raise money for the Mayor's charity, the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust}

“I made a promise as soon as I got the position that I was going to represent everybody as best as I could.

“It was how I was raised by my parents as well. If anything came into our area, I was there doing it. It didn't matter if it was a young boy raising £15 for charity, you know it was a massive thing for them.

“As far as my political cap goes, that was lying in the North Pole as soon as I put that (Mayoral) chain on.

“Very early on, I was doing an event at Holy Child Primary School in the Creggan and they gave me a surprise. The kids had been doing a wee fundraiser for Foyle Down Syndrome – which is the Mayor's charity – and they had raised quite a bit of money.

“The maddest thing about that day was that not long after, I was down the Fountain estate and they gave us a cheque for the charity as well. It was just so buzzing that day.”

His visit to the Brandywell to watch Derry City thump UCD 7-1 was seen as significant.

Going to a football match, in the cold light of day, doesn't seem to be much of an event worth commenting on.

However, as has sadly been the way in the North, a politician of one side of the political divide visiting a sports venue which is in an area of the opposite side does – rightly or wrongly – raise an eyebrow.

Yet the gesture from Mayor Warke that night was greatly appreciated and he in turn appreciated the welcome he and his son received at the Brandywell – although given the spectacular result for Derry City that night, he might be given a complimentary seat.

He continued: “I think they would give me a season ticket now because the night myself and my son went, Derry City won 7-1.

“My wee son, Ollie, for months was asked 'what team do you support?'. He would say 'Derry City'.

“I've been involved with Derry City quite a bit with kids with learning difficulties and the players were great with them.

“As for our visit that night, myself and Ollie had a ball. The wee man was sitting there with his scarf and hat and it was great. Especially the match and the great result Derry City had that night – a 7-1 win was absolutely outstanding.”

His role in helping to try and restore normality back to the city post-lockdown deserves recognition as, mindful of the Covid-19 health and safety rules, both he and the Council set about bringing back Halloween, Christmas and St Patrick's Day back to the public.

He said: “It was a relief for the city to finally get the Halloween Festival back on to the streets.

^{Something spooky is in town as Mayor Graham Warke welcomes Halloween back to Derry} 

“Halloween turned out to be a brilliant week – although the night itself had a bit of rain. But it was so nice to see people back on the streets enjoying themselves again.

“It was the same with St Patrick's Day – it was out of this world this year because of the numbers of people who were there. It was something like 37,000 on the streets that day.

“People and their families just wanted the normality back for those occasions. With Halloween, Christmas and St Patrick's Day, there was a buzz that was back in the city – that was from young to old.”

Like his predecessor, their were administrative challenges for Mayor Warke to deal with as well – namely hosting virtual Council meetings.

Pre-pandemic, full monthly meetings of the Council would be conducted in the Guildhall. For the last two years, while the Mayor still heads off to the famous landmark building to chair the meetings, he is the only one doing so.

Given Covid-19 hasn't gone away, restrictions are still in place for Councillors who have been attending meetings online from their own homes with Mayor Warke having to ensure that proceedings flow as best they can and without too many technical hiccups.

“Conducting the online Council meetings were actually not as bad as it seemed,” he said.

“Obviously, it was something I was pretty nervous about coming into this role.

“You have to get on with things in life, although there will be stuff that you dread – you just have to get at it.

“However, the virtual meetings seemed to have worked out. Although the first full Council meeting I chaired online started at four o' clock and didn't finish until quarter to one the next morning – it was one of the longest meetings ever.

“That was a 'oh my God' kind of thing. But I found the online meetings OK because I seemed to get the respect from all the members in the Council which was a good thing and helped the meetings along.

“A lot of the motions that were tabled over the year were very good which helped the citizens and the communities throughout the city and district.”

Mayor Warke will now be returning to his previous post as Councillor Warke and representing the residents of the Faughan ward.

However, he leaves behind a year's work that shows what can be achieved when communities, no matter what city or district they are in, all pull together as one.