Review of the Year - October 2022

October is the month that sees Derry's world renowned Halloween festival take over the city in spectacular fashion. 

Hotels in Derry were at near full capacity ahead of Derry’s famous Halloween celebrations with an estimated 100,000 people visiting the city per day across the four-day celebrations.
The family-fun weekend came to a close with the return of the legendary Halloween Parade on Halloween night.

The long weekend is Europe’s largest Halloween festival. Covid-19 restrictions prevented the parade taking place in both 2020 and 2021.

Heavy rain failed to dampen the spirits of young and old who gathered beneath umbrellas to watch the spooky spectacle.

Huge crowds from near and far cheered as the colourful parade involving hundreds of performers made its way along the banks of the River Foyle, concluding with the highly-anticipated firework finale show.

Odhran Moore, Manager at Visit Derry, said, "If you google Halloween celebrations, Derry is there.

"We were delighted to showcase the Derry Halloween brand to the world, with visitors from all over- The US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and many more.

 "The celebrations deserve global exposure and you really can't say Ireland and Halloween in the same breath without saying Derry."

October also saw Derry's very first Miss Derry take to the Miss Great Britain stage to represent the city. 

Derry girl, Amy Doherty, was crowned the city's first Miss Derry in April this year. She represented her beloved city- Derry's first ever entry to the competition- in the competition in two jam packed days at the Athena in Leicester.

Miss Great Britain is the longest running beauty contest in the country. 

 Amy took part in the fashion show segment on Thursday October 20 with family and friends in the audience before competing in the Grand Final on Friday October 21 in front of a 500 strong crowd.

Alongside raising nearly £2000 for the event's two main charities this year, Cancer Research and Alex's Wish, the mum of two said her whole reason for competing was her boys. She has used her platform to educate and spread acceptance of autism, a cause very close to her heart as her two young boys, Mason and Noah, were diagnosed with autism.  

Amy is now an ambassador for Autism NI and can't wait to continue her work with them for years to come. Amy also hopes to return to the Miss Great Britain stage next year and represent Derry once again.

In October, a documentary honouring the late Lyra McKee was released in cinemas across the island.

In April 2019, 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee was murdered on the streets of Derry.

Lyra was covering rioting in the Creggan area of the city when she was sadly shot dead. Lyra's death sent shockwaves throughout the world and united communities across the country.

 Lyra was one of Northern Ireland’s most promising young journalists, and three years after her passing, a poignant film about the life of the trailblazing journalist is coming to theatres across Ireland. 

The film also seeks answers to her senseless killing through Lyra’s own work and words. It is a complex picture of Northern Ireland’s political history, bringing into sharp focus the ways in which the 1998 Good Friday Agreement - with its promised end to violence for future generations - has struggled to be fully realised.

Three years in the making and made by Lyra's close friend and Bafta award-winning filmmaker, Alison Millar, the film is set to give the public an insight to the women behind the headlines.

Alison hopes that the film encourages young people to pursue journalism and hopes they are inspired by Lyra's work and not just the story around her death.

 Alison found Lyra's old dictaphone and mobile so the film includes voice recordings and interviews from Lyra herself as she tells her own story.

Another iconic moment in October saw Derry woman, Betty Cairns (née Hannaway), retire as leader of her slimming classes after 25 years.

Betty, who began her career with Weight Watchers and continued with Unislim, said she was retiring to spend more time looking after her wee grandson, Oliver, who just turned one year old.  

As Unislim celebrates its 50th birthday, we wish Betty all the best for the future on her retirement.  

October 7 saw a heartbreaking day for the entire country as ten people sadly lost their lives in the Creeslough tragedy. 

The tragic accident occured after an explosion at an Applegreen Petrol station in the north Donegal town.

Everyone who lost their lives were local or lived in the surrounding areas.

They were; James O’Flaherty (48), Jessica Gallagher (24), Martin McGill (49), Catherine O Donnell (39) and her son James Monaghan (13), Hugh Kelly (59), Martina Martin (49), Robert Garwe (50), Shauna Flanagan Garwe (5) and Leona Harper (14).

The devastating accident left the community grief stricken as the town and country rallied to provide support and condolences. 

A local resident said: “We expect to see these types of things in other places, but not in our wee community in Creeslough. You see things like this on TV and you just don’t expect it to come to your own door.

“We are in total shock. It will take days, weeks and maybe years to recover from this.”