October 2025: Looking back on the Derry defining stories of the year

In October, a man injured on Bloody Sunday told the Soldier F trial how he pretended to be dead while lying on the pavement after he was shot.

Joe Mahon also said that he saw a soldier fire shots at another victim who was on the ground before saying “I’ve got another one”.

Members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civilians in Derry after a civil rights march in January 1972.
An Army veteran, identified only as Soldier F, was charged with the murders of two men killed on Bloody Sunday, James Wray and William McKinney.

He was also charged with five attempted murders during the incident in the city’s Bogside area, including Mr Mahon, Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell and a person unknown.

He pleaded not guilty to the seven counts and sat in the dock at Belfast Crown Court behind a curtain during each day of the non-jury trial, in which he was found not guilty.

Pump Street building collapses

Also in October in the city, a Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers (CARE) structural engineer with “extensive knowledge of listed buildings” was appointed to advise Derry City and Strabane District Council following the partial collapse of the former Convent of Mercy building in Pump Street.

The “structural collapse” of the Grade B1 listed building took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. It resulted in the street being cordoned off, causing disruption for local residents and businesses.

St Brigid's College celebrating Golden Jubilee

This month also saw Derry’s St Brigid’s College celebrating its 50th anniversary in style.

On top of receiving the Enterprising School award from Young Enterprise NI, St Brigid’s College has introduced PeopleHawk, an AI-enhanced Careers Platform for its pupils - the first school in Derry to do so.

Speaking to The Derry News, Joseph Scanlon, who is head of St Brigid’s Careers Department said the Enterprising School award was recognition of the school’s “commitment to education and careers for the provision of young enterprise”.

“At St Brigid’s we support our pupils to set up enterprising businesses and make informed decisions. These could be social action projects, something they think is going to do good within their communities,” he added.

“We have enjoyed some success in previous years. When my colleague, Fiona McAlinden, was in charge of Young Enterprise, we had businesses such as the Tick Tock Learning Clock and the Study Buddy, which would have been very educational.

“There is an expression I heard a couple of years ago, ‘If you can’t see something, you can’t be something’. So, At St Brigid’s we try to give young people as many opportunities as possible through the careers delivery in the school and Young Enterprise is a small aspect of that, where the pupils can take part in many different types of programmes - interactive and otherwise.”

"And that’s why we wanted to have PeopleHawk in our school! Because it's not just a Careers Platform, but a Personal Development Platform also. It is an absolute game-changer in what it can do for our young people.

“We have just implemented PeopleHawk with our Year 13s and Year 14s because there are so many aspects of the platform that help them with their university applications and career pathways,” said Mr Scanlon.

Eglinton residents opppose anaerobic digestion plant 

On the outskirts of the city, members of the greater Eglinton community voiced significant opposition to the proposed “expansion and reconfiguration” of an existing operational anaerobic digestion plant near the village.

The planning application (LA11/2025/0566/F) was submitted to Derry City and Strabane District Council on August 11, 2025 on behalf of the Coleraine based Greenan Generation Ltd.

The company is seeking planning permission for the “proposed expansion and reconfiguration of an existing operational 500kW Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant”.

A decision has yet to be taken on the application, which has received a number of written objections.

One objector said they had been promised but had not yet been shown any plans for the proposed anaerobic digestion plant.

They wrote: “I certainly don’t want any of my family to be lying next to possible explosive propane tanks.”

A spokesperson for EAG Bioenergy which has entered into a joint venture with Greenan Generation Ltd told The Derry News: “EAG Bioenergy acquired the existing plant outside Eglinton in 2021, and was well aware that in due course it would require upgrading.

“After investing moderately in the safety and integrity of the plant, we took the decision to apply for planning to expand and upgrade the plant to ensure it was a best in class asset; decarbonizing the gas grid, managing and processing the nutrients to eradicate land spreading, and improving the noise, emissions and odour from the site were all at the core of its design.

“All these features can be clearly seen in the plans, which we have invested heavily in to ensure that our development in Eglinton is a significant improvement for all local neighbours and stakeholders.

“EAG is a Northern Irish founded company with local management, and we will bring significant investment and economic benefit to the local and wider community through additional jobs and long term supply contracts, as well as making our contribution to pollution reduction and decarbonization of the local and National gas grid.”