Unemployment is still one of Derry’s “big problems” along with the legacy of the conflict.
The retired bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly, has said 3,000 jobs would make “a world of a difference” to the city which is still grappling with high levels of unemployment.
Speaking to the Catholic Times, Bishop Daly described unemployment as still one of Derry’s “big problems” along with the legacy of the conflict.
“There are a lot of people still hurting, suffering over hurts that they have experienced – injustices that they experienced during the conflict. There is a lot of healing to be done,” he said.
The 81-year-old currently works as a chaplain in Foyle Hospice and was recently honoured with the Freedom of Derry along his friend and Church of Ireland counterpart, Bishop James Mahaffey.
The accolade bestowed by Derry City Council on Dr Daly, who retired as bishop in 1993, and Bishop Mahaffey, who retired in 2002, was described by Derry native and Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, as appropriate for two men who for many years “worked hard to build bridges in the City and, in doing so, together they both made a tangible difference to the lives of the people of Derry and beyond”.
In an interview in the current issue of the Catholic Times, Dr Daly recalled that both he and Bishop Mahaffey went guarantors for a loan for £3 million to establish Derry’s Inner City Trust to offer training and employment to young people in the city. A huge risk to take in a city marred by conflict in the 1980s.
However, by the time he retired from the Trust in 2000, it had a portfolio of property worth £25m. And all debts cleared.
These included the Tower Museum, the craft centre, the Nerve centre which provides music and a rehearsal space and there is also the school of animation.
He currently works as a chaplain at Foyle Hospice which provides ongoing palliative care for patients with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, and also provides support to their families and loved ones.
Since he started keeping records in 1998, he has accompanied over 800 people in their final journey.
He said the ethic of the hospice is first of all to care for the individual and to treat the symptoms rather than the disease.
Bishop Daly said that in the past very often people who had no chance of recovery were put on the back burner in hospitals, but that focus was entirely different in a hospice.