The City of Derry was perceived by many Catholics and Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland to be the epitome of what was described as "fifty years of Unionist misrule": despite having a nationalist majority, gerrymandering ensured elections to the City Corporation always returned a unionist majority. The city was perceived to be deprived of public investment: motorways were not extended to it, a university was opened in the smaller (Protestant-majority) town of Coleraine rather than Derry (see University for Derry Committee) and, above all, the city's housing stock was in a generally poor state. Derry therefore became a major focus of the civil rights campaign led by organisations such as the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in the late 1960s. It was the scene of the major riot known as Battle of the Bogside in August 1969, which pushed the Northern Ireland administration to ask for military support.
The City of Derry was perceived by many Catholics and Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland to be the epitome of what was described as "fifty years of Unionist misrule" despite having a nationalist majority gerrymandering ensured elections to the City Corporation always returned a unionist majority The city was perceived to be deprived of public investment motorways were not extended to it a university was opened in the smaller (Protestant-majority) town of Coleraine rather than Derry (see University for Derry Committee) and above all the city's housing stock was in a generally poor state Derry therefore became a major focus of the civil rights campaign led by organisations such as the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in the late 1960s It was the scene of the major riot known as Battle of the Bogside in August 1969 which pushed the Northern Ireland administration to ask for military support