LONDONDERRY led Northern Ireland in ringing in the New Year tonight with thousands turning out to see a massive firework display which marked an “emotional” start of its year as UK City of Culture.
The spectacular riverfront show was the largest firework display the city has ever staged and began at 8.15pm on the River Foyle.
The evening began with “The Lords of Lightning” a startling theatrical show where actors throw real electrical ‘lightning bolts’ to each other. The Derry Journal summed the spectacle up in one word: “Wow!”
Next came Seamus Heaney’s voice “bellowing out across the Foyle” with the newspaper reporting it was “a bit emotional”. The fireworks display itself began to strains of the city’s famous pop song, ‘Teenage Kicks’.
The city had “never seen the like of this before” and the thousands present were “stunned to silence - some moved to tears,” the Journal added.
From 6:30pm church bells rang out across the city, calling people to join in the celebrations. There was reference to the words of Seamus Heaney that were so central to the bid, in his poem ‘the Cure of Troy’ which spoke of Londonderry’s hope for great change and a better future.
The evening’s events placed the River Foyle - which separates the city’s two communities - at its centre, but also symbolically featured the city’s new Peace Bridge which has more recently attempted to link them back together. The celebrations concluded with the sounds of the city’s traditional Shirt Factory horns welcoming in the New Year, marking optimistic ambitions for 2013 and beyond.
Scores of people braved the New Year’s Eve rain to hang messages of their hopes and aspirations onto the centuries-old city walls.
One slightly sodden message read: “Every man woman and child, join in our city and enjoy all that is great about it”.
Another read simply “More Love - less hate!”.
Just before events tonight began, a security cordon was thrown up around several businesses at the Diamond end of Shipquay Street in the mistaken belief that a bomb had been left there. The PSNI did not issue any formal statements but it was widely reported locally that the alert had been sparked by a box - reportedly of boots - left outside a charity shop.
However locals who initially thought it was a real bomb displayed anger towards dissident republicans who are normally responsible for such disruption.
One business said on Twitter: “So we got yet another bomb scare in Derry because we’re about to start the UK City of Culture...what a bunch of *****! Happy NY everyone!”
Another woman said as the alert began: “Bomb on shipquay street. I hate the real IRA at the best of times, but to interrupt the New Years sesh is unforgivable.”