The photo above was taken at Friday’s City of Culture celebratory gathering in Derry’s Millennium Forum.  The guys gathered around me need no introduction but just in case they are Phil Redmond, creator of Grange Hill etc, Ed Vaizey, Tory Culture minister and the fabulous Mark Durkan, our local Derry MP, thoroughly good egg & supporter of small, local business.

I know you’re all wondering what on earth I’m saying to them.

There are 3 things that I’ve been wondering about since the City of Culture 2013 announcement was made.

The first is a hope that the City receives a new name.  Derry/Londonderry – leading to the plain daft Stroke City – is just too controversial.  My suggestion – and I’d love to hear yours – is St Columcille-ville.  It builds on the city’s heritage & has a vaguely Europop vibe.

The second is how much easier our lives would be if our local airport operated within the usual parameters common to airports and had flights to places we need to go to – e.g. London – so that we could get there & back in a day.  Novel idea I realise.

Third is how much we in Derry love the Giant’s Causeway but what a pain it is to get to – we’re hoping that can be simplified as part of the 2013 preparations – indeed if it could be relocated to the mouth of the River Foyle so that we could visit in our lunch breaks that would be perfect.

So – take your pick from any of the topics above.  Of course, I could have just been pontificating about how marvellous it is to be part of a tiny little company based in Clarendon Street, Derry that manages to deliver cost-effective & comprehensive online services to most of local government and increasingly central government right across the whole of the UK.

Snapped this pic of my friend & colleague Siobhain tonight seconds after the UK City of Culture result was announced in Derry’s Guildhall.  Her face says it all.

Everyone was screaming & cheering, I was shaking & crying, the atmosphere was incredible.  I know every city probably thinks they need something like this, but believe me - our city really needs a break like this.

Derry’s a great place and we’re proud that it’s our city and the place we’ve chosen to locate our business, Learning Pool.

I work a few streets away from Pump Street where my grandmother worked in one of the infamous shirt factories in the early years of the 20^th century.  I can see the River Foyle, where so many ancestors & others left Ireland for America, out of our office window.  I serve the Millennium Forum as a non exec director and there we strive to provide accessible culture & entertainment to everyone and anyone that wants it.

Tonight we are overcome with emotion and excited about what this may mean for us – and we’re proud to be part of Legenderry.