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.