Read on Twitter
Right, so as usual I have had a valid opinion and Republican/Marxist Twitter have attempted to ratio me for it.
So hereâs a thread on why Derry and Londonderry are equally valid names for the city, addressing what people have said to me.
So hereâs a thread on why Derry and Londonderry are equally valid names for the city, addressing what people have said to me.
Yes, historically, the origin of the name Londonderry was British imperialism. But it is surely possible for the meaning of names to shift over time. Many people refer to the city solely as Londonderry, or a mix of the 2, in contexts totally detached from support for imperialism.
Moreover, the vast majority of proponents of the name Londonderry are people from a unionist community background. You may not agree with unionism - I donât. But people of a unionist community background have a valid place in NI and deserve to be included.
Clearly, claiming one name for the city isnât valid, whichever name that is, is a proxy for the erasure of one side of the community by others, and an attempt at the delegitimisation of their place in NI.
Of course Iâm not saying people arenât entitled to their own choice of name. They are.
Itâs just no oneâs place to tell other people that the name they use for the city is âwrongâ.
Itâs just no oneâs place to tell other people that the name they use for the city is âwrongâ.
Itâd be ridiculous to launch into an argument about imperialism to someone who has used the term Londonderry in passing in regular conversation, because clearly in conversational etc contexts its meaning is now detached from imperialism.
âBut how can you support the Irish language, while arguing both names for the city are valid?â
Because the damage to the Irish language is tangible damage from imperialism we as a society should work to repair -
Because the damage to the Irish language is tangible damage from imperialism we as a society should work to repair -
Whereas the imposition of the name Londonderry is much more symbolic, is detached from imperialism in the modern day, and does not prevent anyone today saying Derry or the formal usage of the term Derry in many contexts.
This is an important point. If the usage of Londonderry was coupled with active measures to prevent people using the term Derry, clearly that would be what some have termed âIrish erasureâ. But currently there is freedom to use both terms.
âHow can you claim to have left politics but think both names for the city are valid?â
As Iâve argued, the name is detached from imperialism in most contexts now. I donât buy this idea that you have to be a republican to be a ârealâ leftist. Itâs pseudo-intellectual and elitist.
As Iâve argued, the name is detached from imperialism in most contexts now. I donât buy this idea that you have to be a republican to be a ârealâ leftist. Itâs pseudo-intellectual and elitist.
Moreover - as anti-imperialist as I am, I find that that the term âimperialistâ is used so much by Marxists/republicans on Twitter that itâs practically at this stage a byword for things they disagree with/donât like.
So forgive me if I am sceptical of such charges against me.
So forgive me if I am sceptical of such charges against me.
âWhy do you go on about this all the time?â
Because I see people saying things like âitâs Derry not Londonderryâ or vice versa all the time, I see them making stupid jokes where that is the punchline all the time which never get any less unfunny-
Because I see people saying things like âitâs Derry not Londonderryâ or vice versa all the time, I see them making stupid jokes where that is the punchline all the time which never get any less unfunny-
I see them pretend theyâve never heard of a place called Londonderry in their life and donât know where it is all the time, so if Iâm seeing this all the time, how could I sit back and not challenge these attitudes, given I clearly think theyâre wrong?
I think that addresses everything I have heard. Hope this clears things up 
