Derry's poll-topping Deputy Mayor reflects on Council journey

Over a mug of coffee in the Acorn Centre at the iconic St Peter’s Church at the top of the Greenhaw Road in the city, Derry Now caught up with Derry City and Strabane District councillor Angela Dobbins.

With her Thursday Club members just away home, having enjoyed lunch and a bit of craic, Angela reflected on the past 12 months.

It has been a momentous year for her. She began it by becoming Deputy Mayor and ended it by taking the difficult decision not to seek re-election on May 18.

Two things were immediately apparent, Angela did not take ‘No’ for an answer and her idea of public service was to meet people and help them where they were at.

Also the parish administrator for the grouped parishes of Christ Church, Culmore, Muff and St Peter’s, Angela’s Council journey began when she moved to Culmore, 20 years ago, and discovered how poorly served the area was in terms of public transport and community facilities.

Smiling, she said: “Following a public meeting in the Victoria Hall, which is now our beautiful Community Hub, where I berated the then councillor for the area, Colum Eastwood about a forthcoming planning proposal, he asked me if I would join the SDLP and I said, ‘Yes’.

“I was subsequently co-opted onto Council in 2011 to represent the Ballyarnett DEA, when Colum became an MLA. In 2014, I topped the poll here in terms of SDLP candidates and in 2019, I topped the poll overall, about which I was really chuffed.”

Angela said, as her year as Deputy Mayor came to a close, her abiding memory was the number of people she had met.

“I met people from many different walks of life, including people with different ideas and perceptions about life. They have imprinted on me and I hope I have imprinted on them as well.

“Anyone who knows me knows I can talk for Ireland. I have enjoyed speaking to the many groups I have met as Deputy Mayor.

Deputy Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Angela Dohhins, making a presentation to Carmel Dunn, former Principal of Hollybush PS. Also included are members of the board of governors and staff from the school. Photo: Jim McCafferty Photography

“ I always do my research and I have received so many beautiful cards thanking me for my kind words, so whatever I am doing, I’m doing it right.

“Just last week, I was delighted to speak at the Derry launch of ‘Stillbirth and Miscarriage, A life-changing Loss: ‘Say my baby’s name’ by Dr Anne Tracey. This was an event which was very close to my heart and I was able to speak as one of the people in Anne’s book. Anne was one of those who thanked me with a beautiful card.

“I have met so many visitors to the town from countries all over the world. We have to sell your city and there is no better person than me for that job. I love Derry and everything in it, the people in it from all across the city, the Waterside, cityside, countryside and rural. I hope I have been an ambassador for this city in my own right,” said Cllr Dobbins.

Angela’s first ever Council motion concerned defibrillators.

She explained: “My motion resulted from a personal experience. A family member had technically died at a Gaelic football match. Their heart had to be jump started by a defibrillator but the defibrillator was in the boot of a doctor’s car.

“After that, I was very motivated to ensure all community centres, and all community venues had defibrillators, including our shopping areas. The motion was passed and I was really, really proud of that.

Colr. Angela Dobbins. (Photo - Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

“I think I found my voice in Derry City Council. When Derry City Council was stand-alone, before it was amalgamated with Strabane District Council, I was classed as a champion for people living with disabilities because any time I proposed anything at Committee, it was to do with people living with disabilities.

“We now have a group within Council to ensure accessibility for people living with disabilities. I myself am living with a hidden disability and after an interesting conversation with a young woman who had a stoma, I proposed that we should replace the logo on ‘disabled’ toilets from a person in a wheelchair and call them ‘accessibility toilets’. I threw myself into that campaign for people with hidden disabilities,’” said Angela.

There are now more than a dozen publicly available accessible toilets in Derry City.

Angela was also a champion for the provision of sensory units for children, young adults and adults with any Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

With passion she said: “We need these sensory units in the likes of our major shopping areas, so I put my shoulder to that wheel and helped move this issue forward. I was chuffed whenever I was asked to represent Derry City and Strabane District Council when the ribbon was cut on the sensory unit in Foyleside. I will be even more chuffed when it happens in Richmond Centre.

“It is a case of small but necessary steps. There is nothing worse than having someone who is on the spectrum going into a ‘meltdown’ and everybody looking and tutting, as if they are deliberately misbehaving.

“This was the reason I said there needed to be somewhere where a mum or day or carer could take their child to calm down because it is not easy. I know it is not easy.

“As Deputy Mayor, I was also asked to open the sensory unit up in St Joseph’s. I was chuffed. I was in my element becauseI had known all about these sensory areas, with lights and water, and I was honoured to be asked as Deputy Mayor and as Cllr Angela Dobbins,” smiled Angela.

A reflective Angela described her decision not to stand for re-election to Derry City and Strabane District Council in the forthcoming Local Government Elections on May 18.

“I will be totally honest,” she said, “the decision to not to stand again was a really difficult one for me but given my health challenges, I felt I would not be able to do the job to the high standard I would have wanted.

“I had a long discussion with my family first and foremost. It then took a lot of strength and bravery to come out and say it to my party colleagues because they were great and I felt personally I was letting them down. When I told Brian Tierney, our group leader on Council, as I wanted to respect him in his officer capacity. Brian said he was not shocked but “disappointed”.

“I do have a lot of thanks to give. Firstly to my family who for the last 12 years have supported me. They have taken the rough with the smooth. There were days when I was pulling my hair out and things were not going my way or were going a way I 100% disagreed with.

Lauren Corbett makes a special presentation to Mr. Gerry Craig, one of the founding members of the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust, at Friday night’s Gala Ball. The award was presented in recognition of Gerry’s passion, determination and commitment to the founding of the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust. Included from left are Grace Kirk, Christopher Cooper, manager, FDST, Councillor Graham Warke and Deputy Mayor Angela Dobbins. Photo: Jim McCafferty photography

“I am thankful for my family, for their patience and their understanding and for their support throughout my career as a councillor,” said Angela.

Angela was also quick to thank her colleagues within the SDLP.

A contemplative Angela said: “It has not been easy this past number of years. We have lost some really big hitters like Seamus Mallon and John Hume but we have always dusted ourselves down and moved forward and we still need to do that. We need to thrust forward.

“My colleagues within Council are one family. We have all worked together. We have had our differences but everybody sticks to their own morals and standards and we accept each other's morals and standards.

“At the end of the day, because we are a democratic party we agree to disagree and move on. We don’t bear grudges.

“We are a family unit and I have really, really good friends there.

“Lastly, to the electorate, those people who for the last three elections have put their number 1 beside my name and put their trust in me to work on their behalf, I really do thank them for that.

“I hope they understand why I can no longer represent them the way they should be represented and I just hope that I have not let anybody down.”