Council engaging with traders on Walled City Market's future

A meeting has taken place between stallholders and Derry City and Strabane District councillors and officers, to discuss the future of the city’s iconic Walled City Market.

The monthly market, named as the Local Attraction of 2022 for Northern Ireland, in the Travel and Hospitality European Travel Awards programme, took place in the Guildhall, possibly for the final time, on Saturday, April 1.

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council told Derry News: “Elected members and Council officers met with Walled City Market traders following the withdrawal of the Markets Development Programme budget as part of Council’s Savings plan for the 23/24 budgetary period.

Signing the petition to save the Walled City Market.

“It was confirmed to traders that due to the current budgetary situation Council is no longer able to deliver a monthly Walled City Market under the current model. 

“A range of options for delivery at zero cost to Council were presented to the traders for consideration. 

“Officers will continue to engage with traders to explore these options over the coming weeks,” said the spokesperson. 

Stallholder, Maureen McLaughlin, said she was “disappointed and sad” the Walled City Market was facing closure. 

Speaking at the bustling final event, she said: “I am very disappointed and sad because we have been doing it for two years and I really enjoy it. I sell wood-crafts gemstone jewellery, earrings, bracelets and pendants, all genuine gemstones and all handmade.

And the band played 'The Last Waltz'.

“I enjoy meeting different people from all over the world. The tourists come out of their hotels, come along to the Walled City Market and say how much they love it. 

“We have sold items to the US, New Zealand, and Australia. As well as that we have many, many local customers, who would come back every month to browse and maybe buy items for special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. They would come back and say, ‘Well what have you today?’ And I would say, ‘How are you doing?’ and we would have a wee chat.

“We did not know the Walled City Market was actually closing until all the stallholders got an email the week before the March Market. That was when we started to organise ourselves. We formed a WhatsApp group to exchange ideas about what we were going to do and we arranged to meet with the Council,” said Maureen.

The meeting between stallholders and Council took place on March 28. Maureen added that she did not think it had been productive.

She said: “I think Council would prefer it if we funded any future Walled City Markets ourselves but that is a whole different ball game for stall holders. 

Some of the stalls at the Walled City Market.

“Although they said they would go back and see what they could do, I got the impression the Council has made up its mind.

“Having said that, the stallholders have started a petition and we are getting great support. There are a lot of people here today who didn’t even know this was the last Market.  I think the closure of the Market will be a blow for the town. I know for a fact, the local hotels recommended a trip here to any visitors they had staying.

“We suggested to the Council that we would pay more for the stalls. We also suggested ways of cutting costs, which the Council said it would consider. We were also told there would be another meeting and we would be contacted,” said Maureen.

Maureen’s stallholder colleague, Irena Campbell, said the possible closure of the Walled City Market was “really sad news”.

Irena added: “The Market is my life. I have been here from the very start, about 10 years ago. For me the Walled City Market is not just about selling my products, it is also my social life. I found friends here. My colleagues are very welcoming. We chat away to one another all the time and  I look forward to meeting my customers.

Customers line up at the Silver Bean eatery.

“But, it is not just about me. More importantly, it is about adding to the social life of the city because a lot of tourists visit the Walled City Market. 

“People might wait from one month to another to buy an item for a particular event in their lives. The Market is part of the culture of the city and I hope Derry City and Strabane District Council will listen to the stall holders and our customers and I hope it will change its decision to close the Market,” said Irena. 

Irena, who sells carved candles, Russian dolls, toys and jewellery, said every month customers constantly asked when the market would be on again because they were interested in buying particular items.