January 2025: Looking back on the Derry defining stories of the year

Derry heralded 2025 by holding its second annual New Year's Eve Vigil for Gaza at the iconic Peace Bridge.

Event co-organiser Catherine Hutton, then chairperson of the Derry-Ireland Palestine Solidarity campaign (DIPSC) said “everyone has been changed by bearing witness to what has happened in Gaza in the past 17 months”.

“Things are getting worse in Gaza,” she added. “The UN is belatedly coming out today and saying these attacks on the hospitals could be war crimes.

“As we are standing here today, the people in Gaza are in sub-zero temperatures. Their tents are being destroyed by the storms. They have no food. They have no water. This is northern Gaza, southern Gaza is getting there as well. And still they are bombing.”

Jim Moyne commemoration 

A selection of the crowd who attended the 50th anniversary commemoration for Vol Jim Moyne.

The 50th anniversary commemoration for Derry Volunteer Jim Moyne also took place in the city in January. Jim Moyne was 29 years old when he died of an asthmatic attack while interned in the cages of Long Kesh. The commemoration, which was chaired by Jim’s brother, Pat, took place at the Republican monument on Lecky Road.

Creswell Review

Later on in the month, Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long (Alliance Party) commissioned a review to establish whether opportunities were missed to handle the risks presented by Jonathan Creswell (36) the man accused of the murder of showjumper Katie Simpson (21).

The review was to consider whether opportunities were missed to refer Creswell into the Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland (PPANI).

The trial of Jonathan Creswell, for the murder of Ms Simpson, ended in April 2024 after his sudden death.

The showjumper, 21, from Tynan, Co Armagh, died in Altnagelvin hospital almost a week after an incident in Gortnessy Meadows, Lettershandoney on August 3, 2020. PSNI originally thought Ms Simpson had taken her own life.

It was not until the following year Creswell, the partner of Ms Simpson’s sister, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Creswell had previously been jailed after being convicted of assaulting a former partner in 2009.

It subsequently emerged Creswell was not subject to a risk management plan at the time of Ms Simpson’s death.

Derry's Sr Clare Crockett who was declared a Servant of God.

‘Servant of God’

At the end of January, the local became international at Derry’s Brunswick Moviebowl in Pennyburn as almost 500 people arrived to watch Sr Clare Crockett be declared a ‘Servant of God’.

Sr Clare died on April 16, 2016, when the house in which she lived in Ecuador collapsed as a result of an earthquake; she was 33 years old.

The ceremony in Madrid, in Spain, presided over by His Excellency, Antonio Prieto Lucena, Bishop of the Diocese of Alcala de Henares, was live-streamed from the Cathedral of Alcala de Henares in Madrid in Spain.

Sister Clare’s family and friends were accompanied at the ceremony by the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, Bishop Dónal McKeown, Bishop of Derry; Fr Stephen Quinn, OCD Termonbacca and Fr Gerard Mongan Adm, Long Tower.

Vigil cancelled

A “peaceful vigil” due to be held outside Buncrana Garda station by the Justice for Rebecca Browne campaign was cancelled.
Rebecca Browne (21) from Galliagh in Derry, lost her life when she was struck by a Garda vehicle on May 21, 2023 and killed at Ludden on the outskirts of Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal.

The collision was referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), which announced in December 2024 the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had informed it not to direct a prosecution in the case.

The vigil was intended to highlight what the campaign described as the “failure of the authorities to properly update and inform the Browne family on all aspects of the Garda and Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigations” into Rebecca Browne’s death.

Speaking to The Derry News, Lynn Smith, Rebecca Browne's mother, said the family felt they had no option but to cancel it because they were “scared” about what sort of policing plan An Garda Síochána would employ.

“I have to protect other people and think about their safety. I was afraid about what An Garda would enforce. We didn’t know what their ‘policing plan’ would have involved or where the police would have been coming from or how many guards might have been present,” said Ms Smith.

Specialist support

There was good news in January with the announcement 12 technology-based startups and entrepreneurs in Derry are to receive specialist support to develop their new business through a new six-week pre-accelerator programme from Invest NI.

A total of 19 early-stage, innovation driven start-ups with potential for high growth will participate in an intensive six-week programme.

Delivered by The AMP in Derry, the programme will provide bespoke advice, one-to-one mentoring and workshops to upskill the entrepreneurs with knowledge and skills to give them the greatest chance of success.