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

As spring came in like a lion, a young Derry woman was left “majorly out of pocket” due to the “shambles” surrounding her Irish passport application.

As a result, Georgie O’Hagan cautioned other first-time applicants about using the Post Office’s passport postal service and called for an Irish Passport Office to be opened in the North.

In October, 2024, Ms O’Hagan booked and paid for a holiday to Amsterdam with her girlfriend and two other friends. They were due to go away in March 2025. At the same time, she applied for her passport at the main post office here in the city.

According to Ms O’Hagan, the Post Office staff member behind the counter checked she had included all of the correct documentation in her application pack; they then issued a postal order for the amount of the application.

She added: “After a few weeks, I became concerned when my passport never arrived. I was going back and forth between the Post Office and Royal Mail trying in vain to get any information at all on where it might be.

“Eventually I was told to claim back the money I had spent on the postal order I had sent with my passport application. My supporting documents were returned to me but no passport.

“All of this makes no sense to me, especially as on Royal Mail tracking, it states my application pack went from Belfast to Dublin, and then for some reason known only to Royal Mail and An Post, it ended up in London at the Heathrow facility, where it has been ever since,” said Ms O’Hagan.

An organisation calling itself Republican Defence Army (RDA) said it would target drug dealers.

Call for law change for older drivers 

Later in the month, Donna Deeney who was knocked down, while crossing a zebra crossing with her three-year-old granddaughter, by a 86-year-old woman called for a change in the law dealing with older drivers being on the road without proper tests and checks.

Ms Deeney was speaking as Valeria Greenwood (88) of Woodvale Road in Eglinton was sentenced at Derry Crown Court for one charge of causing grievous bodily injury by careless driving on December 11, 2023.

The court was shown dashcam footage taken from a bus that had stopped at the crossing which showed Donna Deeney and her granddaughter crossing and being struck by Greenwood's vehicle which failed to stop travelling for about 30 metres.

The court heard that “fortunately” the child escaped serious injury despite going under the vehicle. However, Ms Deeney suffered severe injuries with several fractures and spent 10 days in hospital and will require further surgery.

Greenwood attended a police interview on March 28, 2024 and accepted that the car was hers but made no comment after that.

“If someone is too old to go to prison then they are too old to be on the road,” said Ms Deeney.

Liverpool mascot

Also in March, Derry girl Hannah O’Carolan learned she was to be one of the mascots for the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle United.

Hannah was selected to walk out with the Liverpool squad for the final on March 16 at Wembley.

The 11-year-old has been a die-hard Liverpool fan for as long as she can remember and cannot wait to wear the red kit alongside her favourite team as they look to win the first silverware of the English domestic season.

Her mother, Shauna, said: “Hannah was chosen by Liverpool Football Club, as she would have a membership with them; she is under the ‘Red Squad,’ which is a junior type of membership.”

Pennyburn Youth Club nominees, from left, Stephen Murphy, Roisin McCaul, Riain Doherty, Anne-Marie Bell, Siobhan Lafferty and Caoimhin Hargan at the Outer West Foylside Volunteer of the Year event held in the Glen Community Centre. (Photo - Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

One of Derry's oldest businesses closes

Sadly March was the month one of the oldest businesses in Derry city, situated on its most iconic street, closed its doors for the last time.

James O’Doherty and Company, valuers, surveyors, property consultants, on Shipquay Street has ceased trading.

Speaking to The Derry News, the owner, Eoin Doherty, confirmed the business had closed “for a number of reasons” but stressed he was not retiring as he was “a bit young yet”.

Explaining the reasons for the closure, he said: “I was 31 years doing it and I thought that was long enough to be honest.

“There is also a lot of regulation in small businesses, which is strangling small businesses,” he added.

The Doherty family business journey began in 1971, when Eoin’s father, John Doherty, took the business over from James O’Doherty, who had opened it in 1915 in Newmarket Street, where the Millennium Forum is sited today.

“Dad passed away, unfortunately, three years ago. He and I were business partners in James O’Doherty & Company for 27 years and helped a lot of people get on the property ladder in that time,” said Eoin, who added, “I am so proud to be a Derry man and to have served the people of Derry for 31 years.”

HMOs

The fraught issue of HMOs in Derry was discussed by Derry City and Strabane District councillors throughout 2025. In March councillors were urged to back proposals to cap new HMO applications.

Residents living near Ulster University's Magee campus addressed Council’s Governance and Strategic Planning committee meeting, calling for an immediate cap of 10% in the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) approved in the area.