Taoiseach heckled by mica redress protestors during visit to Derry

Taoiseach Micheal Martin was heckled by mica redress campaigners as he arrived to give a keynote address at an event being held in the city this evening in memory of John Hume.

Almost 200 people greeted Mr Martin as he arrived at the Playhouse on Artillery Street for the event being hosted by the John Hume Peace Foundation.

He stopped briefly to speak to one protestor before entering the building.

Local woman Shauna Radcliffe was among the protestors.

She said she was there to support her sister whose home in Fahan in Inishowen was 'badly affected.'

She added: “We are here to help the families who, when they purchased their properties years ago on the strength that it would be their homes for the rest of their lives – they would never have budgeted for their homes to fall down round them.

“There are children here who are probably afraid to go to bed at night.”

A meeting between the Taoiseach and the local chamber of commerce due to take place in a local hotel in Letterkenny tomorrow has been cancelled by the venue after it was learned protestors intended to show up. It was predicted several thousand had planned to attend.