'We were the council's whipping boy' - culture boss slams Derry City Council's management of 2013 celebrations

The woman at the helm of the Culture Company has claimed it was used as a ‘whipping boy’ by its parent body Derry City Council.

Shona McCarthy described the behind the scenes relationship between the two organisations as at times ‘very fraught’ and even ‘schizophrenic’.

She also claimed that the council had made the job of delivering 2013 more difficult than it needed to be because of an alleged lack of support, and revealed they had to fight to stop 2013’s flagship winter event, Lumiere, from being cancelled on the council orders as a ‘sacrificial lamb’.

In a wide ranging interview with the Derry News, Ms McCarthy (pictured above) hits out at the council’s decision to make its own senior appointments for the City of Culture project without consulting with the Culture Company.

Derry City Council has declined the opportunity to respond to the litany of shocking claims, other than to say the year had been a major success.

See today’s Derry News for more on this exclusive interview