'Big disappointment' as Christmas market cancelled

Helen Fallows says footfall is low and she is very disappointed the Christmas market will not be going ahead

A Christmas market in Londonderry has been cancelled following the partial closure of a street caused by a crumbling listed building.

Barriers and shipping containers have been in place near a former convent on Pump Street since October after part of the façade fell onto the pavement below during a storm.

With the Georgian building described as being in danger of collapse, the Cathedral Quarter Initiative (CQI) said this year's market would not go ahead as Pump Street currently presented a "health and safety risk".

The owners of the building, a former Convent of Mercy, have been asked for comment.

The four-day Christmas market was held in the Cathedral Quarter area of Londonderry for the first time last year

The former Convent of Mercy, which dates back to the early 1800s, had been in a state of disrepair before it was further damaged during Storm Amy in October.

Structural engineers have since confirmed that the property is now in a "state of imminent collapse".

The street where the building is situated was the location of a four-day Christmas market, which was hosted for the first time last year.

The former Convent of Mercy on Pump Street

The CQI said the freight containers were now "a major player on the picture postcard scene that gives cause to a very serious disconnect on Pump Street".

Vice chairman Joe Doherty, who owns an ice-cream parlour on Pump Street, said last year's market had been a "huge success," and traders had planned to make this year's bigger and better - until now.

'Just not feasible'

"It is hugely disappointing to cancel the market, he told BBC News NI.

"The Christmas market is about promoting the area of the Cathedral quarter in Derry.

"We have had to come to the decision that with the containers being in place, and the general feeling of the public that the area is closed, the market just wasn't feasible."

Mr Doherty said he hoped a resolution to the health and safety in the area would be found soon.

Large shipping containers now take up a large section of Pump Street

Helen Fallows, who owns Gateway Christian bookshop and food bank, said last year's Christmas market was a great boost for them, so they are disappointed this year's is not going ahead.

"We sold more than we had all year so it's a big disappointment for us," she said.

"We actually got stock in for the Christmas market and now we're wondering if we will be able to sell all the stuff we've got into the shop."

Council 'disappointed'

Derry City and Strabane District Council said the shipping containers are there to "mitigate against any risks should part of the building collapse, in advance of work being carried out".

"While health and safety is paramount, we are disappointed that traders in the area are unable to deliver the Cathedral Quarter Christmas market, which would have enhanced the Christmas shopping experience for visitors," a spokesperson said.

Husband and wife Noel and Maria Mason say it is a real shame to see the former Convent of Mercy building in its current condition

Meanwhile, there is still no final decision on what will happen to the former Convent of Mercy and whether it can be saved or will have to be fully or partially demolished.

Husband and wife Noel and Maria Mason were in Pump Street this week and said it was a real shame to see the former Convent of Mercy they had visited as children in such a dilapidated state.

"We think it's sort of disgraceful, basically, the way the building has been left to decline over the last couple of years," Noel said.

"It has a personal aspect for us because Sister Emmanuel, the former principal of Thornhill, was in that convent for quite some time and we visited there quite regularly," he said.

Noel, Sister Manuel's nephew, said he has fond memories of having cups of tea with her in the building.

For Maria, she also visited the convent when she was seven years old and said her aunt, Sister Maria Lagan, entered the convent at 17 years of age with her friend.

"As children, we would come up here to see the beautiful, shiny floors, the smell of polish, and the courtyard that was like something out of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

"They gave their lives - all of their wages as teachers, which went to the Sisters of Mercy - and now to see this eyesore… this would not be the legacy they wanted for the city of Derry."