Mayor defends Prince Charles decision

Maolíosa McHugh said he did not meet Prince Charles' because of his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment.

The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council has defended his decision not to meet Prince Charles.

Sinn Féin's Maolíosa McHugh did not meet the prince during his visit to the north west last week.

Mr McHugh said it was because of Prince Charles' role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment.

Thirteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday when British paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march through the city in January 1972.

Mr McHugh told BBC Radio Foyle that while he did not personally attend an event greeting the prince, the office of mayor was represented at the visit.

Prince Charles met people impacted by August's floods in Northern Ireland

SDLP councillor John Boyle, the deputy mayor of Derry and Strabane, accompanied Prince Charles during the visit.

"It is within the realm of the mayor to choose to not attend, nor for him to be represented at an event," Mr McHugh said.

"I did not do that, I acknowledged those people that wished to attend and that wished to engage with the prince, in that it (the visit) was delegated to the deputy mayor."

Prince Charles met victims of the August flooding in Drumahoe and Eglinton during his visit to County Londonderry last week.

Clarification 9 April 2019: This article was amended to remove a reference to the death of John Johnston on Bloody Sunday. This reflects the Bloody Sunday Inquiry's finding about Mr Johnston's death several months after he was wounded in Derry on 30 January 1972. The inquiry report states that his death was "not the result of any of the wounds he sustained on Bloody Sunday".