Derry's new peace bridge officially opens on SaturdayThe Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, will be among the dignitaries at the opening of a peace bridge in Londonderry.
It cost £14m to build and is the length of two and a half football pitches.
Six hundred school children from all faiths will sing a specially commissioned song as the bridge is officially declared open on Saturday afternoon.
Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, said it is a tremendous boost for the city.
An opening ribbon ceremony will be held after speeches and lunch for invited guests at the Guildhall.
A fireworks display is planned for Saturday evening and people will also line the bridge with torches in a "vigil of light".
The bridge covers a distance of 312 metres and will carry pedestrians and cyclists to and from the cityside and Waterside.
The large concrete sections which form the deck of the bridge had to be shipped over from Wales, weighing 1,000 tonnes.
Divided city
They were lifted into position by one of the UK's largest sea-going cranes, the Mersey Mammoth from Liverpool.
It is hoped the bridge will be the focus for not only major regeneration of the area, but the symbolic union of what was once a divided city.
The chairman of Derry's regeneration company, Ilex, said the peace bridge would become the city's iconic image.
Sir Roy McNulty said it would become a "recognisable landmark".
"It is not as big as the bridge across Sydney Harbour, but for Derry I think it will provide a memorable image and I think people will see it on postcards and images of the city," he said.
"It will stand for Derry."
Funding came from the EU's Peace III programme under the Shared Space initiative which supports projects that bring together communities that have been formerly divided.
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Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:52 pm by thubab2
