New motion to propose ‘The Ivan Barr Bridge’

A MOTION will be presented at council this afternoon (Thursday) proposing to name Strabane’s pedestrian footbridge after the late Ivan Barr.

Presented by independent councillor, Paul Gallagher, the motion, if passed, will spell an end to years of political wranglings about how the bridge will be named.

As far back as the legacy Strabane District Council it was proposed to name the bridge after Ivan Barr and those proposals passed into the era of the amalgamated Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Previously though, the Department for Social Development (DSD), one of the main funders of the pedestrian bridge, rejected the naming of the structure after Mr Barr, who passed away in 2008, as it contravened naming guidelines.

The then DSD Minister Mervyn Storey even threatened to withdraw some £1.4million in funding if councillors pursued the plan to name it after the late Sinn Féin councillor.

Now however, ownership of the bridge has passed to council and as such, the local authority is free to name the bridge however it sees fit.

Today will be Cllr Paul Gallagher’s third – and he hopes lucky – attempt at having the motion passed.

Ivan Barr rose to prominence in the late 1960s as a leading member of the Strabane Civil Rights Association. He would later become Strabane’s first Sinn Féin councillor and throughout his 23 years at council was known as the gentleman of local politics.

“Ivan would have been a
great supporter for trying to get this bridge,” Cllr Gallagher explained.

“The naming of the bridge as The Ivan Barr Bridge has already been democratically approved at council and it was only a technicality with DSD that held it back.

“Now the council has ownership, the contractual obligations of DSD has expired and I would be hopeful that it would go through this time – and rightly so.”

The wording of Cllr Gallagher’s motion reads, “That this council seeks to confer the name The Ivan Barr Bridge on its most recent footbridge erected at Townsend Street, Strabane and that officers bring forward a report on how this could potentially be taken forward at this time.”

Commenting on the latest proposal, Ivan Barr’s brother, Raymond, a current independent councillor, outlined his delight at the motion.

“I would have loved to see the bridge named after Ivan,” he said.

“I’m delighted it’s coming before council again. If Ivan had been alive he’d have shunned any form of publicity – that was the kind of man he was.

“Speaking as a brother, not a councillor, I know that the work that he did for Strabane over the years was immense. He deserves this recognition. I would commend Cllr Gallagher for bringing the motion.”