City ahoy! Girlsaloud star backs city sailors

Showing her support at an event in San Francisco, organised by Derry City Council in partnership with Culture Company 2013, the Girlsaloud star met with business, tourism, media and diaspora connections as part of the city’s road show planned to coincide with the Clipper 11-12 International Yacht Race arrival on the West Coast of America.

She said: “It is an opportunity to meet with many people from home and USA and I am delighted to lend any support I can to raise awareness of my home city of which I am immensely proud.”

Nadine also took time to meet with the crew of the Londonderry yacht as they prepared to race to New York and ultimately the homecoming leg to Londonderry in June 2012.

Cllr Martin Reilly who is part of the city delegation team said: “Connecting with these audiences in USA is important for business, tourism and ex-pat connections. We are delighted that Nadine was available to attend and show her support.

“As one of our most famous cultural exports, her endorsement helps the city and raise awareness of the talent and opportunity that exists, particularly in the run-up to the UK City of Culture 2013.”

The city delegation includes Chief Executive, Sharon O’Connor and Digital Champion Mark NaGurski and is taking the opportunity to build connections for investment, tourism and culture while the Clipper race is in San Francisco.

Ms O’Connor said that the delegation would be promoting the fact that Londonderry has the distinction of being the first city in the UK and Ireland to have superfast broadband connections.

“Our city is leading cities across the UK by developing superfast broadband connections. When in San Francisco we will be showcasing the city and its international connectivity and promoting the fact that it is the only city in Ireland and the UK to offer one hundred per cent availability of fibre optic broadband connectivity to homes and businesses at speeds doubling to 80Mbps from this year.

“Our pace of advancement is ahead of other cities across the UK and we’re getting our message out there that our city is the perfect location for investment and to do business.

“We have a head start on other cities in that the city’s international communications network is Project Kelvin, a €30m investment linking the city via a submarine cable to a 22 mile offshore cable at Hibernia North Atlantic, offering the perfect opportunity to build and expand international operations while reducing costs.”

She said the city’s youth was a major selling point.

“Forty per cent of our population is under 35 and we have an obvious talent pool of energetic youths with vision and ambition and we fully intend to take advantage of these attributes to ensure we reap the benefits of this visit to the US,” she concluded.

Cllr Martin Reilly concluded: “We’ve been very encouraged by the response from the ex-pat community who have made their home in San Francisco and yet still retain a connection and belief in the city.

“The number of people from the city and region who have shown support to the Clipper team has been fantastic. We hope this visit helps renew connections and put a visit to Londonderry during 2013 as a confirmed date in their diary.”