War memorials in Derry have suffered two attacks in recent days. Damage and theft occurred at the city’s Fountain estate and a wreath had been stolen from the Diamond War Memorial on 11 November. The two incidents are being treated as sectarian hate crimes, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have said.

In the earlier incident, thieves made off with banners from the site and damaged white crosses that had been planted in the grass. One of the banners featured an absurdly oversized poppy — a nod to the competitive poppyism trend dividing Brits nationwide — which has become a permanent fixture of Remembrance Sunday. The other banner struck an emollient tone while acknowledging the toll World War I had taken on all of Derry:

756 citizens of all religions from this city lost their lives in The Great War of 1914-1918

Divisive poppy issue resonates even more in North of Ireland

Remembrance Sunday is generally more closely observed by members of the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist (PUL) community. At times, as in Britain, the annual tradition has been criticised for glorifying and valorising the British Army, rather than mourning all lives lost in the war. It has also been hijacked to honour dead paramilitaries, many of whom carried out atrocities on behalf of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association.

Derry-raised Footballer James McClean is among the more prominent voices refusing to don the emblem. He has been receiving enormous abuse for his opposing stance. He argues that if the occasion commemorated all lives, he would “wear [a poppy] every day of the year”. The emblem remains closely bound up with the British military. McClean argues that wearing it betrays those murdered by British forces during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre:

Six or seven people from the Creggan estate died on Bloody Sunday that day.

So for me to wear a poppy in support of the people who carried out those atrocities… it frustrates me how people don’t, can’t see that… how there is even a debate of why I should wear a poppy.

The last census of 2021 found that 78% of Derry’s population is Catholic, and approximately 17% identify as Protestant. This demographic makeup largely explains the generally more inclusive tone of the messaging at the memorial. Those who stole the banners posted images of themselves holding the stolen item with the caption “Boys still active”. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime.

Sectarian bonfires perpetuate petty enmities

Earlier this year, a “centuries old” Apprentice Boys flag was burned during a bonfire in August. The flag, stolen from a local cathedral, commemorated the resistance to the 1698 Siege of Derry by James II. Whatever one thinks of the regressive glorification of ancient wars, stealing artefacts and incinerating them is no noble pursuit. It’s sectarian trolling. Other items burned included union flags and poppies. While ugly sectarian burnings are much more prevalent on July 12, the nationalist version of the tradition still lingers. These tensions have drawn public criticism from the likes of First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who recently said:

There is no place for illegal, unregulated bonfires or the burning of flags and emblems, whether that’s today in Derry or what we witnessed across the north in July.

The wreath stolen from the Derry cenotaph may end up starring in a similar display of pyromania in 2026. The Belfast Telegraph quotes community worker Derek Moore warning of “increasing sectarianism in the city”. while Social Democratic and Labour Party MP for Foyle Colum Eastwood said:

It is more than just a few crosses kicked over and a banner stolen, it has contributed to a feeling that people who share our city and belong in our community aren’t wanted — that is desperately wrong.

Poverty the real issue in Derry

Derry was identified in a 2025 report published by International Longevity Centre UK as the lowest ranked of 357 local areas. The report examines the ways “health, opportunity and ageing” are influenced by this environment; where the legacy of sectarianism remains acute.

It has a child poverty rate of nearly 25%, over three times higher than the most successful areas. Given these facts, both sides of the sectarian divide ought to trump lingering sectarian divisions. A political settlement that entrenches this separation persists. Cynical politicians like Paul Givan continue to exploit these enmities to deepen the orange vs green division.

Obnoxious as they are, the worst vandals aren’t the immature teenagers who wreck memorials. Its the ones at Stormont who trash our lives — weaponising sectarian differences and ignoring the substantive issues affecting us every day.

Featured image via Derry Journal

By Robert Freeman

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