By Nigel McDonagh
INCLUDING the Derg Valley area within the proposed Fermanagh and Omagh joint council district was a central issue during a public hearing on the future shape of local government in Irvinestown on Monday and Tuesday.
Councillors and civic leaders in Tyrone are calling for the four wards within Derg Valley - Castlederg, Newtownstewart, Glenderg and Finn - to be incorporated into Omagh/Fermanagh rather than Strabane/Derry as they believe people from that area have a natural affinity with the South West.
Both Fermanagh and Tyrone representatives attended the public meeting chaired by the Boundaries Commissioner Dick Mackenzie CB, where they put forward their views on a proposal to join Omagh and Fermanagh councils.
The proposal on the table is a recommendation from Minister Arlene Foster, who was then Minister for the Environment, to reduce the number of councils in Northern Ireland from the current 26 to 11. This would see Fermanagh combined with Omagh and Strabane combined with Derry.
From the Tyrone side, one of the concerns is the proposal to include the Derg Valley area within the new Derry-Strabane Council.
Representations were made that the Derg Valley area has powerful connections to Omagh and its exclusion from the new Fermanagh-Omagh Council will have a negative impact in terms of local identity and economically.
The UUP's Derek Hussey highlighted that people from the Derg wards have more in common with the South West.
The Omagh District SDLP Executive also expressed concern at the numerical imbalance that will exist within the proposed structures if Derg Valley was to fall under Derry-Strabane Council.
Cllr Seamus Shields pointed out that under the proposed current structure the Derry-Strabane Council would have a population of 92,500, while the Fermanagh-Omagh Council would have a population of just 74,400. However, he stressed that an almost equal balance would be struck between both neighbouring Western councils if the Derg Valley ward population of approximately 9,000 were to be transferred to the South West region.
Cllr Shields added, "Another benefit of this rectification would be that it would even up the Fermanagh and Tyrone numbers within the new South West administration."
A proposal from Fermanagh District Council to include the Derg Valley wards in the new Fermanagh-Omagh administration by transferring the wards of Gortin, Drumnakilly and Owenkillew to the new Strabane-Derry Council was slammed by Omagh Sinn Féin councillor Sean Begley.
"These three areas to the north of Omagh have a natural affinity with Omagh, and to change it would be to break those bonds," he said.
In a written submission, the Duke of Abercorn attempted to raise awareness of the 'strong opinion' being expressed that the four Derg Valley wards should be included in the proposed Fermanagh-Omagh District Council. He said, "The Newtownstewart, Glenderg, Castlederg and Finn Wards have a natural and long-standing identification both with the County town of Omagh and with rural Fermanagh. Moving the four wards as proposed would also rebalance the population of both council areas."
