Ministers concern over City of Culture bid

The DUP minister said he thought people would struggle to understand why the republican party had raised problems over the city's bid for 2013.

Leader of Sinn Fin on Derry City Council, Maeve McLaughlin said she was not opposed to it, but did not support it in its current format as it "did not reflect the city's cultural diversity."

The Sinn Fin councillor said: "I have yet to be convinced this bid as it currently stands reflects the views of Irish nationalists and republicans.

Mr McCausland said: "I have described it as bizarre and I think people elsewhere will look at it in the same light.

"It is a development that clearly indicates division at a time when we are trying to move to a shared and better future in Northern Ireland."

A spokeswoman for Derry City Council said the bid remained in draft form and would be developed further following consultation with interested parties.

The SDLP MP for Foyle Mark Durkan has accused Sinn Fein of engaging in "damaging" behaviour.

Mr Durkan said the bid was an opportunity for the city to promote its "civic and cultural ambition".

DUP East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said: "If I wanted to be facetious I would say that at the very outset of this bid, the clue was in the name, 'UK City of Culture'.