Martin McCrossan 1963 - 2015

A picture I tool of Martin McCrossan proudly holding a City of Derry Crystal souvenir celebrating the Peace Bridge which spans the River Foyle and over 400 years of political division

     I was greatly shocked and saddened with the news last week that the man they called "Mr. Derry" had died. Martin McCrossan was well known all over Ireland and indeed throughout the world by people he guided around his beloved city. Anyone privileged enough to have met him will have noted not just his unique treasure of local history but also his joy in recent times that that once troubled city was uniting and repairing.
     And I know that that process was enormously helped by Martin and others with innumerable behind the scene meetings across all the policical and religious divides.  His tours never shied from confronting the truth and evenhandedly told of struggles comprising still raw history, but did so, fairly and evenhandedly. Many times we walked along the walls, once a symbol of a divided city, and we walked across the Peace Bridge, now a symbol of a city uniting and prospering.
     "Rest in Peace" is a term so appropriate and fitting for Martin.