Newbuildings

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New Buildings (officially written as Newbuildings) is a large village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the shores of the River Foyle and 5 km (3 mi) south of the city of Derry. It remained a small settlement until the 1960s when large amounts of social housing was built on adjoining townlands. It had a population of 4,496 people in the 2001 Census. Today, the village consists of four churches (Methodist, Independent Methodist, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic), two primary schools, post office, community association, retail units and a wide range of housing.

1 History
2 Transport
3 2001 Census
4 NIMDM Deprivation 2005
5 Controversy
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

The village was founded in the early 17th century as part of the Plantation of Ulster on land allocated to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London.

[edit] Transport

Between 1900 and 1955 the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee had a station in Newbuildings, the line running along the east bank of the River Foyle. Newbuildings railway station opened on 6 August 1900 and finally closed on 1 January 1955.^[1]

[edit] 2001 Census

Newbuildings is classified by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) as being within Derry Urban Area (DUA). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 4,496 people living in Newbuildings. Of these:

27.1% were aged under 16 years and 11.4% were aged 60 and over
49.0% of the population were male and 51.0% were female
3.5% were from a Catholic background and 94.8% were from a Protestant background
3.5% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

[edit] NIMDM Deprivation 2005

Of 582 wards in Northern Ireland, 'New Buildings' was ranked as the 259th most deprived.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

[edit] Controversy

In 2005, the Irish nationalist newspaper, the Irish News, asked if Newbuildings is "the most sectarian place in the north" based on reported attacks on the Catholic Church and the cars of mass-goers. This prompted an angry response from the community, some of whom made the journey to Belfast to meet the newspaper's editor.[1]