Derry City Council's failure to have the city's name changed is expected to cost its ratepayers hundreds of thousands in legal costs and the reaction of most people on the streets yesterday following Mr Justice Weatherup's ruling was that it was money badly spent.
"We are Northern Ireland's second city and we are one of the most economically deprived areas in the UK and it's a joke that the ratepayers' money was spent on a divisive issue which will never be resolved. No matter what a judge decides, you'll still call it Derry or Londonderry, depending on which side of the fence you come from," said one businessman. "But don't name me because my customers come from both sides of that fence.
"This 21st century attempt to resolve a 17th century conundrum imposed by an English king on a mainly Catholic city was never going to work and never will work," the businessman said. Local Sinn Féin councillor Paul Fleming, whose party initiated the court action, said the nationalist controlled council should consider another option to resolve the matter.
"We are giving serious thought to suggesting that the area within the walls should be called Londonderry and the rest called Derry. We are actively looking at that at the moment", he said.
DUP Councillor Joe Miller said the court case was a waste of public money. "I call it Londonderry, others call it Derry, so what, people can call it what they like, it's their prerogative."