NI Secretary of State visits ‘amazing’ Derry Girls’ school

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State has revealed that she is a fan of Derry Girls while on a visit to the city.

Karen Bradley said she loves the hit Channel 4 comedy so much that she included Thornhill College – the all-girls school which is the inspiration for the fictional college in the series – in the itinerary for her first trip to Derry.

At the school she had lunch with the sixth form drama students and met student Maria Laird, who plays first year pupil Tina.

She then held a questions and answers session with the school’s politics students, answering questions on Brexit, equal marriage, the Irish language and abortion.

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“Derry Girls is just such a great series,” said Ms Bradley, “and it’s really put Derry-Londonderry on the map.”

“Meeting the students at Thornhill – the real life Derry Girls – was an amazing treat.

“They are impressive young women who will go on and do fantastic things.

“I was grateful and pleased that I could try and answer their questions, and they did have some good questions.

“They really made the point about how important it is to them to see devolved government return, and the real impact that the lack of government is having on their lives.

“That’s something I’ll take away from this and I’ll make sure I communicate to all the political leaders in Northern Ireland,” she said.

The Secretary of State revealed that she may even be a bit of a Derry Girl herself.

“I’ve been hearing about how the name Bradley comes from the area, and we know my husband’s family came from somewhere nearby but we’ve never been able to pin down exactly where,” she said. “Maybe I’m an honorary Derry Girl, by marriage.”