Guide 'told and sold Derry's story like nobody else'

(An edited version of this piece was published in the Irish Times February 21st 2015

Martin McCrossan – born May 7^th 1962, died February 6^th 2015

Martin McCrossan, who has died after a short illness, was one of the main drivers in the tourism industry in Derry. Some 20 years ago he established City Tours, offering walking tours of Derry. It was a time when investing in Northern tourism was a gamble. He not only built a business, but became a spokesperson for tourism in Derry. Two years ago, he won the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s ‘Tourism Hero’ award.

His importance is seen by the way his passing attracted tributes from across the political spectrum. Arlene Foster, the North’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, paid an unprompted tribute when asked an unrelated question during Question Time in the Assembly. She called McCrossan “one of tourism's great ambassadors in Northern Ireland …. Let me pass on my deepest sympathy to Martin's wife Sharon and his family. He was a great ambassador in the Member's city and brought many tours around the city's walls. We will miss him dreadfully from tourism in Northern Ireland.” Tributes also came from Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and SDLP MP Mark Durkan. Durkan summed McCrossan up: “Martin McCrossan told and sold Derry’s story like nobody else.”

Part of that telling and selling was making his tours value for money. They impressed a travel writer from the London ‘Daily Telegraph’: “If there was an award for the best value for money on the planet, Martin McCrossan's walking tours of Londonderry would get my vote. Moreover, I don’t think I’ve ever learned as much as in the hour I spent walking with him around the walls of the city whose famous siege from 1688 to 1689 changed British and European politics forever, and around the Bogside – crucible of The Troubles and scene of the controversial Bloody Sunday shootings of 1972. Fascinating stories from a fascinating storyteller.”

Martin McCrossan was born in Derry May 1962, seventh of 14 children to Gerard McCrossan, one of the City’s most colourful bookmakers, and his wife Helen (née Irvine). After primary education, he attended St Joseph’s Secondary School.

Throughout McCrossan’s life he was a dynamo, who enjoyed business, including the cut and thrust of competition. From shortly after leaving school, he worked as a small shopkeeper.

His tour guiding developed from his newsagent’s and tobacconist’s shop on Carlisle Road in Derry City centre. Tourists frequently came in with queries. Having an interest in Derry’s history, he would answer them. This showed him an opening, and he established Derry City Tours. He returned to education, and qualified as a tour guide.

He will be missed from Derry City Centre, where his yellow coat was a part of the streetscape. The downpours that are a feature of Derry’s weather did not drive him into shelter: rather, he opened out his umbrella and rushed on round the City, whose beauty he saw before many others did.

Martin McCrossan is survived by his wife Sharon, daughters Christina and Charlene, and grandchildren Bain and Tate.