When the Troubles broke out in Belfast, the forced exodus of Catholics from certain parts of the city was massive.

Areas like the Falls/Shankill interface and Ardoyne in north Belfast saw huge shifts in population.

A study led by Professor John Darby of the University of Ulster estimated that between 8,000 and 15,000 families were forcibly displaced from their homes between August 1969 and February 1973.

Darby, using an average family size of four, suggested that up to 60,000 people fled their homes.

Unionists like me are appalled that some want to re-open the Drumcree dispute

Pat McArt: Where did Derry’s Prods all go?

At that time it was described as the largest enforced movement of a civilian population in Western Europe since the Second World War.

What happened in Belfast has been well documented as it was so dramatic.

But now a new report suggests there was a fairly major exodus in Derry city as well, but that it was ‘a silent exodus’ – one that has never been widely publicised, much less acknowledged.

It was of the Protestant community.

To get its full flavour, the title of the report is: ‘Where Have All the Prods Gone? Conflict and Displacement – The PUL Exodus and its Impact in Londonderry’.

While it is stated that there are more than 100 contributors, the author is a former English and history teacher at Lisneal College, Terry Wright. His report makes for very interesting reading.

In his executive summary of........

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