The story of Free Derry is one of civil struggle and civil unity. A people oppressed by their own government. A community who saught political, religious and civil rights and exhausted every route in their path to achieve it.
Subsequent history
After Operation Motorman, the British Army controlled the Bogside and Creggan by stationing large numbers of troops within the area, by conducting large-scale 'search' operations that were in fact undertaken for purposes of intelligence gathering, and by setting up over a dozen covert observation posts. Over the following years IRA violence in the city was contained to the point where it was possible to believe 'the war was over', although there were still frequent street riots. Nationalists—even those who did not support the IRA—remained bitterly opposed to the army and to the state.
Many of the residents' original grievances were addressed with the passing of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act, 1972,which redrew the electoral boundaries and introduced universal adult suffrage based on the single transferable vote. Elections were held in May 1973. Nationalists gained a majority on the council for the first time since 1923. Since then the area has been extensively redeveloped, with modern housing replacing the old houses and flats.
The Free Derry era is commemorated by the Free Derry wall, the murals of the Bogside Artists and the Museum of Free Derry.