President MARY McAleese is to give the keynote address at a conference in Derry this weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of the historic march in the city on October 5th, 1968.

The Civil Rights Commemoration Committee is hosting an international conference on Saturday and Sunday in Derry’s Guildhall. The 1968 march, which was blocked by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, made headlines across the world.

Other speakers include Nobel laureate John Hume, former civil rights leader Ivan Cooper, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, SDLP leader Mark Durkan MP MLA, Northern Ireland Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure Gregory Campbell MP MLA of the Democratic Unionist Party, journalist Nell McCafferty, president of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions Patricia McKeown, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Monica McWilliams, and president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Dr Maurice Manning.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0930/1222724572328.html