Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre over at Alan in Belfast. A freelancer who writes about, reports from, live-tweets and live-streams civic, academic and political events and conferences. He delivers social media training/coaching; produces podcasts and radio programmes; is a FactCheckNI director; a member of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland; and a member of the Corrymeela Community.

Today at the Assembly

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Local theatres have begun to rehearse their festive pantomimes, but after a long break, politicians at Parliament Buildings today stepped back into the Assembly chamber to put on their own show. With more than 1,000 days to put their house in order and figure out how restore a stable legislative assembly, the matinee’s start time was put back an hour to 1pm while the Speaker’s office took legal advice. A couple of sets of actors failed to turn up, with the Sinn Féin and Alliance benches remaining completely empty.

Behind the scenes of Spotlight on The Troubles: Willie Frazer, Alan Oliver, Patrick Ryan, and ongoing questions about ‘The Secret War’ film (Thu 9pm on BBC One NI)

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At a screening of the behind-the-scenes companion show about the making of Spotlight on The Troubles (to be broadcast next week on Thursday at 9pm after the final extended episode airs on Tuesday at 8.30pm), Mandy McAuley explained her shock when victims’ campaigner Willie Frazer – with whom she had worked while making programmes about victims for two decades – admitted to his role in the distribution of weapons to loyalist paramilitaries. Further questions about the making and suppression of US film The Secret War that captured footage of the IRA at work, and the painstaking efforts to line up interviews and tie down evidence is explained.

Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History (ep 6) – Mid-Ulster UVF gang members who avoided being charged for murder (Tuesday 15 October at 9pm on BBC One NI and BBC Four)

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The penultimate episode of Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History asks why some UVF members of a Mid-Ulster gang escaped prosecution – confronting an alleged prolific serial killer – and asks whether there was a deliberate loyalist strategy to kill family members of committed republicans during the late 1980s and early 1990s, during what is described as “the final burst of violence” before the ceasefires? Tuesday evening at 9pm on BBC One NI and BBC Four.

The Alternative – where does the power lie, who knows best, will anyone ask let alone listen? (Fishamble’s A Play For Ireland at Lyric Theatre until Sunday 13 October)

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Oisín Kearney and Michael Patrick’s playful counterfactual uses referendum concepts and lexicon – familiar from both Scotland’s indyref and the EU vote – to open up a conversation about who knows what is best for the people of Ireland, whether those who represent us actually listen to our views before making decisions, and ultimately where power lies in a society swayed by soundbite.

Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History (episode 5): a dirty war with unionist political support for loyalist insurrection, security service and government support for collusion (BBC One NI and BBC Four at 9pm)

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Watching a preview of tonight’s fifth episode of Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History  left me feeling sick in the pit of my stomach. Not out of surprise, or at the scale of atrocities featured, but out of disillusionment at the actions and powerful words of so-called leaders of the community. Condemning republican violence out of one side of their mouths, while encouraging sedition out of the other. Unionists may well have felt under siege, with UDR, RUC and …

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The Alternative – what if Ireland was still part of the UK and an in/out referendum was to be held tomorrow? (Lyric Theatre from 8 October)

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Speaking to The Alternative’s co-writer Michael Patrick about new counterfactual play The Alternative – Fishamble’s winning A Play For Ireland – which is set in an Ireland that is still part of the United Kingdom, but on the eve of an in/out referendum. Live from the studios of BBC Dublin, it’s the final leaders’ debate the night before the poll … In the Lyric Theatre from 8-13 October.

A Lament for the Lost Lives of the Troubles (QFT from Friday 11 October)

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Lost Lives is a beautiful film about a grim period of local history. The sober spoken words strike into your sou;. It is art, hung on a wide cinematic screen in a dark gallery that doubles as a cinema screen. It’s provocative, raw, touching, and melancholy. It’s a lamentation rather than a documentary. It’s not over. But it should be. And it must be.

Spotlight #3 – IRA fundraising, arms shipments, a priest’s lack of repentance, and the slow shift from the armalite to the ballot box #TheTroubles (9pm Tue 24 Sep on BBC One NI and BBC Four)

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The third episode of Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History includes an interview with former parish priest Patrick Ryan who looks back on his times organising weapons shipments to Ireland, saying that he has “big regrets … I regret that I wasn’t even more effective … I would like to have been much more effective that I was … but we didn’t do too badly.”

Spotlight on the Troubles #2: intermediaries, talks, ceasefires and a mounting death toll (Tue 17 Sep at 9pm on BBC One NI and BBC Four)

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The second episode in BBC Spotlight’s seven-part series A Secret History of the Troubles picks up the conflict timeline in 1972 and runs through to 1979. The programme will be broadcast tonight at 9pm on BBC One NI and BBC Four. The key themes explored are the changing of the guard within the IRA that hardened attitudes towards ceasefires and opened the door to ‘the long war’; figures and initiatives that kept communication channels between the British and the IRA …

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Border Polls, Referendums and the Question of Democracy #BelfastDebate

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“Unlike the moon landing of 50 years ago“, Bob Collins suggested that the current political turmoil would not land ”in the sea of Tranquillity”. Collins was speaking on the last day of the free-to-attend Debates on Europe event held in Belfast. You can watch back Sunday morning’s panel on Border Polls, Referendums and the Question of Democracy.

Steve Agnew to step down as Green MLA at end of September

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Paying tribute to the North Down Green MLA who is standing down from politics, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood commented: “Steven Agnew is one of the most genuine and well-motivated people in public life. While he was Leader of the Green Party and later as a constituency MLA, Steven has always had the best interests of people at the centre of his political compass.”

Spotlight on the Troubles: a Secret History (BBC One NI and BBC Four, Tue 10 Sep)

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Allegations about a financial link between Paisley and the UVF in the late 1960s and newly discovered footage of Martin McGuinness showing a firearm and bullets to Derry kids and inspecting a car bomb are just part of the story of the beginning of four decades of conflict being told in first of seven ‘Spotlight on the Troubles: a Secret History’ programmes.

1994 assessment of Peace Dividend – likely to boost jobs in inward investment, export/cross-border trade and tourism, but losses expected in security sector [DED/22/234] #20yearrule

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Government papers released under the 30/20 year rule (DED/22/234) document a flurry of activity around 1994 as departments tried to calculate the possible ‘peace dividend’ in terms of new employment from inward investment, exports/cross-border trade and tourism, though officials cautioned that there would be heavy job losses in the security sector if there was a “sudden cessation of violence” in Northern Ireland.

Great Victoria Street railway station opens … back in 1995 [ENV/13/4/6A] #20yearrule

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A pink file full of government papers released today marked the opening of the last new Great Victoria Street station on 30 September 1995, itself resurrecting a transport terminus which had been shut in 1976 with the opening of the optimistically-named Central Station. Just a handful of residents were invited to the official opening, a mistake that hopefully won’t be repeated when the new transport hub opens around 2023.

Another 702 official papers released to the public by PRONI – from 1995 and further back detailing a slowly changing Northern Ireland #20yearrule

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This morning, 702 files of government papers have been fully (530) or partially (172) declassified under the 30/20 year rule. As always, the files detail the political talks and developments of the time, set against a background of ceasefires, discussion about possible prisoner releases, and a normalisation of security measures. The possible peace dividend was being calculated, along with the potential cost of closing Harland and Wolff. And there was much head-scratching about Joe Hendron’s 1992 General Election victory over Gerry Adams in West Belfast and worrying about the subsequent election petition that threatened to unseat him.

A spot of SDLP infighting and a #GE1992 victory in West Belfast overshadowed by voter fraud and an election petition that threatened to unseat Joe Hendron #20yearrule

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Official papers released under the 30/20 year rule document government analysis of the reasons for Joe Hendron’s West Belfast victory in the 1992 General Election, record a spot of SDLP infighting as election agent Tom Kelly airs his views on Seamus Mallon and John Hume ahead of a crucial court judgement on an election petition challenging the result. Voter fraud and personation was also under the spotlight, along with a decision to continue to exclude Sinn Fein from consultations about electoral spending.

1988 Public subsidy cheaper than closure costs for Harland & Wolff which had by then “not made a profit on work carried out for over 20 years” #20yearrule

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Government papers just released under the 30/20 year rule (DED/22/231) detail how officials back in the late 1980s conducted an analysis of the cost to close the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Back in 1988, 4,000 jobs would have been made redundant. Despite not having made a profit for 20 years, continued public support was calculated to be cheaper than the closure costs. (In the end, H&W was sold in 1989 to a management/employee buyout in partnership with Fred Olsen.)

Trans Rights are Human Rights – Ellen Murray’s Amnesty NI lecture at Belfast Pride

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Read or watch back Ellen Murray’s lecture (delivered on Tuesday 30 July as part of Belfast Pride). Under the title ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’, she examined the international context, foreign opinion on the “worrying” state of public discourse in the UK, the shared history with disabled rights struggles, as well as healthcare, welfare of children, women’s rights and her hopes for trans rights in Northern Ireland.

Judith Thompson on the inclusive definition of a victim, understanding discomfort, and delivering for people who most desperately need help #JHISS

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Planned for a long time, Judith Thompson, Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, delivered the opening address (video embedded) at the John Hewitt International Summer School on Monday morning and addressed the issues of the definition of a victim, understanding discomfort and the ‘Troubles pension’ which was the topic of a heated radio debate she heard while driving down to the event in Armagh.

Brexit, Borders and Beyond: Marxism as a Guide in Turbulent Times (watch back)

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Last night, the very room in The MAC which hosted the launch of NI21 six years ago to the day, was the venue for a panel discussion on Brexit, Borders and Beyond: Marxism as a Guide in Turbulent Times. Mary Davis, John Barry and Costas Lapavitsas contributed to the well-attended event that was organised by Ulster University’s School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences in association with Reclaim the Agenda and Slugger O’Toole.