The Hope of Possibility

My Dad died two days before Christmas. I was on my way up to see him when I got a missed call and a text from my brother telling me he’d passed away. He had pancreatic cancer. The time between diagnosis and death is often short. Before you’ve had time to wrap your head around the fact that your loved one is ill, they are gone.  The shock of the loss is as sharp and painful as the grief. How …

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Why do we still have ‘peace walls’?

Why, a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement, do we still have peace walls and interface barriers? The truth, of course, is that the peace deal ended the conflict, but failed to end division and embed reconciliation. Murdered journalist Lyra McKee famously wrote that more ‘peace walls’ have gone up since the GFA than have come down. This is despite a strategy from the The Executive Office containing the target to remove them all by 2023. Yet …

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A celebration of unionist culture

A showcase day of unionist culture was held at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast, with activities of a cultural identity video; a “living library” event; a talk by historian and broadcaster, Dr David Hume; an exhibition of archival footage by NI Screen of cultural events; and music performances. The event was organised by Belfast City Council, through its Good Relations Action Plan, Cultural Inclusion and Co-Design. This programme has been running since June 2022, with participants engaged in a process to …

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What Have You Been Up To Jonty?

So here we are – the final episode of this series of ‘Blue Lights’. And again, it only seems fair to fire another warning shot to those reading this review to expect a lot of spoilers from previous episodes. So if you’ve not yet seen all five episodes preceding this one, you should probably watch them first before reading this. With viewers still reeling from the events of last week’s episode, ‘Blue Lights’ immediately thrust its audience into the mania …

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Can we save Belfast City Centre?

Before the pandemic, I visited a client’s office in Belfast City Centre. They were on the 7th floor of a building near City Hall. While waiting in reception, I could look over Belfast and marvel at all the construction work. At that time, Belfast was buzzing with many new companies investing in the City Centre.  I did not go near the City Centre during the pandemic as I had no reason to. I had seen reports on social media that …

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Belfast, St Patrick and the winds of Change…

europe, northern ireland, belfast

Since seeing Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” seems like many people of a certain age have been riding a wave of nostalgia. For what it is worth I thought the film was a good show and what would have made it great was perhaps a little more edginess or darkness to firmly reflect my memories of those days. It’s crazy that 1969 is now over 50 years ago. With the film in the forefront of my mind the next event to arrive …

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ESRC Festival: Exploring Belfast’s Medical Past…

aircraft carrier infirmary, hospital, navy

The 2020 COVID pandemic turned Belfast into a desolate city. Shops, schools, pubs, restaurants, churches all closed. The city’s usually bustling streets took on an eerie atmosphere. The lack of cars, planes and taxis created an ominous silence. Part of COVID’s defining experience was how unique it felt to us. We hadn’t experienced a pandemic for an entire century since the 1918-19 influenza pandemic killed 50,000,000 people worldwide. However, historically, disease outbreaks were a day-to-day occurrence and part of life. …

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Who Should Run Belfast?

Jim Allister, Simon Hamilton and I all attended the same school in Newtownards, but it’s Simon’s report on Belfast that really caught my eye this week. ‘Empowering Belfast’ is Belfast Chamber’s answer to dealing with the economic fallout from the pandemic and a sense that Belfast is falling behind similarly-sized cities. Behind the glossy cover and upbeat aspirations, there is an impression that the city may have been let down by successive Northern Irish Executives. Rather than focus on the …

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Belfast Chamber launches a report on the future of Belfast

Yesterday, Belfast Chamber launched a report on the future of the city of Belfast. As many of you know a pet idea of mine is a dramatic overhaul of how the city and it’s wider suburbs are governed. City Mayors have been found in many jurisdictions to be wide net positives for growth and securing investment. The Chamber have examined a number of case studies about powers for the city and what could be achieved from more devolution to local …

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People need to want to go to Belfast City Centre, not be forced to…

As the Chief Executive of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, it is Simon Hamilton’s job to fight for the success of Belfast City Centre. In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, he warned that working from home could turn central Belfast into a ghost town. For those of us who grew up during the troubles, this was the default state of the city centre for decades. Great coverage in today’s @BelTel of @BelfastChamber’s ‘Returning to the Office’ survey. The findings …

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Big Albert shines his light/ casts his shadow across the pond

I knew nothing of Under the Albert Clock  until I spotted a review of the  podcast in the New York Times no less.  Creativity and performance defies the lockdown. American sponsorship and other interest is very welcome. Any reaction? The New York-based Origin Theater Company commissioned the series, asking five female playwrights in Northern Ireland to use as inspiration Belfast’s landmark Albert Memorial Clock (a monument to Queen Victoria’s husband, and thus a symbol of Britishness), and to place their …

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Growing up in Northern Ireland – An Odyssey…

Sixty odd years gone and there’s still life (I think) in this old dog. It was great to sing “When I’m sixty four” at the time, now I’m looking forward to “Never thought I’d live to be a 100” by good old prog rockers The Moody Blues. However in this article I’m going to look back. When was I first aware of “themmuns”? Sometime I think between 7 and 10. I remember thinking “Catholics are somehow different and are sort …

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Stupid cars ruin everything. Why we need to go back to the past and make our towns more people friendly…

You may have seen the photo above on social media. It shows the old entrance to Queen’s University before it was removed to make the entrance suitable for cars. Throughout the world, there are very few places that have been improved by building massive roads through them. Here are some old photos of Donegal Street, Carlisle Circus and Clifton St before somebody had the bright idea to run the Westlink through them. When you look at some of the terrible …

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#SluggerTV – The future of Belfast City Centre #TheReset

How can Belfast City Centre adapt to these changed times and thrive? Colin Neill (chief executive of Hospitality Ulster), Glyn Roberts (chief executive of Retail NI) and Suzanne Wylie (chief executive of Belfast City Council) joined David McCann in the latest episode of Slugger TV.

#TheReset – Simon Hamilton on what will Belfast be for?

Simon Hamilton is an ex DUP MLA & Finance Minister. He is currently Chief Executive of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce. You can follow him on Twitter Back at the beginning of 2020, I wrote a piece that appeared in the local press in which I predicted that “better times were ahead” for Belfast. The rationale for my optimistic outlook was that, with a deal struck on Brexit, a Conservative Government at Westminster with a whopping majority and the …

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Queen’s Quarter superblock – Freeing a city quarter from vehicle traffic and pedestrianising Botanic Avenue…

Following Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon’s announcement of a new Walking and Cycling Champion, to lead the emergency measures needed to immediately increase active travel space and priority, we take a closer look at one aspect of plans: superblocks. The term has been used to describe work to reduce traffic levels within areas of Barcelona, and Bikefast has proposed a superblock-style approach to re-configuring Belfast’s Linen Quarter. Coronavirus has claimed many lives and devastated families, and will continue to do so – in greater …

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Twelfth of July demonstrations cancelled

Edward Stevenson, the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, has confirmed that the Orange Institution will not hold its annual Twelfth of July demonstrations this year and alternatives ways will be found to mark the occasion. With the parades cancelled, the focus will shift to communities and whether the tradition of Eleventh Night bonfires will continue given the large crowds that are attracted to view them when lit.

A (Brutally) Honest Visitor Guide to Belfast

City Hall image for Honest Visitor Guide to Belfast

A side-effect of Belfast picking up tourism awards across the world? Visitors are now shepherded from one pre-packaged tourist ‘experience’ to a generic theme bar, finishing in shoebox glass hotel with the paint still drying on the walls. In days gone by a local would tell you about a great wee pub, a gem of a ‘chippy’ or the best place to find a cheap pint any day of the week. But times have changed, the city has changed and …

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Losing Belfast City – the Unionist retreat?

Losing the City of Belfast at the forthcoming election will do massive psychological damage to unionism. After the calamity of RHI, many in my family happily told of how they would not be exercising their vote at the Assembly election held after Martin McGuinness’ dramatic resignation in 2016 and especially in the second election called the next year. When the tally had come through in the 2017 election it was like a punch in the gut to some in the …

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