Over the past two years I have constantly heard yarns from all and sundry about the importance of culture. Who belongs to this tradition and what emblems we should back over the other? So, I went along to the most recent Tenx9 event in the Black Box on Wednesday evening to see a cultural event in action. Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with tenx9-its basic premise is that 9 people have up to 10 minutes each to tell …
Local tweeters give Ellen and the Oscars a #TweetUpNI selfie. David McCann kicked proceedings off at around 8pm with a healthy turnout. #tweetupni @dcmbfs kicks off the tweetup in McHughs pic.twitter.com/zJbVp9HPfl — Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast) March 13, 2014 Derek McCallan from @NI_LGA launched #participate14.Then the mayor spoke: Belfast Lord Mayor @newbelfast addressing @sluggerotoole #tweetupni – positivity & his Buddhist chaplain! https://t.co/4dRsEz9U0L — Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast) March 14, 2014 Then Terry McHugh gave us some stand-up and mixed in …
So here it is. This is what the ‘new’ Waterfront Hall will look like after the £29.5m conference centre is built. The Council is providing £11m, DETI’s European Regional Development Fund is pitching in £14.5m along with £4m from the tourist board. Here’s the architect’s plan with a view from the river: Hmmm… so the Waterside Hall is not going to be so beside the water as it is currently. Although interestingly that’s not where the original idea …
Maurice Burns’ cover merits study–it’s well chosen and ties into this mystery within, as elaborated by an informant. The title, a play off of the ‘murder of crows’, echoes in the name of Barry Crowe, a Belfast journalist (or is it ‘sleazy tabloid hack’?) pursuing the backstory behind the sudden demise, apparently by auto-asphyxiation, of Northern Ireland’s leading poet. The compromising circumstances unfold neatly in this e-book novella. Bailie, whose Lagan Press novels The Lost Chord and Ecopunks delved into …
I need to say from the outset that the cartoon above is not mine, but the work of Norwegian cartoonist Morten Morland (@mortenmorland) who produces political cartoons for the London Times, The Spectator and many more esteemed publications. To my mind it captures absolutely the cause of the mindless violence. What does that say about our leadership if even a Norwegian can see this? Below is also a cartoon I did recently which pales in comparison to the work of …
Earlier this year, organisers at Belfast’s award winning Festival of Fools received news from Belfast City Council’s Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit that they were to be excluded from multi-annual funding. In addition, their annual allocation was reduced from £11,000 (2012) to £6000 (2013). The Festival’s funding from the City Council’s Community Festivals Fund remains unchanged. There’s a memorable scene in one of my favourite films, Anthony Manghella’s Truly Madly Deeply (1990). One of the main characters, Nina, is being drawn …
Agenda NI have a piece on the Obama speech worth looking through.. Their conclusion? Northern Ireland, as the President implied, can never take its peace for granted. Neither can such a small country always assume presidential attention. In summary, Obama’s expectation is that Northern Ireland will depend less on external goodwill and take more responsibility for creating a better future.[emphasis added] David McCann writing in his occasional column for the journal.ie put a slightly different twist on it: Where the …
“We need you to get this right.” – Barack Obama, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Monday 17 June 2013 Thought this deserved a special illustrated note. Perhaps we can carry this alongside us. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/
Publication Schemes are supposed to publicise what information a public body holds and regularly makes available. The Information Commissioners Office have a Model Publication Scheme for District Councils in Northern Ireland, listing the type of information that they must make available. You should publicise the fact that information is available to the public under the scheme. You should make sure the model scheme, guide to information, and schedule of fees are all available on your website, public notice board, or …
A bright, cold, day earlier this week saw me head out for a constitutional along what is now rather a pleasant route along the banks of the Lagan past the Odyssey and up to the Titanic Museum. With the hazy afternoon sun making the East Belfast bank of the river look particularly pretty, and the tourist information signs informing me of the Belfast Maritime Trail, I changed my mind and instead turned left at the Lagan Weir and decided to …
It looks increasingly likely that confirmation of the rumoured plans to start the 2014 Giro d’Italia in Belfast, before heading to Dublin, will be made tomorrow. As Cycling Weekly reports The Giro d’Italia organiser RCS Sport has a lot on its plate this week, announcing the 2014 start from Belfast tomorrow and dealing with 19 WorldTour teams. The organiser sent an invitation on Friday for the “Official presentation of a new collaboration between RCS Sport and the Island of Ireland.” The presentation will …
It’s not entirely clear to me why Belfast Chamber of Commerce President Joe Jordan has been singled out for criticism by Sinn Féin Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, but he has been. Here’s the 11 January press release from the Sinn Féin website Sinn Féin councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir has called on Belfast Chamber of Commerce President Joe Jordan to “stop politicking” and unite with political and business leaders to build the city of Belfast. Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: “Sadly, while others have been …
As the violence over flags inevitably wanes, debates over the legitimacy of loyalist actions will continue. What will be obscured in the discussion is a key feature of rioting in Northern Ireland – namely that it is a controlled performance and creative spectacle. A burning car in the middle of the road is a striking scene, whether watched in delight or disgust. Petrol bombs hang in the air like Chinese Lanterns; fireworks and police vans light up the night sky; …
It could be some time before we get an answer to that question – official confirmation that cycling’s 2013 Giro would start in Naples only came in June last year. But there’s been a flurry of activity following a L’Equipe report last night that sources were confirming that Belfast would host the start of the 2014 Giro d’Italia. As the Guardian reported There are strong indications that in 2014 the United Kingdom will host the Giro d’Italia as well as the Tour de France, which …
Terry Spence was featured on Radio 4’s Saturday PM news show and he aired some serious concerns about the ability of the Police Service of Northern to hold the peace in the context of continuing violence. His concerns were not about the manner in which the police have been confronting the rising violence, but about the ability of the police going forward in terms of numbers and resources to deal with the growing two-pronged threat profile. He noted that over …
Five minutes of prayer around Belfast City Hall was the most public Christian response to the flags issue in Belfast. With the carols about the ‘Prince of Peace’ sung at Christmas, what else should the church be doing to bring peace and stability to the situation? The church’s role in the Troubles will long be a subject of debate with accusations of a lack of leadership weighed against individual grassroots peacemaking and relationship building. Planned long before the protests began, …
So far I’ve only found one mention of Belfast (or Northern Ireland) in this morning’s Daily Mail. [free at the airport – don’t judge!] On page 13 a neighbout was describing a Facebook party that had got out of control next door to his house in Essex: It was like Belfast in the 1970s out there. It was terrifying. There were hundreds of people out to cause trouble. 1970s? How out of touch … Maybe GB aren’t paying attention to …
The litany of ritual condemnation in yesterday’s Assembly debate could have been spoken any time during direct rule. There is no hint here of a responsible government trying to get on top of events. Just a wringing of hands in an Assembly, impotent, riddled with its own contradictions, waiting for the trouble to burn itself out. For another night the initiative is surrendered to the streets. No MLA of course shares any measure of responsiblity. Perhaps that’s unfair. Perhaps for the moment …
This week the news was dominated by two events, the vote on reducing the number of days that the union flag is to be flown at Belfast City Hall, which has been flown at City Hall since it opened on 1906 and the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The vote brought an angry call from the unionist community which led to people protesting on the streets which consequently turned violent. This has caused damage across various parts …
No doubt the flag furore is being debated all day on Radio Ulster which thankfully I haven’t heard, But I was impressed by a calming interview with Gregory Campbell on the Today programme at 7.43 a.m.(Sadly the BBC archive service has declined. We used to be able to access all items separately on the Today running order but this is no longer possible, so you’ll have to move the cursor along on the whole programme recording to find it). However …
