Last year I wrote a post on the 12th which has several times since been taken out of context… You can see it here. In it I argued, simply enough as I thought, that the 12th of July belongs to all of us. By which I meant that as much as Orangemen should be permitted to march, non Orange citizens are entitled to their non Orange day too In the meantime, this was the year a senior Orangeman had to …
We’ve taken a bit of a break from the Derry essay series, but we hope to restart from tomorrow. I’ve been reviewing some of my notes from the Facebook group meeting on some of the themes that came up, and which I’d like to ask people to write to if they feel so able. Here’s a selection: What has happened to Radical/Free Derry – “Christiania on the Foyle…” Civil agitation which gave self generated arts organisation Has there been a …
Culture is a slippery concept to get a grip of. According to Chairman Mao: – “ People live and move in culture as fish live and move in water.” This is true of an homogeneous people like the Chinese. The people of Derry aren’t homogeneous but are culturally divided. A more apt view of Derry culture is that of Dr Goebbels: – “ Every time I hear the word culture, I reach for my Luger and release the safety catch.” …
I have written many times about Derry’s importance as a European cultural capital [1], and every time I’ve met with relentless patronising from subjects of much-lesser cities whose only notable attribute is size. There’s a small snigger, accompanied by an oh-so-clever remark about “chips on his shoulder” as they slope back to their generic lattes, in generic cafés in Blandland. I’ve lived in, worked in, or visited every Irish city – and quite a few in Britain besides. And let …
Derry is in the UK, true enough, but not only in the UK. The potential ‘UK City of Culture’ now stretches well beyond the boundaries of the state. Housing estates full of Derry commuters have sprung up in recent years on all the roads that stretch north, south and west of the city centre and across the nearby international boundary. Some people jokingly refer to Golan Hill on the outskirts of Buncrana in Co Donegal as ‘Golan Heights’ because there …
