John Hewitt

WATCH: Is Better Possible? Prof Jon Tonge’s assessment of GFA legacy and his ideas for reform #JHISS23

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 31, 2023, 6:56 pm

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Jon Tonge being filmed speaking at the 2023 John Hewitt Summer School in Armagh

As well as joining the panel in Slugger’s The State of Us discussion at last week’s John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh, Professor Jon Tonge delivered a talk asking ‘Is Better Possible?’ at this point in Northern Ireland’s history, 25 years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. He looked at some of the positive statistics as well as the more negative ones around the institutional uptime. He compared the local situation with other countries enjoying consociational government, and looked …

The Rise and Fall of Belfast’s own ‘Fleet Street’ #looknorth23

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 2, 2023, 12:55 pm

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Journalists Ivan Little, Allison Morris, Gary McDonald and Jim McDowell on Journalism panel Look North Festival

Last Friday evening, four journalists gathered top discuss the rise and fall of the print media presence on Donegall Street, once Belfast’s very own ‘Fleet Street’. Jim McDowell was joined by Gary McDonald, Allison Morris and Ivan Little. Memories of formal training and learning on the job, old characters in the news rooms and printing presses, deadlines, dubious headlines, drinking on the job, death knocks and even a bit of poetry from John Hewitt. Filmed & edited by Alan Meban …

Where is Home? (John Hewitt panel in Armagh on Tuesday 26 July)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 9, 2022, 1:54 pm

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Slugger O’Toole is delighted to be returning to the John Hewitt International Summer School later in July. Our panel on the evening of Tuesday 26 July will ask Where is Home? – inviting three guests from the world of politics to explore where home has been, where it is today, whether home can be one place or many, and what could shift that sense of belonging and identity in the future. I’ll be joined on stage in Armagh’s Market Place …

Slugger event at John Hewitt Summer School: What’s good for the economy, good for the environment and good for people?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 23, 2021, 5:18 pm

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Slugger O’Toole returns to the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh next Wednesday evening (28 July at 7pm) with a panel discussion looking at the triangle between economy, environment and people. Is Northern Ireland keeping those three aspects in balance? Are we destroying people and the planet in the name of prosperity? Can we ensure that wellbeing, sustainability and justice benefit everyone? I’ll be joined by Steven Agnew, Dawn Purvis and Joanne Stuart to mull over what’s good for …

#SluggerTV After lockdown, can the arts return to health without a vaccine? (John Hewitt Digital Festival)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 31, 2020, 8:30 am

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A recent article on The Stage magazine website noted that “big tops are being built up across the UK”. “With sidewalls raised and seats spaced out, tented circuses are resuming summer tours. Heavy theatre doors, meanwhile, remain shut. But there’s a simple solution to opening up with socially distanced productions. Theatres should take to tents.” A trip to the cinema this week – I’d recommend Saint Frances out of the poor fare currently being screened – was a lonely affair …

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

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 23, 2019, 9:41 am

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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.

An Ulsterman Considers His Passport – Arthur Aughey #JHISS

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 25, 2018, 2:30 pm

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An Ulsterman Considers His Passport … and also considers what we can learn from other complicated borders in Europe, like those Austria shares with its eastern European neighbours. Watch back Prof Arthur Aughey’s Centre for Cross-border Studies lecture at the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh.

2018 John Hewitt International Summer School (23-28 July) – talks, poetry, music & debate

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 6, 2018, 3:53 pm

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PREVIEWING the week-long John Hewitt International Summer School with its mix of talks, poetry, music and debate in Armagh between 23 and 28 July 2018.

Learning to live with Difference – the John Hewitt Summer School (27-31 July, Armagh)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 2, 2015, 4:20 pm

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David Steel (Lord Steel of Aikwood) talking about a federal United Kingdom: “The received wisdom that federal countries need uniform size among the constituent parts, or equal powers among them, is not the case. Nor would it be the case for a federal United Kingdom.” A discussion with CL Dallat, Yasmin Alibhai Brown and Hannah Lowe about shifting demographics in the UK and Ireland and whether we’re stuck in a binary oppositions of 1690 and 1916, of Paisley versus the …

“There were, he said, no aborigines in Ireland…”

Pete Baker on December 27, 2012, 12:43 pm

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In the Irish Times, Paul Murray provides a good starting point for 2013 It would be easier for all of us if, in John Montague’s words, “old moulds are broken”; and if, like John Hewitt, we scrutinised the myths of our tribe. We would inhabit a happier island if we imbibed some of Hewitt’s gritty integrity that sought to comprehend the other tribe so that the “goat and ox may graze in the same field/and each gain something from proximity”. …

POTD – Reading the obits

Moochin Photoman on June 30, 2011, 12:01 am

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I had to take this particularly when i saw that the man was reading the death notices. Moochin PhotomanPhotographer and visual artist based in Belfast. I have facilitated community based workshops with groups as diverse as visually impaired individuals in Dungannn, Travellers across Northern Ireland, Young Offenders and many community groups across Belfast. My work has exhibited extensively here in Northern Ireland in group and individual shows and has been shown in North America and i had my first solo …