Ar aghaidh linn

Ar aghaidh linn go Baile Átha Cliath go ngreadfaimid na Franncaigh...I don't have anything green to wear in Croker tonight to cheer on the Irish other than a baseball hat but on a winter's night, that's just not going to cut it. But I do have hat knit for me by Martita Rice in the Ecuadorean national colours (yellow, red, blue) and it's warm so it'll have to do.

Voting has finished in the Aisling stakes but there are some truly impressive votes out there. Over 8,000 votes were cast for Féile and Phobail in the community category, over 4,000 for Colin Care, a social economy business in Poleglass-Twinbrook.

Of course, the online votes are only one small part of the judging criteria, panels have also been out around the shortlisted companies and individuals to decide on a winner. On Monday, I join John Hannaway, partner with sponsors PricewaterhouseCoopers and business trainer Jackie D'Arcy to visit our business nominees: Colin Care, EG Information Consulting, niavac and the Park Avenue Hotel in East Belfast (which also notched up almost 4,000 online votes).

Power of text messaging

With great power comes great responsiblity.

So it is with the power of text-messaging.

Last night, Orange and O2 made a fortune as angry but curiously English-speaking Gaels sent texts to all and sundry denouncing a city-centre busines for 'forbidding children from speaking Irish'. The text urged all right-thinking sons and daughters of the Gael to let the manager at this business know this type of thing wouldn't be tolerated.

One friend tells me a text arrived to him from Liverpool! International solidarity undoubtedly.

Orange and Vodafone and O2 doubled their bets five minutes after the first text with a second barrage, this time apologising profusely, stating that the story had no basis and referencing the principal of the school which was purportedly involved in the 'incident' as stating it had no foundation in the truth.

"Misunderstanding" is the kindest way to put it.

Osréalaíoch san Opera House

Pléisiúr atá ann sáraisteoir oilte ina cheird a fheiceáil ar stáitse agus b'amhlaidh a ba mhó an pléisiúr nuair a bhí an t-aisteoir sin, Donncha Crowley ag tabhairt An Béal Bocht clasaiceach chun beatha ar ardán i mBéal Feirste. Bhí muid mar bheadh páistí ag cóisir breithlá agus eisean mar dhraíodóir. Cad é mar a dhéanann sé sin? Níl a fhios agam ach tá áit éigin i ndúlaíocht Chorcha Dhorca ina dtagann an aisteoireacht agus an draíocht le chéile agus sin an áit a seasann Donncha cóir, bíodh sé ina mhúinteoir scoile nó ina Jams sóisireach.

Fuair foireann Aisling Ghéar greim sceadamáin ar fhíorscéal fíorGhaelach, fíorbhrónach Myles na gCopaleen ag Teach an Cheoldráma i mBéal Feirste agus thug léasadh dó. Bhí báisteach ann mar is dual do Chorca Dhorcha agus clann Bonaparte O'Coonasa ach bhí toirneach agus soilse ann fosta — le gléasraí fuaime gan amhras ach fosta i ngeatsaíocht Tony Devlin mar Bonaparte agus Mary Ryan, íobartaigh na fíorGhaeltachta.

Buaicphointí: An seomra ranga agus 'My Nam is Jams O'Donnell', lánmharcanna don mháistir scoile agus óráid iontach na feise ag Gael gealgháireach a bhí fíorGhaelach óna bhaithis go dtí a bonn, fíorGhaelach thoir, thuaidh, theas agus thoir.

Ar ndóigh ní Duck Soup atá sa Bhéal Bocht, an t-údar smaointeach as an tSraith Bán, scríobh sé sleachta fada fosta ina mháistirphíosa ach láimhsigh an stiúrthóir Bríd Ní Ghallchóir an cor casta i saol Bonaparte go healaíonta, ár stiúradh siar ar ais go dtí an t-aicsean chomh tiubh géar agus a b'fhéidir léi. Ar ndóigh, nuair atá tú ag obair le proifisiúnaithe solúbtha tallanacha ar nós Melanie Clarke Pullen (an raibh sí i bhfolach faoi néaltaí dorcha na Rosann go dtí seo?), bíonn jab an stiúrthóra ní b'fhusa.

Bravó Aisling Ghéar. Cé chreidfeadh é: Corca Dhorcha sa Baby Grand agus an ceoltóir tíre Hugo Duncan ("the Wee Man from Strabane") sa mhórhalla agus an dá sheó díolta amach. I cibé halla, dar leat, a raibh an oíche a b'osréalaí?

27,000 and counting

There have been 27,000 plus votes cast online (and each computer can only vote once the techie security guardians tell me) for the Aisling Award nominees.

The education award is creating a stir, 4,000 votes have now been cast.



The winners will be announced on 19 November at the Europa Hotel. Voting time still left online.

Bonded communities in search of bridges

I was at an inspiring breakfast event this morning to launch the joint Newington FC-Crusaders FC plan to build a £35m stadium in North Belfast.

Belfast Media Group sponsored the breakfast — much to my dismay soccer supporters require big nose-bags! — and it was great to see the Lord Mayor Naomi Long, North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Adams and Sports Minister Nelson McCausland turn out behind the project.

Newington hails from the nationalist New Lodge area of North Belfast, Crusaders from the staunchly unionist Shore Road area but the teams have made common cause behind this effort. Mark Langhammer, the Crusaders supporter and former independent councillor behind this initiative, told how the Newington players arrived at Seaview, Crusaders Ground, for the first time to play a home game under a new arrangement to share the park.

"There was a band playing in a room above the changing room, and it wasn't an X-Factor band either," said Mark. "When the bandsmen who'd hired the room for a practice came down the stairs, the Newington lads thought they were going to be played onto the pitch."

I was struck by the comment of the Rev John Dunlop that North Belfast contains many communities which are strongly bonded but without any bridges to each other. This project presented such a bridge, he added.

Here's an opinion piece by North Belfast SDLP MLA Alban Maginness (who also attended) about the proposed development.

Pictured are Liam McStravick of Newington FC, Colin Coates of Crusaders, Lord Mayor Naomi Long, Thomas Duffy of Newington and Mark Langhammer of Crusaders.

McBride battle chronicled by McNamara

The former British Labour Party spokesman on Northern Ireland Kevin McNamara (pictured) has penned a history of the 25-year battle for the MacBride Principles on Fair Employment.

The tome will be published by Chicago University Press in the US and has a British publisher as well.

I like the sub-title: "Irish America Strikes Back" and am sure it will be a great read.

The Irish Echo plans to mark the 25th anniversary of the MacBride Principles in association with the law firm of O'Dwyer and Bernstien in New York. Firm founder Paul O'Dwyer was one of the great exponents of the MacBride Principles.

And we are lining up quite an interesting guest list, including the Comptroller-Elect John Liu and current comptrollers Bill Thompson (New York City) and Tom DiNapoli (New York State).

Foinse ar ais ó na mairbh

Tá an cat i measc na gcoiléar anois nó tá fógraithe ag Pádraic Ó Céide go mbeidh Foinse ar ais mar shaornuachtán taobh istigh den Indo gach Céadaoin.

Go n-éirí leis.

Cultúrlann moves closer to extension

The plans to add an iconic extension on to the Falls Road Cultúrlann moved a step closer today with news that the International Fund for Ireland has allocated £600,000 towards the costs. Now only Department of Culture to match that contribution and the work can start.

In a press release, the IFI says:


Culturlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: The Board approved grant assistance towards the refurbishment and extension of Culturlann Mc Adam Ó Fiach, Irish Language, Arts and Cultural Centre on the Falls Road, West Belfast, and an attempt to position the Irish language as accessible to all. The exact amount of assistance has not yet been finalised but it is likely to be in excess of £500,000. The centre will serve as a community hub for the ‘Gaeltacht Quarter Strategy’ which is working to meet the needs of the Irish Language/Cultural and wider community in order to maximise the social opportunities provided by a growing cluster of Irish language/cultural community based groups and enterprises in West Belfast.

Titanic town

A stroll along the emerging Titanic Quarter revealed a number of gems: not least the pumphouse visitor centre and cafe which stands beside the dry dock where the Titanic was built.

Of course when the new £93m Titanic Signature project is built, it will offer a much more impressive visitor experience but fair play to the Pump House for the job it does and the harbour walk outside. There is no reason why a West Belfast facility in the Gaeltacht Quarter couldn't offer a similar visitor experience by telling the story of the peace and justice process.

Surprisingly, there are some people already living in the apartment blocks at the entrance to Titanic Quarter — though the majority of the site is still a building site and I couldn't get as close as I wanted to the new £200,000 artpiece of a standing (or sinking) Titanic. A security man on site told me he expected some of the apartment blocks to be mothballed. Certainly, anyone who buys at the asking price would be crackers. (If you look closely in this Blackberry pic, you can just make out the new sculpture.)

The other picture is of the almost-completed Public Record Office for Northern Ireland which boasts a stylish Richard Serra-style burnished iron roof (anyone who knows the Periodic Table better than me can let me know what the material is). Expect the new £29m PRONI office to open next year and bring an influx of visitors to a part of town which is still largely bereft of people.

Iarsmalann Uladh

Finally made it to the Ulster Museum to check out the Sean Scully exhibition on Saturday and was greeted by a guide to the museum in Irish. Well done to all concerned.

The Troubles section wasn't as I had thought artworks but a history lesson covering the conflict.

As for Scully, full marks to the museum for honoring an Irish artist and Scully himself gets the thumbs-up for his introductory comments where he says Belfast is a bridge from conflict to peace with much to offer the world. His very words: "Art is the opposite of war."

There's at least six galleries of Scully's work over the past 35 years, much of it bright, bold and big. A Scully is more powerful on its own and sometimes best-enjoyed from the other side of the gallery as in this picture.

Vótáil me don Aonach Oibre — sin beirt againn

Tá ardmheas agam ar an Aonach Oibre a tionóladh i gColáiste Feirste an mhí seo chuaigh thart agus chaith mé mo vóta ar a shon. Tchím go bhfuil ar a laghad duine amháin eile ar aon intinn liom.

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All change

There’s been plenty of change in the next parish over — New York — this week which will have a bearing on ourselves. Controller Bill Thompson — the man who invested $150m of pension funds in the North — ran against sitting Big Apple Mayor Michael Bloomberg and narrowly lost.

Meanwhile, winning the election for Controller was the fresh-faced John Liu, the first Asian-American to hold such a senior elected position in New York. Controller Liu will now have to look long and hard at those investments in the North of Ireland and decide what benefit, if any, they bring the people of New York (fact: none of the $150m has yet been spent).

The good news: Controller Liu has made two visits to the offices of our sister paper The Irish Echo in New York and has already expressed strong support for the MacBride Principles on Fair Employment and is a strong advocate of ethical investing and economic justice.

No doubt, these issues will be aired when the President of New York City Council Christine Quinn arrives in Belfast next week to address the Aisling Awards. Interestingly while we beat New York in many political milestones (for example, New York has never had a female mayor), the Big Apple beats us on one. Christine Quinn is the first openly gay President of the Council. To my knowledge, we have no openly gay political leaders.