Blue and white delight at St Mary's

Rita Duffy rings to say she's down in the new public records office in the Titanic Quarter installing artworks as part of a major commission she won. Pictures to follow, one hopes.

Meanwhile, I've been delighted by the number of applicants and donors lining up for this year's Aisling Bursaries. Application forms can be downloaded in Irish and English form our site.

And to show you that where there's light, there's hope, I'm delighted to see that St Mary's University College on the Falls will also light up in blue and white on 26 August to mark the 100th birthday of Mother Teresa.

New York report on the web

The full report from the New York-New Belfast conference is now on the web for easy download.

Among the speakers, of course, was Brian O'Dwyer (pictured), legendary New York attorney with O'Dwyer and Bernstien, and son of the late Paul O'Dwyer, who recently visited Belfast to research investment options for the city's pension funds. I know Brian would like to bring Comptroller Liu to Belfast — and I got a little note from the Comptroller yesterday who says he looks forward to going to Belfast "in the coming months".

Brón ar an bhás: Danny Burke ar lár

Fuair an grianghrafadóir agus gníomhaí pobail Danny Burke bás ar na mallaibh, go ndéana Dia a mhaith air.

Danny Burke, founder of Belfast Exposed who passed away recently was a formidable ambassador for nationalist and republican Ireland.

He was an activist and community stalwart, as evidenced by this picture from College Square East in Belfast on 11 April 1981 when he tried to lead a parade supporting the hunger strikers to City Hall. The RUC turned us back and the day descended into rioting.

This picture was taken by his fellow lensman Basil McLaughlin. No doubt they are comparing shutter speeds in heaven as I write.

The Irish Times had a fitting obituary for the former Galway IRA man in Saturday's edition. 

And there's an evocative obit on the Belfast Exposed site.

Bridge over troubled waters

I had the great privilege today to visit the hardest-working and most-celebrated Irish language project in the country — An Droichead on the Ormeau Road.

A cultural centre which boasts a linked nursery school and primary school, An Droichead prides itself on its outreach programmes which bring ethnic minorities and members of the unionist community through its doors. For its unparalleled promotion of the Irish language, An Droichead (which means The Bridge) has also been awarded the First Prize in the annual Glór na nGael competition.

Seán Hayes (left in picture) and Pól Deeds, two committed language activists showed me round the An Droichead campus (sadly, still no permanent building there for the school) which is cut off from the Gas Works site by the railway line. Many people consider An Droichead to be in the Lower Ormeau (if so, it's the biggest employer there) but I see it as much more of a city-centre project and a bridge over the railway to the Gasworks site would do much to join up the communities around the city centre and encourage a free flow of pedestrian traffic.

Now the cultural champs behind An Droichead want to build an arts, tourism and education complex on the front of the Ormeau Road – on land belonging to the Department of Social Development and their neighbours UTV. It's an ambitious but realisable project which would give the Irish language a platform at the mouth of the city centre and boost the Lower Ormeau area. The real beneficiary would be the city of Belfast which could point to this oasis of culture as evidence of its growing sophistication and diversity. And it would be some turnaround since the late seventies, when I first encountered Lower Ormeau as a Queen's student, when it was drab and war-torn district (as I was reminded by some old RTÉ footage shown during the An Droichead presentation.)

It's less than 10 years since Scoil an Droichid won full recognition from the authorities and just ten since An Droichead opened. The group's dream of a new cultural jewel in the crown of Belfast is one we all share...and should help to make a reality.

Why culture counts in the Great Reset

There are revered thinkers on how cities work and then there is Richard Florida, arguably the most persuasive of all the modern urban gurus.

Which is why it's refreshing to see his new book echoes many themes which ordinary people in areas like West Belfast have been championing for several decades — to the consternation of the powers-that-be who have favoured other, up-to-now, wholly unsuccessful regeneration strategies.

In his latest book, The Great Reset, Florida, looks at "how new ways of living and working drive post-crash prosperity". His conclusions should give heart to those trying to build the new Belfast because he says the feel and vibe of a city will dictate whether or not the world's most talented people want to locate there. The message for Belfast: hide behind the petticoats of 20th century sectarianism and fundamentalism on which the city was built and you are going nowhere. And talent likes culture. Yes, spending on arts has real benefits.

As Flordia puts it: "It is somewhat ironic that in this era of supposedly frictionless communication and highly mobile talent, the local cultural and social life still determines who gets the talent. Even though talent is mobile and can flow freely, the issue remains: where does it want to go?"

I have a star-gazing brother who had to move his young, obscenely talented multinational team of astrophysicists from Manchester to Belfast. All were happy to flit to Belfast because they had heard lots of positive things about the city. A sign of the times.

Taispeántas náireach ag Páirc Mhic Easmainn

Deja vu arís eile a bhí againn aréir ag Páirc Mhic Easmainn nuair a ghread Cill Dara foireann peile Aontroma.

An seo an ghlúin órga d'imreoirí Aontroma a raibh rudaí iontach i ndán daofa. Más ea, tá rudaí níos measa ná shíl muid mar ní raibh spiorad nó talann ag an dream seo.

Tá duine dá gcuid réalta PJ McGourty imithe cheana féin go dtí na Stáit Aontaithe, cinneadh a léirigh easpa dílseachta don gheansaí agus a léirigh na fadhbanna a chonacthas aréir.

Go dtí an bhliain seo chugainn (agus is lúide arís mo dhóchas sna hiománaithe a fuair bua trí phointe ar Cheatharlach)...

Ar an bhealach amach as an pháirc, rinne muid ár mbealach thart ar dhrong creachadóirí a bhí ag ól a gcuid cannaí d'ainneoin na ndlíthea a choscann ól faoin spéir. Ní iontas ar bith é mar sin go léim ar maidin go raibh círéabanna i gCluain an Bhogaigh in Iarthar Bhéal Feirste le linn na hoíche. Muna stopann tú na creachadóirí ag tús na hoíche, íocfaidh tú go daor ar ball (nach sin an rud a dúirt Tiomoney linn ina leabhar úr!).

Something doesn't fit

I have this uneasy feeling about PSNI chief Matt Baggott (pictured). For me, something doesn't fit. And yet I can't quite put my finger on it.

It's not the fact that at the Ards half-Marathon tonight, he had a brigade of bobbies on the beat when you will be hard-pressed to get a cop to clear anti-social hotspots as Friday moves into Saturday in West Belfast. After all, the ordinary officers did a great job getting us round a gruelling, hilly 13.1 mile course — with stupendous views over Strangford Lough. (Interestingly, that was my first time back in Newtownards since I canvassed for Sinn Féin at the town's Catholic Chapel back in 2002; it was easy to find the chapel, it was right beside the biggest union jacks on the local homes.)

It's not because he's on a mission from God. There's no reason why someone with a strong Christian conviction shouldn't do a bang-up job.

It's not that in his previous posting in England, he was rapped over the knuckles by minorities in his bailiwick. Indeed, it's not even because he is the latest in a long line of white-man's-burden cops from the 'mainland' here to sort Paddy out. That I can deal with.

It may because he went to the Policing Board yesterday with a farcical plan to recruit 400 guns-for-hire to provide security for the people he should be protecting...at a time when, post-Blackwater, private armies, mercenaries, call them what you will are in the dog-house. That proposal led to a Unionist-one-side, nationalists and independents on the other side split on the Policing Board (thankfully, the sensible side won out). Unionists of course are still wedded to the idea that the PSNI is 'our force'. Therefore, they voted for his barmy idea. Admittedly, if he had have asked for a neutron bomb, unionists would back that too.

It's not a good idea to go to the Policing Board and be shot down. It displays bad judgement. That's even before we consider the mindset behind a guy who thinks it's a good idea to have a new, 400-strong armed force in a place which has had too many armies.

However, that's not the reason I have this niggling feeling about Matt Baggott. So, just what is it? I don't know...not yet, anyhow, but I am, a la Skibbereen Eagle, keeping my eye on him.

And, since you were kind enough to ask, I did finish the Ards Marathon, in 505th place to be precise, which was one (very important) space behind my fast-finishing pal David Gavaghan. How many entrants were there, you ask. Now that's to totally misunderstand the true purpose of these sporting events and the fact that it's all about competing, not winning.

From Top Cop to Beat Cop

Can any of our friends throw light on this excerpt from 'Beat Cop to Top Cop' by John Timoney (number two cop in New York and head of police in Philadelphia and Miama)?

“Gordon Wasserman was an interesting hire, to say the least. Bill Bratton had met Gordon back in 1995 on a trip to London. Gordon had come to England from Montreal as a Rhodes scholar.....After college, he entrered the British civil service system and spent 27 years in the Home Office in charge of science and technology.....1995, he was ready to retire and was hired as a per diem consultant with the NYPD, and he and I became fast friends.  

"Gordon’s hire at the Philadelphia Police Dept did not go unnoticed. I received a telephone call one day from a reporter from a small Irish American newspaper. The reporter informed me tha tthe paper objected to Wasserman’s hiring and was going to do a story about his role in torturing IRA prisoners for British PM Margaret Thatcher’s goons in the spy services, or some such nonsense. “He’s not even English,” I objected. “...Write whatever story you want.” I added a few other choice words not fit for print and hung up the phone.”

Nine Fabulous Things About New York

Michael Sorkin (pictured) spelt out 'nine fabulous things about New York' at the New York-New Belfast conference last month. The full text of his witty and insightful address is now online for your enjoyment.

I wonder if we could challenge our local civic leaders to come up with nine fabulous things about Belfast. Sorkin, who, you never know, may add Belfast to the cities he has visited to solve urban conundrums, is pictured centre with architect Ciarán Mackel, Theresa Flanagan Murtagh of the Irish American Chamber and Business Network in Philadelphia, Tara Florence of Forum for Alternative Belfast, and author Pete Hamill.

And, yes, I have now heard every joke imaginable linked to H2O but am looking forward to working on the Interim Board of NI Water to restore the public's confidence in the body even as we improve our water service. The last Board was fired after failing to follow proper procurement guidelines. NI Water is now in transition while Minister Murphy considers how best to move forward. It's clear that post-economic meltdown, there's little support, thank God,  for privatising our water service in which, it should be noted, £1m per day has been invested since 2007.