From the Balcony, A Publisher's Blog

No Christmas spirit for Liban

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:15:00 +0000

We report in our papers this week on the case of a Somalia man who will be spending Christmas in prison in the six counties — not exactly the Tourist Board's most delightful attraction — for having a false document.

Over Christmas, expect the pubs, clubs and dance halls of Belfast to be packed to the gills with under-18s sporting false documents to gain admission.

And of course, among the undocumented in the US, there's often talk of false documents which are used to ensure people aren't deported.

In any of the above cases, I'd be surprised if a two-month jail sentence was the result of being caught. But that's what happened to Liban Mahamood. Nollaig shona duit, a Liban.

Here's the report

A 35-year-old man from Somalia was jailed this week for two months after he was caught at Belfast City Airport with a false identity document in his possession.
The Court heard that the accused was spoken to by Immigration officials on Saturday after getting off a flight from London Heathrow.
The UK driving licence produced when asked for identification was found to be false, as the image inside did not match the accused.
He was later charged with an identity document offence.
His solicitor said the accused, Liban Mahamood of no fixed abode, had been living in England for more than ten years, and had been unemployed there for a period.
It was explained that Mahamood had come to Belfast in the hope of gaining employment, as his father was ill in his home country and he wanted to raise cash for medical aid for his parent.
District Judge Fiona Bagnall imposed a sentence of two months.

Comdháil na gCeathrúna: City of the Quarters

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:40:00 +0000

Earlier today, I travelled out to the relatively quiet (and student-free) campus of the University of Ulster at Jordanstown for a meeting about our upcoming Belfast: City of Quarters conference.

The late March conference (providing Gordon Brown doesn't drop a bombshell election in the middle of our plans) will look at the emerging neighbourhoods of Belfast and ask how they can transform the city's fortunes (especially for those who have missed out on the promised peace dividend).

During our discussions on University of Ulster plans to move 12,000 students from Jordanstown to a new city centre campus, we wondered how we could actually give a conference platform to our young people. The Generation Y wannabes will be the real beneficiaries of the city's quarters — if we don't make a mess out of the plans for Titanic Quarter, Cathedral Quarter, Library Quarter and Gaeltacht Quarter. (Our pic from UU shows Vice-Chancellor Richard Barnett, then Lord Mayor Tom Hartley, and now Finance Minister Sammy Wilson, who is also MP for East Antrim, where Jordanstown is located.)

Why not, then, let them tell the conference what they want.

And young voices at a conference are certain to wake up the snoozing suits (me included).

It would also be great to get a speaker from Barcelona or Bilbo, an authority on what really makes successful cities.

I'm a fan of Jane Jacobs, the US author who wrote the script for successful cities, but also of the Greek guy Pericles who said, "All things good on this Earth flow into the City, because of the City's greatness."

If you google that, you'll also get Al Pacino's great speech in City Hall at the funeral of a youngster who was shot dead in mob violence.

Legacy of conflict

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:23:00 +0000

I was on Radio Ulster this evening with Seamus McKee going over the Liam Adams and Gerry Adams snr. stories.

For me, the Gerry Adams snr. story is now over. The family has asked for privacy and should be afforded same.

It would be a nightmare for me to go on TV and radio and reveal that my late father had been guilty of any crime which hurt his community; for Gerry Adams to have to go on radio and TV, repeatedly, and expose his father as a child sexual abuser must be a terrible trial. Gerry Adams snr's crimes are unspeakable, for many of us, unimaginable, and to be the family spokesperson at this time most be a difficult and lonely task, even for someone with Gerry Adams' communications skills.

The issue of Liam Adams, however, remains a live one. And the public will make its own mind up, by and by, as to whether Gerry Adams could or should have handled this issue differently. He himself says that with hindsight, there were things he would have done differently. None of those things, however, come anywhere near standing up the allegations of cover-up which were implied by some reporters. (In fact, the person most maligned in the otherwise strong piece of journalism which was Insight Ulster was Fr Aidan Troy who was libeled over his brief involvement in the Liam Adams' case.)

But here are some broader issues that West Belfast and other communities emerging from years of conflict will have to deal with:

How did the social services, informed of these allegations of child abuse in 1987 and possessing medical evidence, fail to move against Liam Adams?
How did the RUC similarly fail (though the reality is that at that time, there existed a policing vacuum in areas like West Belfast with no support for the RUC and with the RUC largely disinterested in ordinary 'crime')?
How many other Liam Adams' are out there? By other Liam Adams', I mean child sex abusers who slipped through the net because of this three-decade policing vacuum and have never been brought to book and remain a danger to society?. (While many people went to the IRA during the conflict to report sex abuse, there should be an admission today that the IRA response — shootings or expulsions — adequately dealt with the issue.)

Anyone who is interested in moving beyond the Gerry Adams-bashing agenda into resolving this up-to-now ignored legacy of the conflict should be asking republicans, the police and the social services to look again at the cases of child sex abuse which, reported to the authorities or not, were never adequately probed because of the conflict on our streets. I have no doubt that there will be some uncomfortable home truths to be faced on all sides if such a process is to be undertaken.

Finally, those of us who believe in the rule of law and due process should guard against headlines, such as those in the Daily Mirror and some Sunday papers, branding anyone a child abuser before that person has been brought before the courts and convicted. Otherwise, we risk creating the situation where judging (and punishing) paedophiles moves out of the courts and onto the streets. That would be calamitous.

More reasons to control our own affairs

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:15:00 +0000

I'm often struck by the fact when in the US that many city mayors have more powers than our MLAs in the North.

Taking control of our own affairs is not only part of our journey to freedom but also part of a political maturing process.

Thus while one laments the fact that bigots can control the reins of power from Stormont — especially in individual departments — the reality is that it's better to have our own bigots in power than London overlords. The task facing democrats then is to stymie the bigots and fight for prosperity and equality on our own turf.

Same goes for justice and policing. Any society worth its salt needs to control policing, courts and prisons. And yes, the backwoodsmen of unionism will try to revert to the bad old days when a unionist policeforce and unionist courts worked hand-in-glove to put nationalists in unionist jails. But the rest of us have the guile, the national and international support and the numbers to thwart any such moves.

But even when justice and policing is devolved, much of our lives will be dictated to by a foreign country. Worse a foreign country with obscene priorities, born, no doubt, from its history of colonialism.

The most recent example of this is Britain's insistence on its right to hold 160 nuclear warheads on four submarines which it now plans to upgrade at a cost of £25bn. Why should Britain have nuclear weapons? Why should our taxes pay to sustain this threat to world peace.

And to think, bishops lined up in the North during our darkest days to back these bullies.

£25bn of course could pay for all government services in the North for a year-and-a-half.

Power of the photograph

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:38:00 +0000

They don't have college for photographers in this country — which means the majority of our photojournalist colleagues are self-taught.

Is there another profession which can still make that boast.

And yet, the power of the photograph in modern journalism remains undiminished, even as lensmen and lenswomen move over to digital video.

One series which always gives me a lift is The American Newsroom from the monthly Columbia Review of Journalism, a publication on the dying craft of journalism from Columbia university in New York. You can see 31 pictures from newsrooms across America here, starting with the one above from the Detroit Free Press.

This one's interesting because in all my visits to American newsrooms (I've walked the newsdesks at the Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Foster's Daily News in New Hampshire and a dozen papers in Canada and points south over the past ten years — in fact it's ten years dead since I first made a benchmarking visit to an American newsroom), the faces looking back are predominantly white. I thought that in the overwhelmingly African-American city of Detroit that the balance would be less caucasian. Apparently not, of the eight people in this photograph, seven are white!

These arresting photographs from the American Newsroom are published across two pages in the CRJ...a rarity in the world of journalism.

However, the US entrepreneurial mag Inc. does its bit with a two-page photo each month depicting a common scene and then explaining what businesses provide the items you see — last month it was downtown Las Vegas, before that a baseball park, this month the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge over the Delaware in Pennsylvania.

Can we learn from London?

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Here's an ethnocentric British video take on why the University of the Arts London is an outstanding school. Some pointers for St Mary's?

'We will win the trial'

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:38:00 +0000

An EU state closes down a newspaper; as a newspaper man, that's my business.
An EU state tortures prisoners; as a citizen of an EU state, it's my business when the rule of law is disregarded by another EU country.
A Basque language newspaper which inspired language activists across Europe is closed down, it's my business.

And that's before we factor in the fact that Martxelo Otamendi, Inaki Uria and his colleagues are great friends of the people of Belfast and the Irish language movement here, travelling several times to the city to help our modest efforts, most notably when Martxelo Otamendi (the tortured editor of Egunkaria) came to the Aisling Awards to present Gearóid Ó Cairealláin with our Roll of Honour Award.

Now the good news. This text last night from Martxelo: "Eskarrik asko (go raibh maith agat) for your support. We will win the trial. The public prosecutor said yesterday and the day before 'no questions' eight times. He is not accusing us. Slán. Martxelo."

Of course the case against the Basque community leaders is being taken by groups representing victims of ETA.

Morning in Belfast

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Ronald Reagan had his Morning in America, we've gone one better with our Morning in Belfast business breakfasts where we sit down the brain trust (my description, not theirs) and discuss an issue of crucial importance to the regeneration of West Belfast.

Numbers are limited to a dozen and this morning we were led by Bishop Donal McKeown (pictured), Irish speaking bishop of Down and Connor with responsibility for education within the diocese of Down and Connor and St Mary's University College principal Peter Finn.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the challenges. Pupil numbers are falling as is the demand for teachers so St Mary's has to recreate itself for this new millennium. Thus far, it's done an amazing job with its high-quality liberal arts degree and its success, based on results, has placed it fourth of 160 similar colleges in Britain and the North.

But now it must spell out its proposition to ensure increased government support for an enhanced educational model which will deliver quality education while building up the hard-pressed community of West Belfast.

I've no doubt it will do that. Irish culture, peace studies, Gaelic sports, Irish language are just some of the areas it which the college can excel.

A little-known fact is that each year, the college is home to 70 foreign students, most from the States. My action point: the Belfast Media Group is going to run a short welcoming profile of one of those students each week between now and end of term.

Howard Hastings, chair of Northern Ireland Tourist Board, asked the college ("West Belfast's best-kept secret") to think of what it can do to bring more visitors into West Belfast (wish special emphasis on its incredible Harry Clarke stained-glass windows), Tony McCusker suggested that the convent at St Dominic's, soon-to-be-vacated, could provide a unique cultural asset in the Gaeltacht Quarter, David Gavaghan, ceo of Strategic Investment Board, suggested the west Belfast business community invite some of the world's greatest experts on universities for the arts to visit the area and the colllege, Geraldine McAteer suggested the college hire some fundraisers to up its profile and bring in more support, Ciarán Mackel said the entire campus — including St Dominic's and St Rose's schools, could be an open part of the new Gaeltacht Quarter and Eimear Ní Mhathúna of An Chultúrlann wondered if the college could become the hub for intensive Gaeilge courses for visitors to Belfast.

My number one priority: convince Minister Sir Reg Empey at the Department of Employment and Learning that St Mary's in West Belfast has a key role to play in the future of third-level provision.

Day Two of the Egunkaria trial

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:58:00 +0000

From Ainara Gorostitzu of the Egunkaria defence campaign.

Day 2 of the trial in the Egunkaria case, in Madrid

The Guardia Civil (Spanish police) has not submitted any evidence to link Egunkaria with ETA

--The Prosecutor did not question the Police officers today, either, because he has found no evidence of any crime in the Egunkaria case

--The trial is set to resume on January 12

"I don’t remember requesting that a newspaper be closed down, but if that’s what it says in the report, I must have requested 'Egunkaria' to be closed down", said a Guardia Civil officer today on day two of the trial against Egunkaria in reply to a question put to him by the defence counsel. Today’s session started at 10:26 and adjourned at 12:20, and one of the four police officers failed to show up. The examining Judge Juan del Olmo based his decision to close down 'Egunkaria' on 20 February 2003 on a report filed by the Guardia Civil. The Prosecutor did not question Iñaki Uria, Xabier Oleaga, Martxelo Otamendi, Joan Mari Torrealdai and Txema Auzmendi, the indictees who ran the Basque-language newspaper yesterday, either, and they confirmed that they had had no connection with ETA. The indictees were informed that the trial would resume on January 12.

Today it was the turn of the Spanish Guardia Civil in the trial against Egunkaria being held at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. The Guardia Civil closed down the Basque-language daily on the orders of Juan del Olmo of the Spanish National Criminal Court; yet the examining judge had taken a report drawn up by the Guardia Civil as the basis, and the police officers in court today referred to it. They confirmed that there was a connection between Egunkaria and ETA but did not submit any evidence. One of the officers testifying today had requested the judge to close down the paper. What is more, this was the Guardia Civil officer who had taken statements from Joan Mari Torrealdai, Iñaki Uria, Txema Auzmendi and Xabier Oleaga while the four were being held incommunicado.

Today’s session lasted two hours and the trial is to be adjourned until January. In addition to the failure of the police officers to submit evidence, the same thing as yesterday happened: the Prosecutor Miguel Angel Carballo did not question anyone today, decided not to ask the Guardia Civil officers any question, and informed the judge accordingly. Iñigo Iruin, the defence lawyer, asked the investigating Guardia Civil officer whether he had ordered Egunkaria to be closed down and he said he could not remember. "I don’t remember requesting that a newspaper be closed down, but if that’s what it says in the report, and it says I did it, I must have requested 'Egunkaria' to be closed down", replied the officer. The other two spoke along similar lines. The last one only testified for a few minutes.

Yesterday’s session. Yesterday was the first day of the trial, the most important news was that the Prosecutor did not ask the five Egunkaria indictees any questions. It was the reflection of how he had acted in the proceedings, because he had requested at the time that the case be dropped –so had the defence counsel– arguing that there were no crimes to answer. What is more, the indictees confirmed that they had had no links with ETA, which is what the private prosecutions brought by the organisations, Dignidad y Justicia and the AVT, are accusing them of. Yesterday, only the five indictees testified: Iñaki Uria, Xabier Oleaga, Martxelo Otamendi, Joan Mari Torrealdai and Txema Auzmendi. They did not answer the questions put to them by Dignidad y Justicia and the AVT, but they did reply to the questions put to them by the defence counsel. No prosecution has been brought by individuals or organisations affected in this case. Yet the panel of judges decided on July 30 that the trial should go ahead and that is what has been taking place since yesterday. Following today’s session there will not be any more until 12 January (Tuesday) as announced by the panel of judges. That is when the Egunkaria witnesses currently in prison will be testifying. The sessions will then be held from January 25 to 29. In the proceedings, prison terms are being sought only by Dignidad y Justicia and the AVT; prison terms of between 12 and 14 years for each of the indictees, and disqualification for 14-15 years (a ban on holding public positions and standing in elections) because they are regarded as being members of ETA. Javier Gomez Bermudez heads the panel of judges, the other judges being Ramon Saez Valcarcel and Manuela Fernandez Prado.

Lower Falls revamp linked to Gaeltacht Quarter plan

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Report from tomorrow's Andersonstown News. Interesting that we first put forward the idea for a Gaeltacht Quarter in 2002 from the West Belfast Task Forces. Since then the idea has grown in strength but delivery has not grown with it. We travel into 2010 in hope:

Ambitious plans to develop a Gaeltacht Quarter hub in the area stretching from St Mary’s University College to Beechmount Leisure Centre could provide a lifeline for the Lower Falls.

That’s the conclusion of a new masterplan for the Lower Falls which has been released for public consultation. Prepared by consultants Jon Rowland Urban Design and RPS for the Department of Social Development, the report rebrands the jobs-starved Lower Falls as the “Gateway to the Gaeltacht’.

Heritage, history and identity should underpin the rebirth of the Lower Falls, says the masterplan, with Dunville Park and St Comgall’s being the focus of major investment.

The Lower Falls “would act as a link between the city centre and the Gaeltacht and develop a range of cultural, economic and business opportunities that build on the importance of this link”, say the report authors.
“The Lower Falls is an area rich in cultural, industrial and built heritage. It is home to a strong and proud community that is key to play its part in the regeneration of West Belfast.”
Conway Mill — “the city’s western arts area” — St Comgall’s and Dunville Park all provide opportunities to “reinforce the cultural content of the Gaeltacht Quarter”, according to the masterplan. “Dunville Park would be promoted through a development plan, not only to reflect its past importance but also its potential as a city park. This would see a range of cultural and community activities taking place. This might include performance space, civic space, play space, and even a formalised ‘international wall/public art’ within a formal and contemporary landscape.”

The Lower Falls masterplan is one of five reports commissioned by the Department of Social Development into underserved areas of the city.

Ciarán Mackel, Chairman of the Gaeltacht Quarter Board, welcomed the new plan. “This is further confirmation of the importance of the Gaeltacht Quarter hub and recognition by government of the need to join up all our neighbourhoods to get maximum benefits for the people of Belfast,” he said. “Our own Gaeltacht Quarter plan will be launched shortly and the onus then will be on government to provide the resources needed to make An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta dream a reality.”

Basque journalists' trial starts

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Observers from international human rights and anti-torture groups were in Madrid today for the start of the trial of the five editors and managers from Basque language daily Egunkaria which was forcibly closed by Spain in February 2003.

This is the only paper to be closed by the authorities in the EU in recent years.

Inaki Uria, who once spoke in Teach Basil to encourage the establishment of an Irish language daily, predicts that not guilty verdicts are the only imaginable result in this interview. We can only share his optimism.

Carrick Gazette is on to something

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:52:00 +0000

There are many suggestions as to how newspapers will survive the internet tsunami but one Monaghan man is putting his bets on a hyperlocal site serving Carrickmacross.

The Carrick Gazette by journalist Joe McCabe focuses on local stories but charges about €50 a year for access.

Who knows? This could very well be the answer to our newspaper woes.

What goes around...

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:42:00 +0000

Dear Máirtín, You’re right about that continental market in Belfast city centre. I too will never go back.
Went the other night with my wife but she had only put on a small jacket
And was complaining about the cold.
I noticed that one of the stalls at the market were selling different types
of coats
from around the world. I spotted a fur coat on sale for only £20 so bought
it for her.
The owner of the stall (Mexican I think) told me that the coat was actually
made from hamster fur.
Well it was the worst thing I have ever bought.
I spent the next 4 hours trying to get her off that big wheel

Bye, Dev

On a more serious note, some interesting comments on this thread relating to Belfast Telegraph campaign to salvage the 11-Plus.

Hat-trick for Patrick Ireland

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Had the good fortune to meet up with Michael Patrick MacDonald (whose All-Souls was voted the most popular ever book from New England by readers of the Boston Globe — take that, Herman Melville!), artist Brian O'Doherty and his wife the art historian and author Barbara Novak while in New York.

As we gear up for Brian's new artwork in West Belfast, he's enjoying the limelight. Last week, in Dublin's Museum of Modern Art, a new biography on the artist who changed his name to Patrick Ireland after the horror of Bloody Sunday, was launched.

And then Loopline films in Dublin which also produces Sóiscéal Pháraic for TG4, has just completed The Dying of Patrick Ireland for the cinema.

And to make it a hat-trick, the American-Irish Historicial Society devoted its annual literary journal, Recorder, to the famed artist.

Thankfully, despite all the attention, his focus remains firmly on the West Belfast artwork and the necessity to ensure it wins the approval of the local community — most notably its many Irish language speakers and activists.

I'm pictured with Michael Patrick (left), Barbara and Brian at the Dovetail Restaurant on 77th Street in New York last Wednesday night.

Tribute to Paul O'Dwyer

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:19:00 +0000

And Fr McManus' closing line in his speech to our Building on MacBride event at New York City Hall paid appropriate tribute to Paul O'Dwyer who was known for his work for the city's many ethnic groups.

Fr McManus said: "It is so important for future generation of young Irish-Americans to remember that it was Jewish-Americans,African-Americans, Italian-Americans, etc, who took the lead in opposing anti-Catholic discrimination in Northern Ireland. Therefore, Irish-Americans should be the first to reach out in solidarity to other groups in their time of need. And in saying that, I am merely reflecting the life-long example of the great Paul O'Dwyer, who taught us all how to reach to others in need".

Pete Hamill describes O'Dwyer as "a splendid Irish American".

Troubles I've had

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:14:00 +0000

At the launch of the Troubles archive in the Ulster Museum are Arts Council NI ceo Róisín McDonough, who has spearheaded this excellent project to explore the role of art during the conflict with two of the authors in the 13-pamphlet collection Stuart Bailey and Linda Foley which forms part of the Troubles archive. And I'm pictured with lobbyist Quintin Oliver and Victims' Commissioner Mike Nesbitt.

Addressing the gathering, Roisin said the archive would "give due recognition to the contribution that the arts make to our understanding of the Troubles, and of the impact that the conflict had upon the arts in Northern Ireland, and doubtless still has".

"It was a remarkable period of time, and believe me, I say without any hint of nostalgia for the Troubles, because no one wants to revist those horrendous times, but it was nonethelss a remarkable time and it yielded a correspondingly remarkable body of works of art, unlike anything anywhere else in the world. The impact of that just doesn't go away."

The archive, put together carefully over the past year and involving detailed copyright discussions with hundreds of publishers, represents 80 artists. "We have some 136 poems, including works by Carson, Longley, Paulin, McGuckian and Heaney," said the Arts Council chief. "Sometimes the links to the Troubles are explicit, such as in Paul Muldoon's short poem from 1981, called Mink which refers to Captain Robert Nairac, an undercover British soldier captured by the IRA in 1977 and murdered. The body has never been found. Muldoon writes:
'A mink escaped from a mink-farm
in South Armagh
is led to the grave of Robert Nairac
by the fur-lined hood of his anorak.'"

She also referred to the Conrad Atkinson controversy: "I’d like to have been able to say that we’ve finally smuggled Conrad Atkinson’s ‘Silver Liberties’ into the Ulster Museum, if only by the back door. But I’d be the first to acknowledge that our section on Conrad is one of the sections that we still need to expand upon. As the more mature amongst us will recollect, the incident around the hanging of that painting at the end of the ’70s created a small rift between the Museum and the Arts Council. It certainly brought to the fore the incredible power that art could have in those days to challenge and unsettle people.

"I’m happy to say that our organisations have moved on since then and those are old wounds, healed long ago."

The Troubles archive presentation box of pamphlets is now available in bookshops and there's more about the launch on the Arts Council website.

Stró an Ghnó

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Ag seoladh Stró an Ghnó inniu, dúirt mé lenár gcairde gur shábáil Pádraig Ó Snodaigh mé ó mheancóg chló a gheobhadh i dtroiblóid mé.

Ag caint ar gréasáin ghnó a bhí mé nuair a scríobh mé gnéasáin ghnó. Ar ndóigh sin rud eile ar fad agus mo léan gur lúide arís m'eolas ar sin!

Seo Fionbarra Ó Brolacháin, údár Capitalising on Culture, a sheol an leabhar, agus Connlaith Ní Raifeartaigh a oibríonn sa tsiopa leabhar iontach An Ceathrú Póilí.

Another day, another DUP contender

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Here's our audience in the chamber of New York City hall, for the cynic who suggested the Roddy's club lounge is bigger, and a link to the latest missive from a DUP wannabe who made the fatal mistake of standing on the steps of Stormont to accept 10,000-plus signatures from the Belfast Media Group's petition campaign to oppose academic selection.

The Belfast Telegraph, owned by Tony O'Reilly and other assorted types who have benefited from academic selection (and private schools), had their own pro-11-plus petition. They collected over 10,000 signatures from the entire six counties (good for them); our 10,000 came from Belfast alone which is a tribute to the community and political leaders who threw their weight behind the initiative.

DUP chair of the Education Committee at Stormont Mervyn Storey joined his colleagues from all parties to accept the petition last week from the Belfast Media Group but then decided he looked a trifle foolish accepting a petition supporting Minister Caitríona Ruane and thus issued a childish statement yesterday shooting the messenger (Belfast Media Group). Another statesman in the DUP ranks undoubtedly and another statement which will undoubtedly be studied closely by the guys in wigs down at the bar library.

"Be part of the new MacBride generation"

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:36:00 +0000

New York human rights lawyer Brian O'Dwyer, son of Paul O'Dwyer, a legendary Irish politician in the Big Apple, addresses the MacBride gathering in New York City Hall.

Zogby on McGuinness popularity

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Here's John Zogby's take on his recent visit to the North.

I agree with him that the recent Belfast Telegraph poll results for Martin McGuinness have certainly raised some eyebrows.

Back in Béal Feirste and today had a great meeting with the wonderful Cailín Hardy from the East Belfast Partnership Board, Kerry Calvert of the Ard Architects and Eimear Ní Mhathúna of the Cultúrlann to discuss the Brian O'Doherty-led public artwork in the Gaeltacht Quarter, which will go under the name Aisling an Phobail!

Robert was in Coláiste Feirste speaking to students about what they would like to see in the artpiece to reflect the shared heritage of the Irish language through our placenames and early next year he will go into an east Belfast school to repeat the process. The placenames will go on the small steps beside the standing stones which form the inside of a St Brigid's cross.

Asian-Americans abú

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:00:00 +0000

We have promised New York City Comptroller-elect John Liu honorary Irish citizenship if he makes it to Ireland next year.

But in the meantime, he's started the search for Asian-Irish Americans — to complement the many outstanding African Americans who have worked for justice and peace in Ireland and who are recognised each year in the Irish Echo's Black and the Green.

So I was thrilled to meet Mary Chang at a reception last night hosted by John J. Reilly of Squire and Sanders. We were 30 floors up at the Rockerfeller Plaza when John introduced the grand-daughter of Francis Thomas O'Hare of Newry, the astonishingly beautiful and erudite Mary Chang.

And Mary, who comes from an Chinese-Irish family of nine, is no slouch when it comes to Ireland. She has been in Belfast in her professional capacity as an attorney and is a staunch supporter of the peace process.

Today, I was in the other Dome of Delight, New York City Hall, to talk some more about economic and community development in Belfast, a topic which also came up at lunchtime when I had dessert (coffee with cream) in the famed Pershing Square restaurant with Fordham university president Fr McShane. Fr McShane can make a boast not many of the disapora can equal: his people hail from Tipperary AND that cradle of liberty Crossmaglen.

Ar an bhealach abhaile do chóisir Nollag Ghrúpa Meán Bhéal Feirste Dé hAoine.

Pictured are John J. Reilly, Mary Ellen Pelzer of the South Street Seaport Museum, Mary Chang and mise.

Freedom of speech

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:41:00 +0000

Not a bad feeling to be addressing a packed New York City Hall chamber for a boy who once was forbidden to speak in Belfast City Hall.

Mairtin O Muilleoir addressing the New York City Hall meeting with, from left, former Comptroller Liz Holtzman, Gerry Kelly MLA, MacBride Principles signatory Inez McCormack, Speaker Christine Quinn, Consul General of Ireland Niall Burgess, and Comptroller of New York State Tom DiNapoli.

"Tireless, steadfast, selfless"

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Honouring Fr Sean McManus, a native of Fermanagh whose most recent work for justice saw him bring Raymond McCord to Capitol Hill for a hearing, Brendan Moore, national vice-President of the AOH, praised his enduring work for equality in the North. Fr Sean's Irish National Caucus drove the MacBride Principles campaign after their launch in 1984.

“Fr Sean, a seeker for justice and an end to discrimination, made the US Congress his classroom, encouraging scores of Congress members to demand reform in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“On the 25th anniversary of the MacBride Principles on Fair Employment, we pause to honor the efforts of an army of committed individuals of varied ethnic backgrounds, races and religions. We knew intuitively that those who had crafted the MacBride Principles had truly been inspired. MacBride legislation used public pension fund investments as a tool for employment reform in the six counties while providing the growing and strengthening Irish America lobby opportunity to indict the British for their history of misrule in the North.”

He praised Fr Sean McManus for flying the flag for the MacBride Principles in state assemblies and city halls across America. “25 years later, we salute him with this award. He has been tireless in the quest for justice, steadfast in the demand for equality, selfless in his commitment to all that is right.”

Lions of the future

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:24:00 +0000

The lions of the past who won the battle for the MacBride Principles on Fair Employment — despite, as attorney Brian O'Dwyer said, the opposition of British and Irish governments as well as some nationalists — were celebrated in style this evening in a packed City Council chamber in New York.

Hosted by Speaker Christine Quinn and organised by the Irish Echo, the occasion give me a chance to read a piece from my City Hall memoir Dome of Delight in which I recorded a stunning address given by former State Comptroller Carl McCall back in the mid-nineties.

Heading the speakers' list was Tom DiNapoli, Comptroller of New York State who affirmed his determination to get the $30m of pension funds he set aside for the North of Ireland invested. Comptroller-elect John Liu spoke generously of the support he'd received from the Irish Echo and said he was looking forward to continuing the work of MacBride when he takes up office in 24 days. I took the opportunity of inviting him over to Belfast.

Liz Holtzman, comptroller in the eighties, spoke of taking the fight for fair employment to the shopfloor in Ford and receiving a chilly reception. However, being stopped and searched by British soldiers with rifles was her most potent memory. "And realising that while I could go home, these good people fighting for the MacBride Principles had to live under this type of treatment."

Speaker Christine Quinn said that she'd become aware of the logjam in getting funds spent when she was in Ireland last month and wanted to work vigorously to ensure the investments took place in areas where they could create a peace dividend.

High point of the night was a presentation to Pat Doherty, a beacon of fortitude and common sense within the comptroller's office in New York for three decades, and to Fr Sean McManus, who reminded his audience that Jewish Americans (such as Liz Holtzman), African Americans (such as Carl McCall) and Italian Americans (such as Sal Albanese who drove the MacBride Principles contract language through New York City Council and who spoke tonight) had been the champions of the MacBride Principles.

Presenting Inez McCormack with a special award at meeting close, Brian O'Dwyer said the "lions of the past such as John Dearie (who pushed MacBride through the State House) would join with the lions of the future, such as John Liu, to make sure that the work of MacBride went on until ordinary people witnessed a peace dividend."

Our pictures show Speaker Christine Quinn and Fr McManus speaking and John Liu, Brian O'Dwyer and myself at the Building On MacBride event.

"Less abstemious times"

m.omuilleoir@belfastmediagroup.com (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:04:00 +0000

My colleagues back at Teach Basil will shortly place the entire address by Arts Council NI ceo Roisin McDonough on the balcony for download but here's a snippet (in what was a comprehensive and inspiring speech) for Conrad-fans and Robert MacLiam-Wilson aficionados.

I’d like to have been able to say that we’ve finally smuggled Conrad Atkinson’s ‘Silver Liberties’ into the Ulster Museum, if only by the back door. But I’d be the first to acknowledge that our section on Conrad is one of the sections that we still need to expand upon. As the more mature amongst us will recollect, the incident around the hanging of that painting at the end of the ’70s created a small rift between the Museum and the Arts Council. It certainly brought to the fore the incredible power that art could have in those days to challenge and unsettle people.

I’m happy to say that our organisations have moved on since then and those are old wounds, healed long ago. However, as John Gray observes in his essay on ‘Institutional Responses’ to the Troubles, the Arts Council was certainly not exempt from criticism. John, quoting one somewhat wry and cynical report, says that, with the Arts Council:

“Lunches were long, literary and rarely on unlicensed premises and visitors spoke apocryphally of empty desks. A policy of ‘steady as she goes’ seemed best when the outside world was reeling.”

In defense of the Arts Council, all of the institutions had their moments, and we certainly weren’t the worst. These were very different and less abstemious times times, indeed.

Robert McLiam Wilson, who’s included in the literature section of the archive, offers a somewhat more earthy take on a similar theme, about one of our most august and enduring establishments when he writes in ‘Eureka Street’:

“I hated Lavery's. It had to be the dirtiest, most crowded, least likeable bar in Western Europe. Consequently, it was enormously popular. Very Belfast. Einstein got it wrong. The Theory of Relativity didn't apply to Lavery's. Lavery's time was different time. You went into Lavery's one night at the age of eighteen and you stumbled out, pissed, to find you were in your thirties already.”

Address by Roisin McDonough, ceo Arts Council, at the launch of the 'Troubles Archive' in the Ulster Museum on Friday 4 December. You can download the entire address here.