Category Archives: UNCATEGORISED

BIG MUSIC WEEK2

by
RTÉ Director General Noel Curran at Connolly station for Big Music Week Photo: © Michael Fisher

RTÉ Director General Noel Curran at Connolly station for Big Music Week Photo: © Michael Fisher

This was day two of the RTÉ Big Music Week designed to promote live music. It began yesterday at Bray station in County Wicklow with performances for early morning commuters by a host of starts including The Benzini Brothers featuring Liam Ó MaonlaÍ, Fiachna Ó Braonáin & Peter O’Toole,  Luan Parle, Lisa O’Neill, The Lost Brothers & Eleanor McEvoy. The special three carriage RTÉ Music Train then made its way to Dublin’s Connolly Station where I was able to join the event. I met the RTÉ Director General Noel Curran and managed to get his picture as the Artane Band prepared to broadcast live at the end of the John Murray Show with Miriam O’Callaghan.

Paul Brady singing at Connolly Station Photo: © Michael Fisher

Paul Brady singing at Connolly Station Photo: © Michael Fisher

The Artane Band played In Dublin’s Fair City or of you prefer Molly Malone or event Cockles and Mussels to bring the programme to a lively end. Earlier Miria had introduced various top acts including Paul Brady, Luka Bloom, Kodaline, Damien Dempsey, The Bugle Babes and Bronagh Gallagher. All this was a great example of public service broadcasting at its best.

Anne Cassin RTÉ Nationwide with Doanl Lunny in Newbridge Photo: © Michael Fisher

Anne Cassin RTÉ Nationwide with Philip King in Newbridge Photo: © Michael Fisher

I met several former RTÉ colleagues along the way including Nationwide presenter Anne Cassin. She was working on a package for tomorrow’s programme (Wednesday) on RTÉ at 7pm viewable here. You can see me listening to the music in the hall at 6:20. When I was talking to her she was in Newbridge where former Planxty member Christy Moore performed at his alma mater, Patrician Boys’ Secondary School. Christy had developed his passion for singing as a pupil in 1958 and he was taught to play the piano by Sr Michael.

BIG MUSIC WEEK

by
View of beach near Gormanston Co.Meath from train window Photo: © Michael Fisher

View of beach near Gormanston Co.Meath from train window Photo: © Michael Fisher

It was a beautiful morning for a journey and no better way to travel than by train. A great opportunity to see the sunrise over the sea as the train passed along the coast just after Gormanston in County Meath. My thirteen hour odyssey began at Newry station in County Armagh (it’s closer to Bessbrook!) with the departure of the 06:45 Iarnród Eireann commuter train to Dublin Connolly, a train that goes as far as Bray. Try planning a journey to Dundalk on the Translink website and you won’t find this particular service. It picks up at various stops as far as Donabate, by which time it’s a case of standing room only, then runs non-stop to Connolly. On arrival the place was buzzing with the sound of music, including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Miriam O'Callaghan prepares to go on air with The John Murray Show at Connolly Station Photo: © Michael Fisher

Miriam O’Callaghan prepares to go on air with The John Murray Show at Connolly Station Photo: © Michael Fisher

A great start to the Big Music Week at Connolly Station with an hour long John Murray Show presented by Miriam O’Callaghan. Among the crowd (some of whom had joined the music train at Bray) was RTÉ’s Director General Noel Curran. Although he comes from a county (Monaghan) where the railway lines were dismantled over fifty years ago, he still has a love of trains having made the journey many times between Dublin and Dundalk, where I was writing this as I headed back to Newry on the Enterprise.

RTÉ Director General Noel Curran at Connolly Station

RTÉ Director General Noel Curran at Connolly Station Photo: Michael Fisher

The hour-long show at Connolly finished with the Artane Boys Band. The BIG MUSIC WEEK entourage then boarded the special three-carriage Iarnród Éireann train to Newbridge for the next stage of the proceedings.

Entertained on the Music Train by the Bugle Babes Photo: RTÉ ten

Entertained on the Music Train by the Bugle Babes Photo: RTÉ ten

On board we were entertained by the Chattanooga Choo Choo from the Bugle Babes. Other stars  travelling included the Northern duo of Paul Brady from Strabane and Bronagh Gallagher from Derry, who made a special mention of Eamonn McCann when she sang Midnight Train to Georgia for Miriam, a broadcast that went out simultaneously on 2FM and Lyric FM.

Bronagh Gallagher on board the RTÉ Music Train Photo: © Michael Fisher

Bronagh Gallagher on board the RTÉ Music Train Photo: © Michael Fisher

Christy Moore joined the fun at the Patrician Seconday School at Newbridge in County Kildare. After a three hour stop that included a parade along the mmain street of the town led by the Army No.1 Band, it was time to head for the next stop in Carlow. More performances on the train and then in the station car park where Tullow native Selina O’ Leary was among the entertainers. After that the Music Train headed to Waterford for a concert at the Theatre Royal, a benefit gig in aid of Barnardos for whom collections were made along the way. The broadcast schedule for tomorrow, Tuesday 1st October, and other information can be found on the RTÉ Big Music Week (in association with Iarnród Eireann) website here.

9:30, 12:35 & 16:10 RTÉjr The Beo Show This Big Music Week join stage manager Donie and wardrobe lady Gerty Gúna  as they prepare the Beo Theatre for children from across the country Various
10:00 & 14:35 RTÉjr Hubble Hubble is going musical so watch and listen as Emma and Ogié discover a musical world full of fun and interesting sounds. Various
16:00 RTÉ Two elev8 Follow Diana Bunici’s progress as she picks up the guitar for the first time with the promise of a performance by the end of the week. Various
17:30 RTÉ Two Two Tube Throughout RTÉ Big Music Week Two Tube will be  on a quest to find the next big music act, as well as bringing great interviews from well-known Irish talent. Various
20:00 RTÉ Radio 1 The John Creedon Show For day two of RTÉ Big Music Week, John Creedon presents a live performance from Killarney’s INEC, featuring John Spillane, Ger Wolfe, Lumiere, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, I Draw Slow & others. John Spillane, Lumiere, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, I Draw Slow & others.

RTÉ BIG MUSIC WEEK

by
RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week at Dún Laoghaire Photo: IE website

RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week at Dún Laoghaire Photo: IE website/Maxwell

Starting on the DART service in Dublin tomorrow morning from Bray to Dublin, the fifth RTÉ Big Music Week will be on the rails from 7:45am. Commuters at Bray will be entertained on the platform by a number of well-known musicians including The Benzini Brothers featuring Liam Ó MaonlaÍ, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Peter O’Toole;  Luan Parle; Lisa O’Neill; The Lost Brothers and Eleanor McEvoy. Here is the advertisement currently running on RTÉ television:-

The musicians will then board a train to bring them to Connolly Station, where there will be more music live on the John Murray Show with Miriam on RTÉ Radio 1 from 9am. I hope to join the event there to cover it for my blog, travelling on the special train to Newbridge. From there it will be a case of “Follow Me up to Carlow”, where I will return Northwards to write my report and hopefully bring you some photographs.

The Big Music Week in association with Iarnród Éireann features the very best of home-grown musical talent by bringing live performance to audiences in Ireland and all over the world; on radio, on television, on line and on mobile with plenty of opportunity to catch-up on the latest action with RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Ten, RTÉ YouTube and @rte (not forgetting @fishbelfast) on twitter.

RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week at Dún Laoghaire Photo: Maxwell Photography

RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week       Photo: Maxwell Photography

This year, the RTÉ Big Music Week Train, consisting of three carriages, will travel to some of Ireland’s best-loved venues and best-travelled stations, bringing performances from Kodaline, Paul Brady, Damien Dempsey, Christy Moore, Lumiere and Julie Feeney and much more to radio listeners across the island. The schedule for the Irish Rail special train is as follows:-

Monday 30th September – Dublin Connolly to Waterford

Stay on the train for the day, join in the music and fun as the train stops at Newbridge and Carlow and ends the day in Waterford.

Tuesday 1st October – Waterford to Killarney

Entertainment and Music on board all the way to Mallow.

Wednesday 2nd October – Killarney to Westport

Entertainment and music all the way plus a stop at Limerick Station to join in the fun at the 2Fm Ryan Tubridy Show onboard.

Thursday 3rd October – Marty in the Morning

Attend a live radio programme (breakfast included!) from Westport Station.

Friday 4th October – Boyle to Dublin Connolly

Final show in Maynooth with Ronan Collins at 12pm.

RTÉ’s Big Music Week will finish on a high note with an All-Star Charity Concert in aid of Barnardos. It will be presented by Kathryn Thomas and feature several headline acts and surprise guests. Finbarr Furey, the Irish chart topper who outsold Avici and Katy Perry after winning RTÉ’s The Hit with The Last Great Love Song, will perform his latest chart topper and other songs from his extensive repertoire. Also on the bill are Sharon Shannon and Paul Walsh from Royseven. Jerry Fish will perform his well-known song True Friends with The Lost Brothers. Other acts include Heathers, Scullion, Robbie Overson and Philip King.

The show will also feature a brand new song written by Brendan Graham, which will be performed by Eimear Quinn, Celine Byrne and others. The new song will be premiered on The Late Late Show on October 4th. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster priced at €25, with all funds going to Barnardos.

A WISH FOR BELFAST

by
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada working on the land-art project at Titanic Quarter Photo: © Michael Fisher

Artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada working on the right eye of the project at Titanic Quarter Photo: © Michael Fisher

There has been a lot of talk recently about certain politicians in Northern Ireland drawing lines in the sand over the controversial Maze peace centre project. So it’s great to find an artist at work drawing lines in the sand quite literally as part of a “Wish” for Belfast which will be a major attraction for visitors to the Titanic Quarter next month.

A design for 'Wish' by Jorge-Rodriguez-Gerada Photo: Belfast Festival

A design for ‘Wish’ by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada     Photo: Belfast Festival

Internationally acclaimed Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada is working alongside volunteers and communities from all over the city to create a giant land-art portrait that will transform five acres of land in the Titanic Quarter. The unveiling of this work of art will open the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s on Thursday 17th October.

Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada at his land-art project at Titanic Quarter Photo: © Michael Fisher

Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada at his land-art project at Titanic Quarter Photo: © Michael Fisher

During a visit to the Titanic Centre at lunchtime, which I am glad to say was very busy with visitors, I happened to meet Jorge. He was taking a short break from the project to grab a sandwich. I was taking some photographs of the project for this blog. I had been watching him in action earlier from my vantage point in the upper floors of the Titanic building. The first picture shows him (on the right of the group of three)  working on what will be the right eye of the face (left in the second picture). The area of the eye can also be seen in the above picture.

Expectation by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada

Expectation by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada 2009

Rodriguez-Gerada has created poignant land-art portraits all over the world such as this sand painting of President Barack Obama he created in Barcelona in 2009 entitled Expectation. It embodied the immense sense of hope felt by Barack Obama’s supporters following his inauguration and raised a mirror to reflect the source of that hope.

Jorge told me his grandparents were Cuban and he lived there for a time. The biography on his website describes him as a founder of the New York Culture Jamming movement and an innovator in the international urban art scene. Since the late 90´s he has been replacing the faces of cultural icons chosen by advertisers with the faces of anonymous people to question the controls imposed on public space, the role models designated and the type of events that are guarded by the collective memory.

Rodríguez-Gerada´s unique direction was mentioned in Naomi Klein’s book No Logo and was a precursor of the use of anonymous portraits now common in street art. His spectacular interventions are created for the sake of bringing awareness to relevant social issues. His large scale time base works avoid negative impact on the environment, challenge the conformity in contemporary art and allow for a reflection that goes beyond the completion of the piece to focus in its concept, process, and the metaphor that comes forth because of the material chosen.

Bobcats at work spreading the topsoil Photo: © Michael Fisher

Bobcats at work spreading the topsoil Photo: © Michael Fisher

His latest piece represents his first land-art work in the UK or Ireland. The final piece will be created using sand, topsoil and other materials sourced solely from the land. Entitled ‘Wish’, the portrait of an anonymous local child gazing towards the future will represent a new face for Belfast on the old face of the city.

Wish is situated on 11 acres of land (about six times the size of the nearby Odyssey complex) and can be viewed by the public once the festival opens from high up in one of the adjacent buildings on specially escorted tours, as well by walking through the art itself. Visitors flying in and out of George Best Belfast City Airport will also get a bird’s eye view of this transformative contemporary art installation. Jorge tells me that for those taking off (usually heading away from Belfast Lough and towards the city centre), the seats on the right hand side of the plane will offer passengers the best views. I can’t say for sure how it will work out for those landing!

Lunch Break at the site Photo: © Michael Fisher

Lunch Break at the site Photo: © Michael Fisher

Public viewing from W5

At 30 minute intervals between the following times: Thurs 17th 12pm – 3pm Fri 18th 12pm – 3pm Sat 19th 11am – 4pm Sun 20th 1pm – 4pm Mon 21st – Fri 25th 12pm – 3pm Sat 26th 11am – 4pm Sun 27th 1pm – 4pm

If you would like to book a time to view Wish from W5, please click here.

Public viewing from Belfast Met

At 30 minute intervals between the following times: Thurs 17th 12pm – 4pm Fri 18th 12pm – 4pm Sat 19th 10am – 12pm Sun 20th 1pm – closed Mon 21st – Fri 25th 12pm – 4pm Sat 26th 10am – 12pm

If you would like to book a time to view Wish from Belfast Met, please click here.

Public viewing from Titanic Belfast (LIMITED AVAILABILITY) Sat 19 Oct: 11am / 12noon / 1pm / 2pm / 3pm Sun 20 Oct: 11am and 12noon Sat 26 Oct: 11am and 12noon Sun 27 Oct: 11am and 12noon

If you would like to book a time to view Wish from Titanic Belfast, please click here.

Looking towards Belfast Met and SS Nomadic Photo: © Michael Fisher

Looking towards Belfast Met and SS Nomadic Photo: © Michael Fisher

MARTIN O’HAGAN CASE

by
Martin O'Hagan at Belfast May Day March: Photo © Kevin Cooper

Martin O’Hagan at a Belfast May Day March: Photo © Kevin Cooper

The National Union of Journalists has given a guarded welcome to the announcement that the police handling of the murder of Sunday World journalist and Belfast and District Branch member Martin O’Hagan is to be reviewed by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman. The union says the circumstances, which have led to the review, are “deeply disturbing” and highlight major defects in the original investigation and are cause for public concern.

Martin O’Hagan, a leading NUJ activist, was murdered in 2OO1. No one has been convicted of the murder. The Public Prosecution Service announced that it is not in a position to review the prison sentence handed down to so-called supergrass Neil Hyde. He had received a lenient prison sentence in return for co-operation with the RUC/PSNI investigation into the murder of the former Secretary of the NUJ Belfast and District Branch.  nujlogo_burgundy

NUJ Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley said:-

“The announcement that the Director of Public Prosecutions has referred the investigation to the Police Ombudsman is a depressing reminder of the failure of the police to investigate properly and impartially the murder of Martin O’Hagan. A deal was done with Neil Hyde and he received a three years prison sentence in February 2012 for a range of offences. The judge made it clear that he would have received an 18 years sentence if he had not agreed to identify those involved. It subsequently emerged that his uncorroborated evidence was not sufficient to secure the conviction of suspects. The PPS now says there is no basis to refer Hyde’s sentence back to the court. The 75 per cent reduction in his sentence for his co-operation under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005) will not be reversed and we are still waiting for justice. The director of the PPS is referring the investigation under section 55 of the Police (NI) Act 1998. We would give this development a guarded welcome but do not believe the Ombudsman is capable of delivering the justice which Martin, his family, his co-workers and his union colleagues have been demanding since his brutal murder.” PPSNI

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) confirmed that it is no longer in a position to ask the court to review the sentence it imposed on Neil Hyde for his involvement in the murder of Martin O’Hagan and other offences. In a statement (Wednesday 25th September 2013) it said that based on the initial evidence, the specified prosecutor in this case had concluded that the assisting offender had knowingly breached his agreement under section 73 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and that it was in the interest of justice that the case should be referred back to the original sentencing court.

However, following further examination of the evidence previously made available by police, extensive police enquiries and PPS consultation with the relevant witness, it is considered that the evidence which is now available is not sufficient to establish a breach of the agreement by Neil Hyde to the requisite standard. Accordingly there is no longer a basis to refer the matter to the court.

The court has therefore been informed that the PPS no longer seeks the review of the sentence. The Director (of Public Prosecutions) now intends to exercise his power under section 55 (4A) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 to refer the matter to the Police Ombudsman for investigation.

This story was covered in various media outlets, including RTÉ News, BBC News Northern Ireland, UTV News, by Gerry Moriarty in The Irish Times, Lurgan Mail by Carmel Robinson, News Letter, Belfast Telegraph and by Roy Greenslade in his blog in The Guardian.

DEFENCE NOT DEFIANCE

by
New ICTU Mural Belfast complementing statue of Jim Larkin Photo: © Michael Fisher

New ICTU Mural Belfast complementing statue of Jim Larkin Photo: © Michael Fisher

This was an important occasion for trade unionists in Belfast. The unveiling by the ICTU President John Douglas of a new mural complementing the statue of Jim Larkin at the ICTU (NI) office at Donegall Street Place. The Lord Mayor of Belfast Máirtín Ó Muilleoir attended the ceremony. The work was commissioned from well-known Belfast muralists Danny Devanny and Mark Ervine. It depicts banners, signs and logos of the constituent unions, including the National Union of Journalists.

Michael Fisher (NUJ), Lord Mayor of Belfast Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, ICTU President John Douglas, John O'Farrell ICTU Photo: © Kevin Cooper Photoline

Michael Fisher (NUJ), Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, ICTU President John Douglas, John O’Farrell ICTU Photo: © Kevin Cooper Photoline

I represented the NUJ at the unveiling in my capacity as Chair of the Northern Ireland sub-committee of the Irish Executive Council. The artwork tells the story of organised labour from the Dockers’ and Carters’ Strike of 1907 and the struggle of women in the factories and mills, up to the current campaigns against austerity and for social justice.

Mural detail with NUJ logo beside BECTU and RMT Photo: © Michael Fisher

Mural detail with NUJ logo beside BECTU and RMT Photo: © Michael Fisher

Afterwards the proceedings moved to the nearby John Hewitt Bar. The Lord Mayor unveiled an item of particular significance for the Belfast Trades Council. It is a bell and commemorative plaque which were presented to Samuel Munro in 1893 when he was President of the Council.

TUC 1893 Congress Belfast

TUC 1893 Congress Belfast

The same year the former Northern Whig employee who came from Lurgan in County Armagh and represented the Typographical Association was elected as President of the Trades Union Congress then encompassing Ireland and Britain. On September 4th to 9th 1893 the TUC held their 26th annual Congress over six days at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. At the time there were 380 delegates from 226 unions, representing 900,000 members.

The Chair of NIC-ICTU Pamela Dooley gave a short speech followed by remarks from Paddy Mackel, Secretary of the present Belfast Trades Council which Munro had led. The story of this committed trade unionist who rose through the ranks and held the top post in the TUC was related splendidly by Francis Devine of the Irish Labour History Society, who finished with a poem he wrote himself in honour of Munro. He explained how Munro came from the old craft section of the trade union movement and was conservative and cautious by character. “Defence not defiance” was his way of operating.

Munro’s address to the TUC on the second day of Congress (September 5th 1893) was illuminating, according to Devine, and demonstrated radical foresight, with demands that were very advanced for their time for the organisation of women, factory reform and protective legislation, labour representation and temperance.

Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir & Brian Bingham at unveiling of bell at John Hewitt Bar Photo: © Kevin Cooper Photoline

Belfast Lord Mayor Cllr Máirtín Ó Muilleoir & Brian Bingham at unveiling of bell at John Hewitt Bar Photo: © Kevin Cooper Photoline

It was a shade ironic therefore that the memento of Munro should now be displayed in a pub! Brian Bingham from Belfast was present, a friend of Munro’s last known relative, his granddaughter, who lives in London and who presented the bell to the ICTU.

MEETING AT MENIN GATE

by
Meeting at Menin Gate at the MAC arts centre Belfast (flyer)

Meeting at Menin Gate at the MAC arts centre Belfast (flyer)

This new play by Belfast writer Martin Lynch, Meeting At Menin Gate, is the final instalment of The Ulster Trilogy series which explore the state of Northern Ireland today. Presented by Green Shoot Productions, Sam Millar’s Brothers In Arms looked at the views of republican dissidents. Ron Hutchinson’s Paisley And Me examined the loyalist position post-conflict. This third play deals with the issue of victims and survivors, a very topical subject at the moment with politicians at Stormont unable to agree what exactly constitutes a “victim” of the Troubles. The final performance was tonight at the Mac centre in Belfast and I saw it last night (Friday) during Culture Night Belfast, although it was not one of the 250 free events which were part of that festival. Meeting at Menin Gate will now be touring throughout the North. The title comes from the Menin Gate in Ypres in Flanders, Belgium, where a last post ceremony is held every night to remember the tens of thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in World War I.

Martin Lynch: Photo © Bobby Hanvey

Martin Lynch: Photo © Bobby Hanvey

A powerful and insightful drama, Menin Gate explores the world left behind by the Troubles. In the small Belgian town of Ypres Liz, a Protestant nurse and daughter of an RUC man and an ex-IRA man from West Belfast, Terry, meet during a cross-community trip to WWI battle sites to promote reconciliation and become romantically involved. It transpires that Terry was one of two gunmen who had shot dead Liz’s father at his home which for the purposes of the play is said to be Dromore, County Down but is based on a true story.

Act One is very witty throughout with plenty of Ulster humour. The second act however strikes a very different note which some patrons will find hard to deal with as the

CULTURE NIGHT BELFAST 2013

by
Dog Ruff String Band Photo: © Evelyn Fisher

Dog Ruff String Band Photo: © Evelyn Fisher

Belfast city centre was truly buzzing with the fifth annual Culture Night, part of a larger event taking place across the island. Great to see people out enjoying themselves and music coming from around every street corner along with street performers and exhibitions. All over Ireland, museums, galleries, theatres, churches, historic houses, artists’ studios and cultural institutions threw open their doors for patrons to dip into whatever appealed to them from poetry to music to dancing.

In Belfast the streets, places and spaces in the Cathedral Quarter and further afield were thronged for several hours  with thousands of revellers, young and old. More than 250 dance, music, theatre and visual arts were staged at 100 locations.

Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Michael Fisher

Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Michael Fisher

I went to see acoustic folk musician Edelle McMahon singing at the former Crumlin Road Gaol, now developed as a tourist attraction. She told me it was certainly one of the most unusual locations in which she had been asked to perform. Edelle is from Emyvale in County Monaghan. During the recent William Carleton summer school, she sang the ‘Romance of the Merrow Queen’ at the unveiling by me of a restored plaque at the Blue Bridge, Emyvale, marking the Carleton connection.

Edelle McMahon at Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Evelyn Fisher

Edelle McMahon at Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Evelyn Fisher

Edelle is a singer and songwriter based in Belfast, who is described in the Culture Night programme as an “up and coming performer”. She was given two slots to sing during the evening, based in the circle at the centre of the jail, from which the four wings radiate. A great change to hear the strains of gentle music coming through the entrance instead of the clatter of keys and banging of cell doors along with the voices of prison officers and inmates!

Music in the Circle at Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Michael Fisher

Music in the Circle at Crumlin Road Gaol Photo: © Michael Fisher

Culture Night programme organiser Adam Turkington told the Belfast Telegraph the entire team was thrilled with how the weird and wonderful festival of fun had turned out:-

“Every year we’re so busy planning the thing, we don’t always take time to appreciate just how massive culture night has become. Every year we’re cautiously hopeful of a decent turnout, and sure enough, (each time) we’re blown away by the numbers that come down to the city centre and beyond to celebrate Culture Night. Just looking around me now, it’s utterly incredible, people of all ages and backgrounds milling about and exploring and enjoying all sorts of different performances and oddities. Happenings on every corner and a city centre where everybody is smiling.”

Mr Turkington also said he was particularly happy the annual event was a welcoming environment for anyone and everyone. “I think most importantly about Culture Night Belfast, the city becomes one huge shared space for all”, he added. That was clear from what I witnessed during the time I spent there. “Belfast: a city for all” should be the message going out to the world.

PLOUGH LANE

by

HOW AFC WIMBLEDON, NAMA, IRISH GREYHOUNDS, A DUBLIN BUSINESSMAN AND MERTON COUNCIL WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF PLOUGH LANE IN LONDON SW19

Old SW19 road sign from the days of Wimbledon FC

Old SW19 road sign from the days of Wimbledon FC

Wimbledon might be known internationally for tennis. But the area also came to fame through the achievements of Wimbledon Football Club. Plough Lane used to be their home. Now the original pitch is a housing development, a bit like Glenmalure Park in Milltown, former home of Shamrock Rovers FC. Durnsford Road (where the main entrance was) is where I saw the Dons play in their days as an amateur team (I began to watch them around 1963 when they won the Amateur Cup), as semi-professionals in the Southern League and eventually as a football league side rising to the first division and winning the FA Cup. The club survived there until 1991 when they entered a ground-sharing arrangement with Crystal Palace that lasted until 2003 in order to comply with a new FA rule on all-seater stadia.

Plough Lane Gates Photo: CC Licence Wiki

Plough Lane Gates Photo: Cliftonian via Wiki CC Licence

In the closing stages of Wimbledon FC at Selhurst I remember talking to the owner Sam Hammam about a suggestion that he was considering moving the club to Dublin (even Belfast was mentioned at one stage). Some Irish businessmen and at least one prominent soccer commentator were very supportive of such a move.

Wimbledon FC Crest

Wimbledon FC Crest

You can read more about the ‘Dublin Dons’ in Donal Fallon’s Come Here to Me blog here. In the end FIFA opposed such a move and the FA gave approval to transport the club, not abroad, but sixty miles away to a franchise in Milton Keynes, which now plays in League 1, one division above the new Wimbledon.

Sam Hammam Photo: © Glenn Copus / Evening Standard /Rex Features

Sam Hammam Photo: © Glenn Copus / Evening Standard /Rex Features

Plough Lane is also the site of another sports venue, Wimbledon Stadium. I remember going to watch speedway there. It is also the last remaining dog track in London, which had 33 greyhound stadia in the 1940s, and home to the William Hill Greyhound Derby, which always attracts a lot of Irish interest. I should add that although I never went to a dog meeting at Plough Lane, I have been a spectator at greyhound races in Ireland and have generally enjoyed such events. Indeed I have been at the stadium at Dundalk, which was opened on a greenfield site  in 2003 (with an all-weather horse racing track added later) by the Irish Greyhound Board (Bord na gCon) when the businessman Paschal Taggart was the Chairman. It replaced an older stadium that closed in 2000.

Chief Executive AFC Wimbledon Erik Samuelson Photo: © Michael Fisher

Chief Executive AFC Wimbledon Erik Samuelson Photo: © Michael Fisher

Fast forward a decade and now we have a new club AFC Wimbledon based at Kingsmeadow in Norbiton but proposing to move back to their spiritual home in Merton.  The outline plans for a new stadium seating 11,000 with potential to upgrade later to 20,000 have been fine tuned over the past year and have just been submitted to Merton Council. The football club’s preferred location is now known to be the greyhound track, beside the original home of the Dons at Plough Lane. The Club’s Chief Executive Erik Samuelson has explained how the proposals have taken a significant step forward. He also cautions supporters that there is a long way to go before the Dons’ plans become a reality.

Sketches for a new greyhound track at Wimbledon Picture: Irish Post

Sketches for a new greyhound track at Wimbledon Picture: Irish Post

However there is a separate proposal which has come from a consortium led by the Dublin-based businessman and greyhound enthusiast Paschal Taggart, who I referred to earlier. He has proposed a new greyhound stadium on the current site, with a squash club and gym etc.. He also points out that the (Irish) National Asset Management Agency NAMA will have a major say in any future development. So once again, Dublin comes into the equation when the development of our now community-owned football club in London is to be decided. Wimbledon was one of six greyhound tracks acquired by Risk Capital Partners from the Greyhound Racing Association in a £50m deal financed by Irish Nationwide. So because of the source of the loan the Stadium’s short term future has been determined by NAMA. The state agency in Dublin granted a five year lease for the Wimbledon track in July to a management team.

Paschal Taggart Photo: Irish Post

Paschal Taggart Photo: Irish Post

Paschal Taggart in a letter in July published by the Greyhound Owners’ Breeders’ and  Trainers’ Association urged supporters to continue to lobby Merton Council. He told them bluntly: “NOW IS THE TIME FOR GREYHOUND PEOPLE TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED if they believe that Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium is important to the UK and Irish greyhound industries“. Note the way he is appealing (quite legitimately) to breeders and trainers on this side of the Irish Sea. He was also playing the Irish card by saying in an Irish Post interview earlier this month that “many members of the Irish community around South London, and further afield, would be affected if alternative plans by the football club AFC Wimbledon to move back to the club’s former home were granted by Merton Council“. He has also been quite disparaging about our club, referring to AFC Wimbledon as a “Mickey Mouse football team” in an interview in July with the Irish Times.

It should be stated that the AFC Wimbledon pIan has been submitted to the Council in conjunction with Galliard Homes which wants to develop 600 houses. Galliard Homes is a co-owner of the Wimbledon Stadium site with GRA Ltd whose parent company is the investment company Risk Capital. Galliard and the GRA are also at the centre of a row over a proposed housing development to replace the greyhound track at Oxford, which was closed down by the operator at the end of last year and has now been declared by the local Council to have heritage asset status. Paschal Taggart expressed an interest in rescuing the Oxford stadium in February and also indicated his support for a return of speedway, according to the Oxford Mail.

The Plough Lane site has been designated for “sporting intensification” and is the subject of a draft sites and policies document by Merton Council. The document, which outlines planning regulations for all sites in Wimbledon, will be subject to a public inquiry led by an independent inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. A final report will be given in early 2014 at which point the Council will adopt the plan allowing formal applications for the site to be accepted.

Can soccer and greyhounds be combined? My local dog track at Ballyskeagh near Lisburn serves also as a soccer stadium. Lisburn Distillery from the Irish League Belfast Telegraph Championship 1 division have a stand and social club on one side of the ground at what they call New Grosvenor stadium (Distillery FC used to be based in the Grosvenor Road area of Belfast until 1971, so their name and their history has been retained in their new setting from 1980 and in the new title from 1999). The main drawback I found when I attended a Setanta Cup game there against UCD (and I was one of the handful of College supporters present!) was that the pitch seemed quite a distance from the spectators, because of the width of the dog track. There is a similar situation at the Brandywell where Derry City (a former club of Wimbledon legend Eddie Reynolds) play in the Airtricity League of Ireland.

New Grosvenor Stadium looking across towards greyhound side Photo: © Michael Fisher

New Grosvenor Stadium looking across towards greyhound side Photo: © Michael Fisher

If you go to the dogs, you enter Drumbo Park and can have the benefit of all the bar and restaurant facilities in the purpose-built stand, opened in 2008. I have not yet been there but maybe I will get the chance to take a look at the set-up in the near future. The whole ground can accommodate 8,000. This article from Wikipedia gives a description of how the two sporting interests go about their business almost in separate worlds but using the same plot of land:-

“The two organisations …co-exist on an icy basis of minimal co-operation and do not offer their facilities to each other’s events or co-operate in offering spectator packages for combined events. Indeed Drumbo Park has placed a dress code ban on the wearing of football related clothing in its stand. The nature of the two markets the Football Club and Greyhound Stadium are aiming at is also quite different. New Grosvenor Stadium is aimed at the traditional football fan and promotes itself as a family day out to the local Lisburn market whereas Drumbo Park caters for the hen party, stag night, office party and couples night out market aiming its advertising at the whole of the UK and Ireland. Both operators recognise that there is little cross-over in their respective markets and as a result have made no attempt to offer combined marketing packages.

There is only minimal infringement by one organisation’s events over the other’s as Greyhound racing is traditionally an evening event while Football is traditionally reserved for afternoons. Drumbo Park are restricted however to hosting meetings on Thursday-Saturday evenings only as Lisburn Distillery play many evening fixtures on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while the Irish League also occasionally stage Monday night games for television purposes, though, as of 2010, Lisburn have yet to feature in a live Monday night game. Conversely Lisburn Distillery have been unable to try out a switch to Friday evening Football as some other Irish League teams have done in a bid to increase attendances owing to the Greyhound Friday night meet.”

I write this as a season ticket holder and a founder member of AFC Wimbledon in 2002 via the Dons Trust, when the club started off in the Combined Counties League.

IRISH METHODISTS

by
John Wesley

John Wesley

Having done a review last night of my 306 posts which have had a very pleasant response of over 20,000 views in total, I discovered I had not yet written anything about County Limerick or twelve other counties in Ireland, including all of Connacht. So I am taking the first opportunity to correct the geographic imbalance since the start of the year, which has tended to favour Ulster. Having written yesterday about the Church of Ireland, I am now returning to the subject of Methodism.

Dr Adam Clarke Memorial Church, Portstewart

Dr Adam Clarke Memorial Church, Portstewart

I was in Bristol in March and visited the ‘New Room‘, the first Methodist building in the world, where John Wesley began preaching. I wrote about one of his Irish followers, the theologian Adam Clarke from County Londonderry, who is commemorated in the Dr Adam Clarke Memorial Church in Portstewart and after whom a nearby road is named.

It happens that my grandmother was baptised in the nearby Agherton Church of Ireland parish church. Her surname was SHIER, and her father who was stationed there at the time in the RIC came from County Limerick. His family was among those who left the Palatinate (Rhineland) in Germany around 1709 and arrived in Ireland during the reign of Queen Anne.

I have yet to visit the Irish Palatine Museum and Heritage Centre at Rathkeale, but I know when I get around to doing so I will be sure to find more information about my forebear Hans. Looking at some of the genealogical sites I believe he was born in 1674, and settled in Court Mattress (Courtmatrix) on the estate of Sir Thomas Southwell. 2nd Baronet Southwell of Castle Mattress (Courtmatrix). Adam died at Courtmatrix on January 4th 1758.

On the Palatine website you will find a list of over 120 surnames (or variants) that include Switzer (as in the former department store in Dublin), Bovenizer, Shouldice, St John and Becker. There is also an excellent article by the Reverend Dudley Levistone Cooney about how the German settlers came to embrace Methodism:-

“Early in 1749 the first Methodist preacher to visit Limerick came to that city attracted by the fact that a detachment of the Black Watch had been moved there from Dublin, and had a number of Methodists among its junior officers.  The preacher was Robert Swindells, and one of those who heard him preach in the open air was Thomas Walsh, a native of Ballylin between Adare and Rathkeale.  Later that year Thomas Williams, another Methodist preacher came to the city.  He was heard by a number of Palatines who had come from the Rathkeale area to attend the Assizes, and whose immediate reaction was ‘This is like the preaching we used to hear in Germany!’  Among them was the Burgomeister and schoolmaster of Ballingrane, Philip Guier.” 

Barbara Heck (Irish Palatine Association)

Barbara Heck (Irish Palatine Association)

Cooney tells us that John Wesley paid his first visit to the Palatines in the course of his sixth Irish tour in 1756, when he visited Ballingrane and the nearby village that he at different times calls either Newmarket or Pallas(kenry). He described those he met as ‘a plain, artless, serious’ people.  In other words they were straightforward and free of deceit.  He subsequently came to the area in the course of thirteen other tours, sometimes including Courtmatrix, Killeheen, Kilfinnane, and on one occasion Adare. On occasion he noted that in their communities there was ‘no cursing or swearing, no Sabbath-breaking, no drunkenness, no alehouse’, and that ‘their diligence turns all their land into a garden’.

John Street Methodist Church New York: Photo: © Kevin Staley-Joyce

John Street Methodist Church New York: Photo: © Kevin Staley-Joyce

There was also a direct connection between the Methodist community in this part of County Limerick and the foundation of the first Methodist congregation in New York. I remember a few years ago visiting the financial district of Manhattan for the first time and coming across a small chapel at John Street near Wall Street.

Philip Embury (Irish Palatine Association)

Philip Embury (Irish Palatine Association)

This was founded in 1766 by the preacher from Ballingrane Philip Embury along with his cousin Barbara Heck. Below the sanctuary, the Wesley Chapel Museum displays many artefacts from 18th and 19thC American Methodist history in the city of New York. These include church record books, the Wesley Clock (a gift of John Wesley, 1769), love feast cups, class meeting circular benches, the original 1785 altar rail, the original 1767 pulpit made by Philip Embury, and his signed Bible. The various Methodist Churches in the United States of America now have a community of over 29 million, according to Cooney.