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There is little point in protesting about Flags in the City. Flags are controversial in Derry/Londonderry but hard facts have to be faced. With the Good Friday and St Andrew’s Agreement the Union Flag is now the official constitutional flag of Derry/Londonderry and is accepted as such by Sinn Fein for as long as they [...]

The City of Derry Drama Festival. The 31st City of Derry Drama Festival held in March in the Waterside Theatre is now over and what a splendid season of theatre it was. There was a wide ranging choice of plays by playwrights from Ireland England and America so that on the menu there was something [...]

Keep Politics and Irish Culture apart. I got an invite recently from Comhaltas Dhoire to attend a meeting in Culturlann Derry to promote the city as host to Fleadh Cheoil Na hÉireann. While this would benefit the city culturally and economically I was amazed to read that Martin Magennis would be the guest speaker at [...]

Arts and culture have played a significant role in bringing colour, over the years, to the extraordinary lives of many in Northern Ireland. With the impending City of Culture 2013 platform for Derry-Londonderry, and a longstanding tradition of musical, artistic and dance activities, our small land has made some major arts sector contributions. With this [...]

The Mayor’s Choral Festival concluded with a performance of Handel’s Messiah by the internationally renowned Codetta Choir in Derry’s Guildhall on December 22. One of George Frideric Handel’s most remarkable works, and possibly his most popular, the Messiah succeeds by conveying a universal message in such a varied and harmonious manner. It can be pacy [...]

Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and the U.K. City of Culture. Since my student days I’ve been a fan of Shakespeare’s Hamlet so I eagerly attended a production of the play by the Icarus Theatre Collective and Harrogate Theatre in the Millennium Forum. I wasn’t disappointed; the production was first class giving a well crafted [...]

Integrate the People from the Top Down Not from the Bottom Up. IN his call for integrated education Mr Robinson has found another stick to beat the Catholic community with. Integration isn’t new in Ireland and is fine in principle. In 1832 a liberal government at Westminster introduced a bill for the purpose of educating [...]

I have been listening to Radio Foyle this morning and thinking, here we go again. I’m lost for words on summing up how I feel about this latest bombing in Derry at the Da Vinci’s complex on Culmore Road. Like most, I feel a sense of despair, anger, frustration at what Martin Mc Guinness has [...]

I ventured into Derry to sample a bit of Culture Night in the city centre on Friday past (24th September). Various arts venues hosted free entertainment, such as a performance at an Culturlann Ui Chanain, and the Waterside Theatre saw a production by Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company. At the first venue on our whistle [...]