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 sit in Stormont in the pay of the British Exchequer propping up a right wing Union Flag Unionist State. The Union Flag has always been the flag of Constitutional Nationalism and hence of the S.D.L.P. The Tricolour in N. Ireland is now meaningless with the withdrawal of Articles 2 and3 of the Republics Constitution. Indeed to fly a Tricolour in N. Ireland is now silly.

What Derry/Londonderry now needs is a new flag for all— be it the Catholics of the Bogside or the Protestants of the Fountain and the Waterside. A suggested new flag is a redesign of the Irish Tricolour where the red Irish saltire is placed in the white central panel of the Tricolour along with Kingdom emblems of the Crown (newly designed) the Harp and Shamrock. This new flag should be defined in the National Government of Ireland Act as The Royal Flag of Ireland and is the National Flag of Ireland and the symbol of the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain with a reformed Crown democratically elected as Head of State in Ireland. This Act should be ratified by Westminster first and then endorsed by the Irish in a referendum.

If this of interest further ideas are available at www.authorhouse.co.uk by typing my name into the search engine

Michael Gillespie Derry

Earlier on this evening, I was happily driving out of Buncrana with some fine music playing in the background.

Seeing the mountains in front of me changed my mood altogether.

Beautiful, isn't it?

What I saw appeared so picturesque, so unreal. So much so that for a brief moment it seemed to be an image projected onto a greenscreen. But I knew these mountains were real. Very real.

It made me feel sad. For how on earth can there be so much beauty, and yet so much trouble, in the same region?

We have now suffered the indignity of two controlled explosions in The Maiden City this week alone. Pointless incidents which, as a colleague of mine has correctly emphasized, have resulted in pensioners and schoolchildren being scared to death, and terrified tourists and traffic jams everywhere.

Mayor Of Derry Colum Eastwood is quite right to condemn the event as “totally and utterly unacceptable.” As he rightly says, the actions of those responsible aren’t freeing Ireland, but causing obstacles.

How much more damage will there be before these mindless dissidents get the message?

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 to satisfy all tastes. While the production and acting was by amateur groups the standard of work was on a par with professional companies. The productions were well attended.

IN my opinion the only downside to the festival was the play – Kings of the Kilburn High Road by Jimmy Murphy and presented by Droicead Nua from Co Kildare. The characters in this play were stereotype drunken foul-mouthed stage Irish. These were men who had left the West of Ireland in the seventies dreaming of making their fortune in London and returning home as “kings”. Twenty years later, still in London, they gather in a Kilburn pub to wake one of their number who will return home in a coffin. Over the course of the play with raucous singing and foul language they reflect on their lives and their place in an English society that no longer needs them.

To what extent these characters represent the tens of thousands of immigrant Irish workers to England in the 60ties and 70 ties is questionable. The vast majority of these immigrants integrated into English society and they and their descendants became successful and did well in England. The tragedy of these Irishmen is that they never integrated into English society but lived as self imposed exiles, bodily in England but in spirit and mind still in Ireland. The stance of these men to be apart in England reflects the problem of new wave Muslim immigrants in England who will have to integrate into English society or opt to live apart and become a social problem. Despite the flawed nature of the script the actors from Droicead Nua did their best with it and acquitted themselves well.

The cup for best production and the cup for best acting went to the Bangor Drama Club for the play –A View from the Bridge by the American playwright Arthur Miller–. The standard of production and acting by this group was of an unbelievably high order.

The festival adjudicator was a Derry man, Michael O’ Hara, a guru of the theatre who gave an interesting introduction to each play and an insightful constructive evaluation of each play at the end of each performance.

At the end of last year’s festival 2010 the president Maureen Gallagher had doubts that the festival could continue due to a dearth of funds. However this year the festival was assisted by the Derry City Council but even so the festival’s difficulty remains. Maureen said that currently there are 60 season ticket holders but for the festival to be financially viable this figure would need to increase to 200.This Drama Festival is a credit to the city an is a showcase for theatrical talent from all over Ireland .It would be a sad loss to the City if this drama festival were to fail due to alack of funds and support in the city. It behoves all those who have the cultural interests of the City at heart to turn out in strength holding season tickets for next year’s festival in March 2012.
Michael Gillespie Derry

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 the meeting and not the Minister for Culture. It’s a principle of mine that politics and culture be kept apart but in Culturlann culture and politics were being brought together. I am not alone in this principle of separation.

Douglas Hyde the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge insisted that culture and politics be kept apart. Despite this the Gaelic League was infiltrated by Republicans. In protest Douglas Hyde resigned as head of Conradh na Gaeilge and his place was taken by the Republican Eoin O Neill. In this way Irish culture became synonymous with Republicanism and so it remains. In keeping with the principle of Douglas Hyde I declined the invite from Comhaltas Dhoire giving my reasons for doing so.

Michael Gillespie Derry

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 in mind, it is of great concern that the Arts are facing a proposed £4.2 million budget cut that will directly impact on our artists and arts organisations.

The Northern Ireland Executive is looking for your response to these proposed cuts for the period of 2011 – 2015. The deadline for responses is Wednesday 16^th February 2011.

Doubtless the inevitability of cuts on public spending in the current economic climate is a grim reality, but arts representatives believe that a reduction of 23% is disproportionate to that of other sectors.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is asking that you support the ‘Fair Deal for the Arts’ campaign. You can sign an online petition, email the campaign letter and join the Facebook group. So if you would like to see the Arts get a fair deal, please follow this link:

http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/campaign/csr/index.htm

Eibhlin Boydell

“For all the positive vibes that flowed through the city during those heady days, we were sadly reminded that some things never seem to change. Not once, but twice.”

I just had to open my mouth, didn’t I?

Less than a month after Ed Vaizey made that announcement, we witnessed a pointless and depressing wreckage resulting from a car bomb in the Strand Road.

Less than two weeks after a highly promising culture night in the City Centre, it was a case of “here we go again” as the explosion at Da Vinci’s woke us all up.

And, just days – days! – after the announcement of a potentially lucrative cultural deal with BT, and another wonderful musical evening, the City Of Culture Office itself fell victim to a bomb.

It’s beginning to seem like Groundhog Day, except with stunned silence instead of celebrations. And the way things are going, there will definitely be no chance of an early spring. For all the aforementioned “positive vibes”, the clouds overhead still remain.

And this time things could get worse. Much worse.

Yes, damage was minimal. Yes, normal business resumed in the Culture Office yesterday. But it is the long-term impact that concerns me.

Derry needs to sell itself as safe as well as exciting, and these continuous attacks aren’t helping. Particularly in a part of the city that was only refurbished recently. As Chief Executive of the LCC, Sinead McLaughlin, has rightly put it, the focus needs to be on maximising the budget for the City Of Culture and not picking up the pieces of wreckages such as this one.

Was it really only last July that kids were dancing happily in the Guildhall Square fountains? Frankly, I can imagine a far brighter future for Derry than one laced with disruptions like this.

So, to the dissidents, I can only echo what my colleague Eibhlin Boydell once said:

“Come on guys – take a long hard look at yourselves – is this what you really want?”

For when I said “Ask what you can do for your city”, this isn’t what I meant.

Where were you on July 15, 2010?

“I’m delighted to announce that the winner of the privilege of becoming the first UK Capital Of Culture is Derry/Londond…”

That was it. That was the moment the crowd in the Guildhall roared, when months of hard work paid off, and when a dream became a reality. Our little city, my home, the town we loved so well, was the UK City Of Culture for 2013. Even at the turn of the New Year, I can’t help but reflect on Ed Vaizey’s announcement and realise how fortunate I was to be part of such a bid.

I am not ashamed to admit that I got completely carried away at the time – yes, the huge smiling face you see at one point in this clip is my own! – but considering all the buzz and the goodwill, it really wasn’t surprising.

To say 2010 was an eventful year, cultural or otherwise, would be an understatement. Before the City Of Culture office had even opened, I had already taken part in an excellent production of a hugely popular musical at the Millennium Forum. In April, I had seen the album launch of my colleague Joanna Higgins literally go “Happy Ever After” in Derry’s Playhouse.

Taking part in and writing about events such as these had convinced me that I could contribute to the City Of Culture bid. Many others were contributing too, in various ways.

Culture was the watchword. Snow Patrol joined forces with both Derry and its citizens to create a brilliant and evocative promotional video, which premiered at the Nerve Centre in early summer. For a large part of the summer season, “Derry For City Of Culture 2013” badges were ubiquitous. The City Of Culture Office was full of life nearly every time I walked in. As the big moment approached, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw how the bid had united the city.

After the hyperbole, alas, came the reality. It seemed to hit pretty hard in more ways than one throughout the remainder of the year. Activity in both the Culture Office and the Guildhall Square appeared to die down as time went by. And for all the positive vibes that flowed through the city during those heady days, we were sadly reminded that some things never seem to change. Not once, but twice.

But our optimism, and our determination to succeed, remained. There was plenty of emerging local talent to be seen during the Millennium Forum Youth Theatre Group’s enjoyable production of “Chess” in August. Derry’s first Culture night in September was a huge success, providing all kinds of entertainment (as discussed by my colleague Eibhlin Boydell here) as well as plenty of promise and potential for the future, in more ways than one.

Soon afterwards, Derry would literally become a City Of Song with numerous talented artists, both celebrity and home grown, performing in the Guildhall and Christ Church for free.

In November, Derry’s profile on the world stage was raised when Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin was recognised as one of the world’s greatest buildings at the World Architectural Festival in Barcelona. And there was still time for the year to conclude with a terrific evening of music in the Guildhall just before Christmas.

We have already begun the New Year in earnest. Last week, BT were welcomed as the first official commercial partner for City Of Culture 2013. This week, both Belfast and Derry are staging classical concerts in association with BBC Radio Ulster in part of the City Of Culture celebrations.

It was a good time to be from Legen Derry in July 2010… and it’s a good time now.

Here’s to 2011!

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 and grandiose, yet also beautifully understated. Its variance set the tone for what was, in the end, a very contrasting evening.

Diction and acoustics are everything when the Messiah is performed. And in this respect, the performance didn’t disappoint. The Guildhall provided the perfect accompaniment for both the Codetta and their four gifted soloists: Helen O’Hare, Doreen Curran, John Porter and Roland Davitt.

Highlights in the first half included arias such as “O thou that tellest” and “Rejoice greatly” and choral pieces such as “For unto us a child is born”. The Codetta’s performance of said song was masterful, bringing back personal memories of performing the piece more than a decade ago.

Once the “Hallelujah” chorus concluded, a sizeable audience made their appreciation felt.

Mayor Colum Eastwood had earlier congratulated so many of us for making it to the occasion in such treacherous conditions. Those were to be expected this evening.

What weren’t to be expected were the surprises in store during the second half of the concert.

Not only did the audience get to exercise their own vocal chords – twice – but we also got to hear a mixture of both traditional (such as “Cantate Astra”) and popular (such as “Mary’s Boy Child”) performed by the City Of Derry Youth Choir, the Codetta, or both. The performance of “O Holy Night” from the choirs and the Codetta’s soloists really was spellbinding.

Most surprising of all, and even funny, was the Youth Choir’s rendition of the “Nutcracker Jingles”. This most enjoyable and unorthodox piece can be summed up, in a nutshell (sic), as Tchaikovsky meets “Jingle Bells”. You could argue that it nearly cracked the audience up.

Choir conductor Donal Doherty said: “It was a wonderful evening of music, at a very special time of the year. It felt particularly special to us this time as people made such an effort to come and see us despite the cold. The warm and appreciative audience really raised our spirits, and gave everyone a buzz.”

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 demented Hamlet of a high order. What was disappointing was the attendance.
The first few rows of the auditorium were occupied by uniformed teenagers from Scoile Mhuire in Buncrana but there were only 30 adults present. I talked to someone in management and was told the matinee performances were well attended by school parties but in plugging Shakespeare the schools are fighting a loosing battle against the allure of pop culture and Lady Gaga.

I also attended Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and had a wonderful night’s entertainment from the Moscow Ballet but while the audience received the production warmly the attendance was small. The auditorium was less than half full or more than half empty if you’re a pessimist so I was tempted to comment to a friend —Derry! City of Culture my foot!

But to adopt that approach to Derry could be unfair to the city. IN its attitude to culture Derry is probably no worse than any other city or society in general. The poet Louis Mc Niece in the poem –Bagpipe Music — takes a jaundiced view of society in relation to culture in earlier times perhaps in the 1950ties. He writes: -

“ It’s no go the Yogi- Man it’s no go Blavatsky
All we want is a bank balance and a bit of skirt in a taxi.”

And again: -

Its no go your maidenhead it’s no go your culture
All we want is a Dunlop tyre and the devil takes the puncture

The Yogi man in the quote is W.B. Yeates and Madam Blavatsky was a promoter of a new religion—Theosophy– in the 20th century. Society according to Mc Niece isn’t interested in such things but only in money and sex.

In the second quote society is no more interested in culture than it is in virginity but only in the production of wealth in factories irrespective the problems of inflation and deflation involved

So Derry’s disinterest in Hamlet and Swan Lake isn’t unique to the city but their disinterest in culture is shared by society in general. The main interest is in money sex and factories.  Mc Niece would have seen it that way and I think he has a point.

Michael Gillespie Derry/Londonderry

Were you there when Derry became a City Of Song at the Guildhall and Christ Church last month? If so, you’ll remember it was a highly successful event, bursting to the seams with both vocal and instrumental talent.

Well, it’s almost time for Co. Derry to become a County Of Song! Throughout November, the Londonderry Musical Society will tour the North West with a series of charity concerts for their Showstoppers 2010 programme.

The LMS choir will perform a wide variety of musical favourites, both contemporary and traditional. This year’s featured songs range from tunes written by the likes of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Gilbert & Sullivan and Frank Loesser to contemporaries like Sting and Elton John.

The LMS features locally renowned soloists, also in duets and trios, and are accompanied by the Britannia Bass and Reed Band, who will also play some popular instrumental classics.

To date, the Showstoppers concerts have raised over £200,000 for North West charities.

LMS Chairperson Judith O’Hare says, “We have joined local charities in promoting their cause by entertaining their supporters to a feast of popular music. In doing so, we offer a platform for both experienced and emerging local performers and musicians.”

Over the years, the Showstoppers concerts have been thoroughly appreciated both by audiences and by those who have been involved. They have also proven themselves to be a marvellous foundation for new talent, as I stated back in July.

So come along and offer your support: your society needs you!

The dates and venues for this year’s concerts are as follows:

Thursday 11^th November in the Alley Theatre, Strabane;
Friday 12^th November in Limavady Grammar School;
Thursday 18^th – Friday 19^th November in Derry’s Waterside Theatre;
Thursday 25^th November in the Mellon Country Inn, Omagh;
Friday 26^th November in Coleraine High School.

All concerts start at 8 p.m.

You can keep in touch with all LMS activities and contact the committee at www.londonderrymusicalsociety.co.uk.