Beverley later remarked, “I’ve become a campaigner!” And one off to a great start. Watch out, here she comes.

Here is her first press statement:

Kieran McCarthy MLA, Alan McDowell, Anna Lo MLA, Tom Richardson, Beverley Beattie at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

Integrate emotional support says stroke survivor
by Beverley Beattie
31 May 2013

On the back of an investigative report by the Stroke Association into the emotional impact of stroke, survivor Beverley Beattie told a group of elected representatives of the Northern Ireland Assembly that psychological and emotional support services should be integrated:

“There are two major dimensions of having a stroke — physical and emotional. The first appears well organised in Northern Ireland, from physio, occupational, and speech and language therapy.

“But I have discovered that emotional support comes much later, and it shouldn’t.

“I was fortunate with my community stroke team, but this shouldn’t be a postcode lottery, particularly for a relatively small place like Northern Ireland.”

Beverley called for the implementation of the approved regional stroke strategy, which includes adequately funding these supportive services:

“The community stroke team at Bangor Community Hospital is helping me, with a recovery approach of the Bridges Programme.

“I want to be sure that such services are available to everyone, regardless of where they happen to live in Northern Ireland.”

Accompanying Beverley was her husband, Allan Leonard, and Northern Ireland Director of the Stroke Association, Tom Richardson.

Allan highlighted an apparent disparity, whereby NHS psychological services are part of non-stroke, community brain injury teams, but not in stroke-based community stroke teams.

Allan called for this gap in provision to be closed:

“A brain injury is a brain injury, however it is caused, and all those who have had a brain injury will have psychological and emotional challenges to face.

“I don’t understand why brain injuries caused by stroke would be treated differently in this regard.

Tom Richardson added:

“The provision of clinical psychologists for the Stroke Services for Belfast as well as the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trusts are to be commended.

“We need to ensure that this is extended throughout the province, as it is vital for the quality of stroke survivors’ after-stroke recovery.

“Indeed, as Beverley has demonstrated the benefits of very positive and excellent practices here, there is no reason why we cannot connect the dots with the hospitals, GPs, community care and charity services throughout Northern Ireland.

“It really is a case of picking some low hanging fruit in order to achieve excellence in the full treatment of stroke injuries — physical and emotional — so that survivors like Beverley can reintegrate with satisfaction as fully contributing and productive members of society.”

NOTES

The all-party group meeting at the Northern Ireland Assembly was held on Tuesday, 28 May 2013. Those attending included: Robin Newton MLA, Roy Beggs MLA, Anna Lo MLA, Kieran McCarthy MLA, Alan McDowell, Tom Richardson, Beverley Beattie and Allan Leonard. Apologies were received from Conall McDevitt MLA and Steven Agnew MLA.

The report by the Stroke Association, “Feeling Overwhelmed: The Emotional Impact of Stroke”, is available for download: http://www.stroke.org.uk/involved/feeling-overwhelmed

Tom Richardson (Director Northern Ireland, Stroke Association) can be contacted on: (028) 9050 8028

Gerard Finnegan, Mauricio Rodriguez, Deirdre Heenan, Jonathan Bell MLA, Martin McGuinness MLA, Brandon Hamber, and Ariel Sanchez. INCORE hosted event of Columbia peace process seminar, University of Ulster, Magee Campus. Sponsored by Marie Curie and Rotary International.

In September 2012, peace talks were announced between the Colombian Government and the guerrilla group FARC. There have been several rounds of negotiation, now taking place in Havana, Cuba.

INCORE at the University of Ulster saw a potential in investigating the lessons, good and bad, from the Northern Ireland peace process, in this 15th anniversary year of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

A three-day roundtable event was held 26-28 April in Derry-Londonderry, which included experts (politicians, scholars and journalists) from Colombia and Northern Ireland.

The event was hosted by INCORE and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Londonderry.

The event was opened by several dignitaries, including the Colombian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mauricio Rodriguez; the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness; and the Junior Minister, Jonathan Bell.

Gerard Finnegan explained Rotary’s involvement, as part of a larger event taking place a few weeks later in Derry-Londonderry, “From peace making to peace building”, which will reflect stories from Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Basque country, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Finnegan said that the main goal is to lay the foundation for legacy work.

Conference organiser, Ariel Sanchez, said that in order to transform the current Colombia peace talks into a sustainable agreement, political will is of the essence, which should go beyond the negotiating teams, to all sectors of society.

Ambassador Rodriguez welcomed all contributions that might help them resolve “our almost half century old conflict”.

He listed five issues that the current Colombia negotiations — due to be concluded by the end of 2013 — address:

1. Rural development and land reform
2. Political participation
3. The end of hostilities
4. Drug trafficking
5. Victims’ rights

In regards to political participation, he cited how the current mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Aureliano, “who holds the second most important political job in Colombia next to the President”, is a former member of M-19, a guerrilla affiliated party that the Colombian Government was able to reach a peace agreement with three years ago.

Of the “so-called war on drugs”, starting nearly 40 years ago, the Ambassador described it as a “tragic failure”. He mentioned Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos’ role in international discussions on alternative approaches to the issue.

As for victims’ rights, he said that the Victims and Land Restitution Act is being implemented, “which will give millions of hectares back to people who were violently and illegally dispossessed of their land”.

Ambassador Rodriguez assured the conference participants that their proposals resulting from this event will be studied by President Santos and the negotiating team.

Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MLA, described Northern Ireland’s peace process as a long journey, saying that “we have not been on that journey alone”. For example, he said that the experience of learning from those involved in South Africa’s negotiations “were absolutely invaluable”.

Mr McGuinness added that he’s “been to a forest in Finland, twice, and to Baghdad”. Pointing, he said, “I blame him, Quintin [Oliver], who’s also made his own unique contributions to peace making in the world.”

The deputy First Minister remarked that as the Iraqi delegates only wanted to deal with those who had experience in South Africa and Northern Ireland negotiations (in contrast, say, to American and British offers of assistance), “it was a great honour to be asked to participate and a privilege to go”.

“It is hugely important that those of us who have been through a successful journey give back to others who are trying to accomplish the same sort of success that we had, whilst recognising that no two conflicts are the same. And that we don’t have the prescription at our hands for peace — that is very much in the hands of the people of Colombia,” said Martin McGuinness.

He said that of vital importance is that there is trust that those in negotiations are committed to seeking a peace agreement. “If you want the worst example of how a peace process can go wrong, look at Sri Lanka. What happened in Sri Lanka was a disgrace, with hundreds of thousands losing their lives, because the Government and the Tamils hadn’t been honest with each other about having peace.”

Back to Colombia, Mr McGuinness found encouragement by the fact that the talks are continuing, with each side assessing the other in regards to their seriousness about peace.

There are many important issues to be dealt with in the Colombia peace process, including victims, dealing with the past (“something we can say we have not been spectacularly successful with here”), and former prisoners (where he remarked positively on the transformation of the Maze/Long Kesh prison site into a Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution Centre).

Arguing for an inclusive process in the Colombia negotiations, Mr McGuinness mentioned his meetings with Colombians for Peace as well as the Colombian Patriotic March group. He appealed to President Santos “not to ignore ordinary people, who have suffered the most”.

Finally, he explained why the word ‘leadership’ is so vital:

“Unless leadership is in place on both sides of the conflict, who are absolutely dedicated to bringing that conflict to an end by peaceful means, then peace processes will not even get off the ground. So, people have to show leadership. They have to do different things … make gestures … stretch out the hand of friendship — even if on occasion it’s at a cost to themselves. Because we have to continue to put our heads above the parapet … to show the world that we’re serious about bringing peace.”

Junior Minister (to First Minister Peter Robinson MLA), Jonathan Bell MLA said that he saw the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as an imperfect solution, with the initial appeal of its ‘constructive ambiguity’ giving way to a realisation of trouble ahead.

For him, the flaw was that the agreement was allowed to be all things to all people, leading onto an unsteady power-sharing arrangement. The issue at the heart of the problem was the impression that one side had gained more concessions than another. After the Northern Ireland Government collapsed in 2002, new talks led to the St Andrews Agreement in 2007 and a return to devolved administration.

Looking back at 15 years since the Belfast Agreement, he cited a number of lessons that could be learned from the Northern Ireland peace process.

One, be clear about what it is that you want to achieve for the community that your represent: “This means keeping your support base on board, every step of the way. Communication is everything, because the outcomes of the process should not produce any nasty surprises.”

Two, be prepared for disagreements, and not just those that take place around the negotiating table; be sure to take the majority of supporters with you: “Negotiations cannot afford to be too many steps ahead of those whose interests they represent.”

Three, do not be tempted to give up: “The search for peace is the greatest quest which any of us can ever be engaged. Quite literally, lives depend on it, as does the future of coming generations.”

Four, never let discussions around the negotiating table be overtaken or be outflanked by what is being said in the media. Mr Bell described the tension between keeping some important matters private versus the right of a free media.

Junior Minsiter Bell concluded, “Peacebuilding does take time. It is achieveable, it is achievable.”

In summing up the speeches, INCORE Director, Brandon Hamber, recalled a colleague once referring to the South Africa conflict as “the struggle” — “It’s not called a struggle for nothing.”

Transferring this to Northern Ireland, Dr Hamber said, “It’s not called a peace process for nothing — it’s a process.”

He described the Colombia situation as a long-term process, with many twists and turns, but where a reward is possible.

“It’s within reach,” said Dr Hamber.

UPDATE: The proposals resulting from this roundtable event were presented at the closing session of the Rotary-INCORE International Peace Conference on 26 May 2013.

Participating cities in the Intercultural Cities Programme at the Council of Europe.

Expressing Identity: Addressing Division

This year’s annual policy conference of the Community Relations Council (CRC) was held in Derry-Londonderry, a fresh change from the usual Belfast venues. Indeed, the Maiden City has demonstrated leadership in community relations for many years. In his introductory remarks, outgoing CRC Chair Tony McCusker pointed out that the city easily has the most events for this year’s Community Relations Week.

In regards to the recent statement by OFMdFM Ministers, Mr McCusker made the observation that most of the progress in community relations in Northern Ireland has been achieved by community organisations on the ground.

“It’s been ten years since we started the dialogue on Shared Future, three years on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration,” said Mr McCusker.

He expressed a slight fear that OFMdFM’s planned new document, Together: Building a United Community, will be rushed (because of economic incentive deadlines posed by Secretary of State Theresa Villiers), and we’ll end up with policy that is not well thought through.

Mayor of Derry City, Kevin Campbell, asked, “How often do we challenge ourselves to engage with cultures that are not our own?”

He added that community relations cannot be done in a policy vacuum, and suggested making the most of world experiences in sport and language (the Mayor is an enthusiast of the Irish language).

Comedian, commentator and social activist Nuala McKeever spoke poignantly about the loss of her partner, Mike Moloney: “It pushed my refresh button on what is possible.” She shared his belief in the possibility of the possible.

Phil Wood is an Advisor to the Intercultural Cities Programme at the Council of Europe. He presented a survey of his work, including research presented in his book, The Intercultural City.

In regards to expressing identity, Mr Wood said, “It is a great place to start, but a terrible place to finish”. He argued that in fact we hold multiple identities, which are also changeable. Rather, he presented a formula whereby hybrid identities + equality + openness = opportunity.

He also said that while multiculturalism puts you in a box “and that is where you stay”, an Intercultural City Model has overlapping cultures and, significantly, moves about (is not fixed).

His suggestions included empowering bridge builders not gate keepers; develop places where people meet; and don’t avoid conflict, but expect it and manage it.

Furthermore, he claimed that while legislation will not cause people to interact, policy can incentivise encounters. There needs to be more mixing, not more avoidance, he stated.

Mr Wood proceeded to give several examples of good practice, including Mayor Jasmin Imamovic in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Bradford; Subotica, Serbia; and Loli Arnaut in the Basque country. If there’s just one diversity strategy that we should read, he said, it’s the Barcelona Intercultural Plan.

In response to the keynote presentation, Noirin McKinney described the main objectives of the Arts Council (of which she is Director of Arts Development). She spoke with conviction of how the arts have been used as a means of community engagement, citing the success of the Re-Imaging project (with intimidating murals replaced with positive symbols reflecting the local community).

Peter Osborne liked Mr Wood’s assertion that Northern Ireland represents “a unique fusion of identities, with special flavouring”. Mr Osborne said that we need to respect difference, while cultures need to be respectful and all need to open up for mutual influences.

He also said that people need to have trust in public institutions, including the Parades Commission (of which he Chairs). Providing a set of statistics, he argued that the assertion that the Parades Commission is over-interventionist is “just not true”.

Mr Osborn concluded with three suggestions:

1. We need to avoid avoidance (i.e. “It’s okay to be from Orange or Green cultures)
2. Bridge builders need recognition and encouragement
3. Institutional capacity (civic and political leadership) needs to be developed so that it works for the common good

From her perspective as Director of Legacy, Oonagh McGillion described the process of the City of Culture 2013 bid, which included reaching out to those groups who may have felt marginalised. She declared her belief in using culture to unite communities. She also defended planned research projects, as the objective is to embed intercultural thinking in the research outworkings.

Jim Roddy began by describing the work of group, Unity of Purpose, which is composed of local businesspeople, politicians, and statutory representatives. The group meets once monthly, with no agenda, “but we talk honestly” about current and foreseen issues in the city. Their motto is, “You hurt me, you hurt us all.”

Mr Roddy also described his experiences as a member of the Forum for Cities in Transition. He made a specific reference to an exchange trip in Mitrovica, Kosovo, where that city’s members got into an internal heated exchange in the presence of guest Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker, Willie Hay MLA. The Derry-Londonderry delegates refrained from intervening, later telling their Mitrovican hosts that the argument was okay: “It was where we were in our city 20 years ago.” Yet, Mr Roddy added, in Mitrovica they live without the flack jackets and killings that were endured in his city.

Mr Roddy concluded with positive examples of community relations work in Derry-Londonderry. Last weekend’s event, Bright Brand New Day, featured an iconic meeting between the Lord Mayor of London and the Mayor of Derry City — unfathomable not so long ago. And he also singled out the good work of Michael Doherty (Peace and Reconciliation Group) and Brian Dougherty (St Columb’s Park House).

After a tea break, Jonny Byrne (CRC Chair of Policy and Communication) introduced the panel for the discussion on “Expressing Identity — Addressing Division”.

Eamonn McCann emphasised the point that the community you grow up in doesn’t have to be the sole determinant in your politics. Also, the politics of Northern Ireland hasn’t always been a contest between militant nationalism and militant unionism: “I’m told there are two communities in Northern Ireland: that didn’t define my father’s politics and it doesn’t define me!” This was underscored by a subsequent remark from the floor, that young people like her, while acknowledging each others’ background and respecting the past, are not defined by it.

Fionola Meredith (Chair at Golden Thread Gallery as well as Source magazine) argued that Protestants/Unionists should embrace the Irish language, which they spoke in the past. She said that the way forward is to depoliticise language. Ms Meredith described the Irish language project run by Linda Ervine, including the fact that her brother-in-law’s family of David Ervine all declared themselves as Irish speakers in the 1911 Census.

Alex Kane began with a list of symbols that are regularly used to emphasise communities, including flags. He mooted, “Why do flags matter? If we had genuine reconciliation, they wouldn’t matter.”

The salient issue, it appeared, was one of vision: “You can’t build a shared future if you do not agree on the ultimate destination. It’s not possible for the DUP and Sinn Fein to create a shared future … because they despise each other.” Instead of expecting these two largest political parties to create a strategy, Mr Kane argued that it should happen naturally from within wider society: “You can’t legislate sharing.”

A staff member from the Equality Commission and I challenged this from the floor. I cited CRC Founding Director, Mari Fitzduff, who made the case that while identities are indeed resilient, behaviour can be changed through incentives. I gave specific examples of fair employment and social housing legislation.

In his summary and reflection remarks, Phil Woods said that we need to move beyond a bucket of frogs mentality, whereby just as a frog is about to escape, another one behind pulls it back. Or if a frog does escape, it never comes back. “We need kids to return to Northern Ireland and bring their world experiences back with them,” he said.

He was depressed by the tone of some of what he heard today: “This is the only place in the world I’ve been where the conversation always goes back to … a downward vortex.” He added that he does not accept a dereliction of duty of the political class, if only because he has seen political heroes elsewhere, especially in the Balkans, rise above the cynicism of peace agreements.

CRC Chief Executive, Jacqueline Irwin, closed the conference with special compliments to Nuala McKeever and thanks to all those responsible for the event.

She also said that “fear is stopping us from moving forward. We need to let go, in the name of our common humanity … we are the movement that will make the change”.

To mark its 30th anniversary, Belfast Exposed has organised an extensive exhibition of photographic work, displayed both at its premises on Donegall Street as well as at The MAC. The exhibition — Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography — “focuses on the growth of new, fine art documentary practices, more often produced for the gallery space and the photo book rather than for a press or media context”.

There is also a large publication of the same title, written by Colin Graham.

Also there are a series of events to examine the exhibition and book in more detail.

I attended a public discussion event, featuring curator Karen Downey, book author Colin Graham, and photographers Donovan Wylie, John Duncan, Mary McIntyre and Sylvia Grace Borda.

Karen Downey (Senior Curator, Belfast Exposed)

Karen Downey was late from finishing a curator’s tour of the exhibition, as well as from being interviewed for BBC Radio Ulster’s Arts Extra programme (above). She described the background of the anniversary project and introduced the guest speakers.

Colin Graham was previously a Reader in English at Queen’s University Belfast, and he described how his specialism in literature influences his critiques of photography. For example, he made the point that “the shape of something [presented] is as important as its context”. Also, that the act of photography is a self-conscious decision, literally snapshots of a journey made by the photographer.

In reviewing 30 years of photography in Northern Ireland, he listed a broad spectrum that included press photography, archive photographers, landscape photo books, Flickr photostreams and the more recent proliferation of Instagram and general increase in non-professional photography. In compiling the book, he didn’t attempt to survey them all, but to select and explain “why I liked what I liked”.

Donovan Wylie presentation of his Maze project work.

Donovan Wylie explained how he returned to photography after he “lost faith in the single image”: making films was far more difficult.

Describing the invitation to undertake the Maze project work, he said that he repeatedly said no: “It represented everything I didn’t like about Northern Ireland.” But taking encouragement from others, he ultimately agreed. Yet he struggled to find a satisfactory strategy until, as he put it, he surrendered his resistance to the place, and worked with the logic of its design. Interestingly, here he described feeling less a photographer and more like an operator — a mixture of artist and documentarian.

Boom Town II series by John Duncan.

John Duncan, co-editor of Source magazine, introduced himself as someone who has been dwelling on Belfast for the past 25 years.

He showed a projected image of the first known photograph of Belfast, the clearing of buildings to make way for the construction of Custom House. This was part of his motivation for his Boom Town II project, photographs of billboard signs advertising “developers’ visions of what they think their patch of Belfast should look like”.

Aura of Crisis by Mary McIntyre.

Mary McIntyre was educated in fine art and sculpture, and identified herself as “an artist who uses photography”. Indeed, she said that her influences are more cinematic than photographic.

She “photographs atmospheres”, describing her work as a dialogue, where sometimes the subject matter speaks to her. “I take the image and it’s instinctive. I don’t know why I’ve taken it until later, sometimes much later, when it communicates with me.”

Churches by Sylvia Grace Borda.

Sylvia Grace Borda is a Canadian-born artist who spent five years in Northern Ireland, lecturing at Queen’s University Belfast between 2007-2009. She described how while she was able to guide her students towards successful projects, she found it more difficult to identify one that would satisfy herself. Her interest in documentary topography, by the likes of Charles Marville and Eugene Atget, combined with a fascination in Modernist architecture, led her to produce Churches.

In her travels back and forth to Canada, people there would ask her questions about Northern Ireland. As part of trying to satisfy their curiosity, she realised that Northern Ireland’s Modernist churches offered a visual symbol of its religious divide: “However, since the buildings are Modernist and were originally designed to be undecipherable in terms of faith association — the viewer is left confounded.”

She presented this symbol in the form of photographic images on dinner plates — a set of 16 (“not 12: too religious”). Why plates? Because they are tactile not monumental, and because they are fragile objects, “much like the political arrangements at Stormont”.

The subsequent Q&A session started with a big question, what will the next 30 years of photography in Northern Ireland look like? Colin Graham answered with suggestions of internationalisation (mutual influences from home and abroad), portraiture without identity labelling (e.g. the work of Gareth McConnell), and landscape photography as an existential project.

In a question regarding the interests of the next generation of photographers in Northern Ireland, Donovan Wylie said that his course students at the University of Ulster are talking more about global issues than parochial ones. But a reply from the audience said that this was perhaps because such young people are consciously electing not to deal with the intricacies of communal politics in Northern Ireland. This provoked a quick review of Hannah Starkey’s work: she is from Northern Ireland but is it obvious in her work?

Post Traumatic Exorcism series by Malcom Craig Gilbert.

Here, Colin Graham suggested the work of Malcolm Craig Gilbert, Post Traumatic Exorcism, which Gilbert describes as images of the dreams inside his head. As a former RUC officer, the Northern Ireland influences are there to be seen. Yet the chosen theme of trauma can be interpreted and understood by a wider audience.

With a sense of wryness, Colin Graham mooted whether “Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography” condemned those exhibited to history. He looks forward to the next 30 years of photography in Northern Ireland, but wants new photographers to react to what has been done so far, not imitate it.

Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography exhibition is held at Belfast Exposed (21 Donegall Street) and The MAC (Saint Anne’s Square), from 10th May to 7th July. The accompanying book is available to purchase (£30) at both venues.

I woke up next to my partner, to a spokesperson from the Stroke Association talking about their new report, “Feeling overwhelmed: The emotional impact of stroke”:

“Are you listening to this?” I asked Madame Oui.

“Yes.”

My wife had a stroke in February 2012. Her remarkable recovery is a long story, one which we are currently co-writing a book about.

Since her injury, I have been so impressed with the quality of health care, from the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Hospital literally saving her life, to the integrated in-patient rehabilitation services at the Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit (RABIU) at Musgrave Park Hospital, continuing to the Community Stroke Team at Bangor Community Hospital. There are so many professionals to thank.

This is reflected quantitatively by the “Feeling overwhelmed” report, which had 1,774 responses from stroke survivors and 937 from carers. The much smaller segment of responses from Northern Ireland creates statistical caution. Yet it is still worth examining our variances with the rest of the UK, in this case favourably in regards to care in hospital, where 9 out of 10 Northern Ireland stroke survivors agreed or strongly agreed that they were well looked after in hospital (in contrast to about 70% from the rest of the UK):

Q. When in hospital I felt well looked after and cared for by hospital staff:

However, in the area of psychological services and emotional support, there is far from coherent or comprehensive provision, at least from what Madame Oui and I have experienced.

From stroke survivors, Northern Ireland’s variance from the rest of the UK indicates that something is clearly not right, with half “strongly agree” that their emotional needs are not as well looked after:

Q. My emotional needs are not looked after as much as my physical needs:

Madame Oui and I have been fortunate to avail of emotional support from a variety of local charities: counselling services from Headway; a self management course from Chest, Heart & Stroke; and a befriending service from the Stroke Association.

But it is the time that she had to wait that concerns me. While RABIU has an in-house clinical psychologist, it was only when Madame Oui was discharged did more practical, non-hospital services become available. That was five months from injury and a lot of ground lost. Indeed, within our wider family she was the last person to receive formal emotional support; obviously she should have been the first.

So, I support the recent health consultation in Northern Ireland, Transforming Your Care (2011), which includes recommendations around promoting mental health and wellbeing.

Yet “Feeling Overwhelmed” shows how much more needs to be done in regards to addressing the emotional impact of stroke, for both survivors and their carers.

Its recommendations include:

• Recognise that emotional support is just as crucial for recovery as physical rehabilitation
• Survivor’s emotional wellbeing should also be a key part of their health and social care plans
• Increase investment in provision of clinical psychologists, both in hospital and in the community
• Ensure the monitoring and publishing of data on the long-term emotional experiences of survivors, carers and families
• Ensure that health and social care providers share best practice

For me, I am supporting the Stroke Association’s campaign efforts with this declaration that I will be pursuing this specific issue of emotional support with appropriate organisations and elected representatives at all levels, to improve the quality of provision and recovery outcomes.

Quintin Oliver (Director, Stratagem)

As part of its 15th anniversary celebrations, Stratagem hosted a political drama film and discussion event at The MAC.

Stratagem Director, Quintin Oliver, explained how he was motivated by a gift request from his son for a box set of the West Wing series. “He said it would be educational. I realised it was as much for me as it was for him,” Quintin said, making him ponder why there wasn’t a similar political drama series for “the Hill, in the Bay and at Holyrood” (Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament). “Is it because we don’t find our politics interesting enough, or are we too cynical even to watch politicians?” he asked.

Arlene Foster MLA (Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment) remarked on the strength of the creative industry in Northern Ireland. She also said that local politicians are able to take the satire or other dramatic portrayal, but “does the audience want it? Would they watch it? Are we mature enough for political drama here in Northern Ireland?”

A montage of clips from political dramas elsewhere was shown — learning about filibusters (West Wing), forming a coalition Government (Borgen), making life difficult for your political opponent (Party Animals), and the hard personal and political perspective of conflict negotiations (Mo).

The subsequent discussion panel included Simon Heath (Producer, BBC 2 series Party Animals), Tim Loane (Lead Writer, Teachers), Neil McKay (Producer, Mo), Mads Qvortrup (Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Cranfield University), and Lesley Riddoch (Broadcaster and Commentator).

Earlier in the day, Lesley and Mads discussed political drama with Wendy Austin on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme.

And later in the day, Neil McKay and Tim Loane did the same on UTV Live Tonight.

After the Stratagem event, I had the pleasure of joining the panel guests for dinner. Mads educated me on the origin of Borgen — a Dutch book about internal Conservative Party politics (Solitaire Royale) inspired a Dutch film of the same name, which in turn inspired a Dutch celebrity chef, Adam Price, to write Borgen.

We also carried forward the discussion on fantasy political drama projects. I made a pitch for a piece of political fiction — the American patriots don’t achieve a conclusive victory in the War of Independence; Westminster acknowledges and funds an American Loyalist Assembly (probably situated in upstate New York); and the Founding Fathers have to include this dimension as they draw up the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Unsurprisingly, none around the dinner table got excited about my proposal!

Good Vibrations is a film about Belfast music legend, Terri Hooley, who was responsible for discovering The Undertones and recording Teenage Kicks (which radio DJ Jonathan Peel famously played twice in a row).

UTV film critic Brian Henry Martin described Good Vibrations as “born, bred and buttered” in Belfast. The film is a total local production, from screenplay, casting, directing and production. This always runs the risk of the output being a bit twee, satisfying for the nearby residents but failing universal appeal.

Not so with Good Vibrations. It is an amazing film.

Brilliant in every way. The acting is top quality, by lead actor Richard Dormer and all others. The contextualisation is handled very well — challenging to set the scene during the Troubles without it getting too depressing. The direction is spot on, keeping the story moving along and ensuring a consistency of performance (just one scene where a female pedestrian walking alongside them was a distraction).

And superb editing, which film editor Nick Emerson explained during a post-screening Q&A session,  as part of QFT Film Club:

Nick learned about the Good Vibrations film project while finishing another on the film Cherrybomb, in 2008. A lot of time was spent in raising funds to ensure the film could get made.

He told us editing challenges. Any film has a “long film”, that from which you edit. In the case of Good Vibrations, this was two-and-a-half hours long, complicated by their desire to keep adding material! Another challenge was the fact that they were dealing with someone’s legacy (and of someone still alive as well as everyone who experienced the events). The film was “fun to do, but there was stuff not to be trivialised,” Nick said.

Nick expands on this by describing how so many involved with the film, the directors, producers, cast and himself, all grew up during the Troubles and were affected by it:

“We spent a full week watching [the archives]. It was very, very traumatic. There were some very unpleasant things to watch … We were all from here. Belfast made us the way we are: even if you tried not to, you couldn’t help but bring Belfast into the piece.”

Simon Wood from Northern Visions asked Nick whether he was afraid of meeting real people on the street, who might react negatively to their portrayal in the film. “At the end of the day it’s not a documentary. You need to be true to the story,” answered Nick.

Nick described Terri Hooley’s involvement in the film. Glenn (Delaney?) had a series of conversations with Terri over years, and Terri was present on the set during filming, but Nick added that Terri was respectful of the process and didn’t interfere.

In regards to music selection, “it was a pleasure when you were dealing with so many great tracks”. I asked Nick if there was going to be a soundtrack, as well as where we could get an unabridged list of tracks he dealt with. “We’re working on it” and “Spotify” were his replies.

The final comment from the audience was from someone who knew Terri “for a very long time”:

“I always knew Terri as a person with a great love for music. He had a great love for people, so he did. As a matter of fact, he gave me a lot of records, never even charged me for them.”

Nick replied, “I hope that came across [in the film]. Terri has a heart of gold. He’s such a good soul … He undoubtedly did a tremendous amount for the kids here in the 1970s and 80s.”

Good Vibrations is indeed a heart-warming and uplifting story of a man and place in troubled times.

Although the DUP dismisses the Good Friday Agreement for all its faults, it is hard to deny that that long-negotiated document set the framework under which our politics takes place, with its separation of powers (perhaps too separate), all-inclusive Executive (though lack of collective responsibility), and peculiar voting systems (bifurcated communal designations).

Yet this Belfast Agreement contains crucial elements that would be found in any enduring democracy — equality of treatment under the law, mutual respect for one’s national identities, and a pledge to develop human rights and improve community relations.

It is easy to feel disappointed by a loss of optimism since the euphoric achievement of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement fifteen years ago.

But that would be a cynical exercise of faulting party politics, while neglecting the potential of a new Northern Ireland.

And why would we leave it only to politicians to deliver a new Northern Ireland?

One vital dimension of our society that helped us reach agreement is our civility.

Our collective civility towards one another thankfully outweighed our barbarism towards one another.

As is often said, you can’t legislate for peace. But we need to give better recognition of how we behave towards one another outside the framework of formal law.

I call this the “civic rules of the game”.

This was part of a “civic conversation” sponsored and convened by RSA Ireland (and facilitated by the International Futures Forum), chaired by Denis Stewart and held at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast.

I argue that the Good Friday Agreement codifies a set of civic rules of the game, but too many of us haven’t noticed.

What are the civic rules of the game?

Our conversation started with talking about respect — our historical context of respect for neighbours, theories of social capital etc. This might be constrained by the power of the churches and the level of segregation in a community.

There are also the rules of protest. Civil disobedience is OK –- but what are you trying to achieve, what is your strategy, and how are you going to communicate what you are doing?  Who decides what uncivic behaviour is, and should transgressors be punished and how?

How do we make altruism the norm — giving more to society than taking from it. There are issues about existing distributions between the better off and the less well off.  What is the role of the state –- in the original shared future policy, the document described the state as a neutral arbitrator, able to facilitate change.  We need a longer conversation on that –- the role of the state in civic society is important.

We talked about the rules of debating -– better ‘critiquing’.  Learning the skills of conversation, critiquing, risk-taking, exploring ideas. Debate is win/lose; critique is not.  Lawyers are trained to understand and represent the other point of view. This skill needs to become more widely evident in our public discourse, not least among politicians and community leaders. We meet politicians and community leaders who seem to understand another person’s point of view. But on a public stage they behave very differently.

The role of the arts came up. If you want a civic conversation that does not step into big politics then do it through the arts: ICAN and the Theatre of Witness programme at the Playhouse Theatre are amazing, as are Replay Productions’ engagement with young people.

Self-esteem is a necessary prerequisite to have the courage to critique. There is a lot of work to be done with/through our school system for the benefit of young people –- and their parents/carers as well. Inter-generational projects are valuable. We need to get serious about where some of the problems lie.

There is potential to share our rich cultural stories (arts, science, technology, etc.). As UK City of Culture 2013, Derry-Londonderry is turning that into an asset. We should be able to do that across the whole of Northern Ireland.

We concluded with Denis’s suggestion that we could think about the possibility of developing a sort of ‘Northern Irish Constitution’ -– through conversational processes that mixed the political and the civic aspects of our society. Mari Fitzduff (founding director of the Community Relations Council) has said that people rarely change identities, but they can change behaviour according to norms and incentives.

So let’s write down some norms.

What are the values of Northern Ireland? What are our aspirations and desires?

Can we grow a genuinely shared Northern Irish identity, not as a national identity but as a civic identity? Our national identity is already established:  British, Irish or both.

How do we then codify the rules of civic engagement, reflecting our values?

I very much want you to be part of further civic conversations. Starting now with your comments please.

Self-Portrait with Hand to Cheek (1977/1978), Andy Warhol

Another art exhibition review in less than a week. This isn’t my day job, honest.

After a work related meetup at the MAC Belfast, I toured the Andy Warhol exhibition. This was my first time at the MAC, so I was inspecting the venue, too.

I’m excited that Belfast has at long last a contemporary arts venue, after decades of going into the Ulster Museum to be greeted by a dinosaur. (The renovated Ulster Museum still greets you with a dinosaur; the modern art is usually spiralled away on the top floor.)

A greeter at the entrance of the MAC said hello. That welcoming feeling soon wore away when I asked for a gallery map, and was told there was one in the £3 tour guide for the Warhol exhibition. Three pounds for a gallery map?

The MAC is actually better described as a venue for examining and exploring creativity. The rooms are all disjointed, on all levels. Great when seeking a hideaway space for solitude or collaboration. Not so great for exhibitions that span more than one room. I wasn’t the only one who got lost in trying to follow the sequence of rooms.

And the exhibition itself?

Not bad actually.

I reckon the exhibition starts in the basement, with “Warhol: A life on film”. A 28-minute loop film was running, showing interviews with those who knew him. After getting the gist, I climbed the stairs and searched around for the next room, “Warhol on marketing, celebrity and himself”. This was predominantly two walls of film posters that showed the evolution of Warhol the brand. My favourite was “Il cinema di Warhol”, with the artist’s name incorporated in a Pepsi-Cola logo.

In this section was a room that contained an installation of floating silver, rectangular balloons. Perhaps inspiration for Jeff Koons’ balloon art?

I thought that the way to finish off painting for me would be to have a painting that floats, so I inverted the floating silver rectangles that you fill up with helium and let out of your windows.

Next room was harder to find, but the largest by far. And this is where the curation worked best for me. Plenty of space to stand back and take in the large silkscreens. Appropriate for a Northern Ireland audience, there were “Repent and Sin No More!” and “The Mark of the Beast”. Both works are dated 1985/1986, near the time of Andy Warhol’s death and when I was making his discovery in my university art history courses. (I should have made an effort to see him during an exhibition in Newport, Rhode Island, the year before!) The works on display in this room bear out Warhol’s preoccupation with war, death and religion. A fitting finale to this pop art icon.

It was good to see the MAC so busy on Easter Tuesday, which was open for this public holiday only observed in Northern Ireland. (I still don’t understand why the God-fearing people of Ulster don’t observe Good Friday, but that’s another issue.)

I look forward to returning to the MAC for future events, having passed an initiation of navigating its modern architecture.

An exhibition of the GAC — Revealed — is on display at the Ulster Museum from 15 March – 9 June. I popped in today for an inspection. (NB. no information on Ulster Museum home page!)

As the art covers five centuries, it was always going to be a tough challenge to curate a selection. At first, the presentation of so many varied artists appears eclectic. But this reflects the time and places of acquisition and display in the embassies and official buildings around the world.

A complimentary exhibition guide explains how works are selected for such display: Ministers make visits in person at the GAC and make a selection from a pre-curated short list, reflecting physical considerations (size and scale of place to be displayed) as well as the Minister’s personal preferences.

A related book, Art, Power, Diplomacy: Government Art Collection, The Untold Story, is also available at the museum bookshop.

A few particular items among the menagerie shown at the Revealed exhibition caught my eye.

From the past, there is a trilogy of queens from the 16th and 17th centuries: Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) (Ministry of Justice, London); Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587) (10 Downing Street, London); and Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, consort of James VI (HM Ambassador’s Residence, Copenhagen). For the unfamiliar, that’s a lot of history to explain in three paintings!

Compulsory Obsolenscence (2002) by Michael Landy

Compulsory Obsolenscence (2002) by Michael Landy is good modern art for me. It is a hand drawn record of reactions to his previous event, Break Down (2001), in which he reduced 7,226 items to dust. A post-installation work? A legacy of disappearance?

Wajid (2000) by Seamus Nicolson

I was pleased to see several photographic works included. Perhaps he would not consider these as street photography (ever en vogue these days), but Seamus Nicolson’s Jason (2000) and Wajid (2000) are carefully planned candid captures of contemporary British life at the start of the 21st century. Knowing when photography is art is difficult, but these surely qualify.

Peas Are the New Beans (1999) by Bob and Roberta Smith

Though Bob and Roberta Smith’s Peas Are the New Beans (1999) made me smile. In reference to what falls out of fashion becomes fashionable again, how many successive cabinets and revolving political parties has this work seen on its display in the Cabinet Office?

While there appears a deficiency in 18th and 19th century GAC works on show here (low acquisition and/or selection for official display in government buildings?), this Revealed exhibition is to be applauded. It brings a breadth of artistic styles to a wider audience. Indeed, I hope the Ulster Museum feels duly inspired to present more exhibitions such as this, to educate and expand our creative horizons.

There are a series of lunchtime gallery talks, including a free ticketed lecture on Tuesday, 16 April. My artistic appetite has been so whetted that I’ll make the effort to learn more about this Revealed exhibition and the work behind the GAC.

Julia Toffolo (Deputy Director & Senior Registrar, DCMS) lecture on Government Art Collection, Ulster Museum, 16/4/2013:

Breadboy is Tony Macaulay’s sequel to Paperboy, growing up as a young teenager in Shankill, West Belfast. I was delighted to be invited to the book launch, having also been to the one for Paperboy, three years ago.

Like then, friends and colleagues gathered, this time in the basement of Eason news shop,  literally a stone’s throw from Belfast City Hall, the focus of much recent unrest over a community relations matter of the display of the Union flag. To paraphrase Macaulay’s book’s introduction — reflecting “a city still feeding off ancient rivalries”, while perhaps “well past their sell-by date”, still appetising for some.

Patsy Horton from Blackstaff Press began by remarking that they wished they had published Paperboy, now recognising the power of Macaulay’s voice in telling the story of life as a young person during dark years of the Troubles.

Tony Macaulay read generous extracts from his new book. For those of us who read his previous book it was a comforting reminder of the cast of characters; for others it was an engrossing invitation, with Macaulay speaking in vox in situ.

After giving his thanks and acknowledgements, there were a few remarks by Mr Wesley McCreedy (aka Leslie McGregor). This was a live reminder that these books are honest accounts of actual events, superbly told:

At the start of 2012, I resolved to take a photo a day, a 365-day (actually, 366-day with the leap year).

I did it.

Most of the time the daily image presented itself subconsciously, whether walking to or from my office. In fact, when an opportunity presented itself whilst driving, I’d pull the car over and get the shot.

There were days, though, when the requisite shot hadn’t yet been taken by the daily midnight deadline, I’d search around the house for something of interest — not duplicating subject matter was one of my rules, so repeated self-portraits were out of the question.

So it was with a sense of relief when I took a photo of my gift bottle of port on New Year’s Eve (my favoured tipple).

I’m not repeating the exercise for 2013.

I don’t regret the discipline of visually recording my year. Indeed, I now have some beloved images that would have otherwise been stored in the recesses of my mind only.

It’s just that there are new creative endeavours that will demand time and attention this year (more on that later).

I’ve gained respect for those photographers who persist in image making, and been inspired by the work of others.

Although I posted the images daily on this blog, I’ve decided to consolidate them all into a slideshow for this posting (for anyone who would be interested in viewing them). I’m reverting to using Mr Ulster for the written word — thanks for stopping by!

(You can find my regular photography at Flickr.)