Groundbreaking US tourism, business and trade mission – a huge success!!

Having returned and now rested from a whirlwind week of engagements, events, gatherings and scatterings at Milwaukee Irish Fest followed by a series of meetings in New York City the local delegation led by MP Paul Maskey and chairperson of Fáilte Feirste Thiar are in confident form as to the lasting impact the first of its kind tourism and business trade mission to the USA will have on our local development as an emerging destination.

The trade mission, was led by West Belfast MP Paul Maskey, supported by a cross section of organisations representative of the local tourism and business sector, including: Harry Connolly of Fáilte Feirste Thiar, Kevin Gamble of Féile an Phobail, local musician and representative of Gaeltacht Quarter Grainne Holland along with Sam Baker constituency manager of Sinn Féin and Frainc Mac Cionnaith events manager at An Chultúrlann.

The mission had two elements, the first being attendance and participation at Milwaukee Irish fest and the second element being a day of business engagements in NYC facilitated by Tourism Ireland and NI bureau.

Whilst in Milwaukee the group attended a host of events and engagements including:

·         Paul Maskey MP attending a lunch/event with Irish Fest senior management and The Ulster Scots Agency.

·         Paul Maskey MP spoke at the launch of Irish Fest.

·         Attendance at an opening night VIP reception which included policy makers, civic leaders, Irish ambassadors and tour operators.

·         Paul Maskey MP spoke at a civic reception at Milwaukee City Hall which was also attended by the delegation. Local media was also present. We presented the Mayor of Milwaukee with a gift from West Belfast.

·         We attended a lunch with representatives from Irish Festivals from across the length and breadth of the USA.

·         We attended a Tourism Ireland organised event on ‘The Gathering’, also attended by leading Irish American tourism figures.

·         Delivered two talks at ‘The Hedge School’ on Féile 25. Gaeltacht Quarter and our unique offering.

·         Attended a closing reception which allowed us to consolidate contacts.

In addition to these engagements which gave the delegation access to key individuals and organisations they also ran a stall in a section of the festival grounds which provided them with an enormous opportunity to showcase our destination to ‘would be’ visitors thinking about or already planning to travel to Ireland.

Needless to say they seized the opportunity that the stall presented which essentially allowed them to:

·         Secure group visits to West Belfast and Gaeltacht Quarter.

·         Secure commitment from at least 750 people that they will visit West Belfast and Gaeltacht Quarter.

·         Align our brand to other major Irish destination brands such as Shannon region, Titanic and ‘The Gathering’.

·         Showcase and promote our tourism offering.

·         Develop interest in the stall through the running of a jersey and CD competition, this proved to be hugely popular.  

·         Engage with festival volunteers and staff.

·         Showcase local artists in particular Grainne Holland.

·         Showcase our immense hospitality offering including local businesses.

·         Articulate the uniqueness of our product and showcase the vital role of the Irish language.

·         Distribute thousands of leaflets, programmes and brochures on our major attractions.

·         Distribute business cards for follow up to those expressing an interest in coming to West Belfast.

·         Develop relationships with TIL staff and other destination representatives.

·         Consolidate contacts with Milwaukee hurling club.

The second element of the trip was based at NYC and facilitated by both TIL and NIB.

It involved essentially a sales pitch to TIL staff responsible for penetrating the American market place and for all marketing of Ireland in the US. This was an insightful meeting with TIL staff embracing our offering and outlining a whole range of opportunities for us to immediately avail off. ‘The Gathering’ initiative featured very strongly here also.

NIB hosted a dinner in NYC which included leading figures from the art and cultural community within NYC including theatre owners, business people, Invest NI, Irish language lobby groups and leading figures within Irish America. This event allowed us to talk about our plans and recent successes. It also allowed us to pursue new relationships, consolidate contacts and showcase our investment prospectus.

Paul Maskey MP said:

“Since becoming MP we have adopted the attitude that nothing will come our way by chance, any investment or benefit to the constituency will have to be hard fought and we must get out there and grab it! This groundbreaking mission was part of that programme of work. Whilst in the US we secured the support of many influential policy makers from the world of politics, government and business. The real work begins now to turn the commitments gained into a reality and we have a programme in place to ensure we do that. The hospitality shown by all who we met was first class in particular from Milwaukee Irish fest – this hospitality is evident of the strength of our brand and indeed the goodwill that exists in Irish America. The challenge for us all is translating goodwill to tangible benefit”

Kevin Gamble Féile an Phobail said:

“From a festival perspective, the sheer scale of the Irish Fest in Milwaukee was overwhelming. Seeing 3,000+ volunteers working from noon till dawn across a 48 acre site to bring  a little taste of Ireland to the USA was fantastic. We would hope to build on this experience by further developing the site at the Falls park to incorporate a wide range of Féile activities, all at one site in the heart of West Belfast. This will help attract greater numbers of tourist, funding, local spend, jobs and also raising the profile of West Belfast nationally and internationally. We also had the opportunity to promote West Belfast, The Gaeltacht Quarter and Féile25, and the interest shown by people to come here next year and experience our own unique Féile and all that West Belfast has to offer was huge. “

Frainc Mac Cionnaith, Gaeltacht Quarter said:

“The Irish language and Culture was central to our sales pitch and was warmly received. It was what gave us the stand out in the market place we needed. This mission was good for An Cheathrú Gaeltachta and a further milestone in releasing its full tourism potential”

Grainne Holland local artist said:

“As a local artist it was an amazing opportunity to showcase local music and all that is great and good about our community and An Cheathrú Gaeltachta.”

Harry Connolly Fáilte Feirste Thiar said:

“As this was the first time we embarked upon a trip as ambitious and of this scale, we recognised from the outset that there would be key learning outcomes for us to develop and build upon. We developed an appreciation of the sheer scale of the US market and the yet untapped tourism and business potential that resides there for our benefit. We need to continue the momentum gained from this trip as we head towards a hugely significant year for us in 2013 with the anniversary celebrations of Féile 25 and Blain Na Gaelige - celebrating the Irish language. Trips like this set us up for what’s down the line. We have proven yet again that our brand is strong, unique and resonates within the international market place. Now is the time to seize the moment and see the real impact on the ground by way of increased investment in our tourism assets and by a further increase in tourism footfall.”

A big thank you to all our funders and sponsors. A cocktail of funding made the trip possible with a number of organisations providing additional in kind support. This included:

·         Foras Na Gaelige - Sponsorship

·         Ortus Business Development Agency - Sponsorship

·         Belfast City Council – Funding

·         NI Bureau (NIB) – Hosted a dinner with leading cultural figures in NYC.

·         Tourism Ireland (TIL) – Advice, support and set up meetings with their staff and some Irish American publications.

·         O’Neill’s sportswear – Design of promotional merchandise (in kind).

·         American Holidays – Sponsorship

Two weeks – A short time in tourism!!

Two weeks ago today a delegation of West Belfast tourism stakeholders led by our MP, tourism champion Paul Maskey, fond ourselves negotiating the long avenues and wide streets of downtown Manhattan as we made our way to Ireland House on Park Avenue.

 Ireland House is home to Irish government organisations based in USA and home to Tourism Irelands (TIL) US headquarters.

delegation at Ireland House, Manhatten NYC

The Tourism Ireland (TIL) team had agreed to meet us and receive presentations of our plans for 2013 as part of our mission to the States to penetrate that market place with the hope of increasing visitors to our events next year! (Post coming soon on Milwaukee Irish fest!).

With TIL staff there is definitely a warm, informal and relaxed yet ruthless energy and enthusiasm associated with their approach to the task at hand. TIL staff display these characteristics from senior management to their marketers to their admin staff, as they showed us around their offices and we began to set up for our presentations, the welcome was palpable.

We needed to prove to them that we meant business and we were in fact a part of Ireland that had a unique offering and visitors to Ireland needed and wanted to experience our offering!

We achieved what we set out to do with the TIL staff and they outlined a number of quick wins that we can work on immediately but as the meeting finished and drew to a close our conversation turned to the Notre Dame and Navy game and the work TIL were doing around this to capitalise on a captive US audience. They informed us that more Americans will be in town (An American phrase I picked up!) for this game (played in Dublin’s Aviva on Saturday) than there was in London for the Olympics!

So in terms of proving we mean business and that our brand is worthy – today, 2 weeks later, four guys aged from mid 20’s to early 60’s and dressed with fighting Irish T-shirts and jerseys were negotiating the roads and avenues around West Belfast. I chatted with them briefly and just as I thought - they were in town for the game, they then got tickets for the other big game in Dublin and with two days to go before they headed back home they drove North and wanted to spend some time specifically on the Falls Road – Now if that’s not endorsement of an emerging product then I don’t know what is!!

Public art in the Community

In this Blog we have Deirdre Mackel telling us about public art in West Belfast and why it is important.

Public art in the Community

By

Deirdre Mackel

Arts Programme Manager

Upper Springfield Development Trust

I have always had a strong affinity for West Belfast as I was born here and have always lived here. So I am very passionate about the work that I do. Before starting my job as Arts Programme Manager for the Upper Springfield development Trust I worked as a freelance artist after graduating in Fine Art from the University of Ulster. I feel really privileged to be in a job where I can make a difference to peoples’ lives by bringing art right into the heart of the community.

What is integral to the work of the Public art in the Community Programme is the community participation. We run arts programmes that are very much shaped by the groups involved. Local people get the opportunity to work with various artists in a wide variety of artforms and the results of their work are publicly showcased and celebrated on the streets of Upper Springfield and West Belfast.

The ethos behind the programme has always been community development through art, using participative public art as a tool in physical regeneration.

The work is both cultural and issue based; for example we use art to raise awareness of suicide, car crime, etc. in a very positive and constructive way.

The project is now delivering on the West Belfast Public Art Strategy and a lot of the focus has been on participatory arts. The vibrant public artworks range from hand carved stone sculptures, artistic street furniture, murals and mosaics, to the more recent development of our temporary public art showcases, making positive use of open spaces throughout West Belfast. The project has gained a very high profile and received various awards.

                  

Some recent public art project examples include;

Dreamscapes

This Project aims to explore creative, aspirational responses to our rapidly changing urban environment through innovative approaches to participative arts. It provides a creative outlet, for people to reflect on changes in the environment and collectively express themselves through different forms of visual art.

The results of the project will be seen at a temporary public art showcase on the old Andersonstown Barracks site on 15^th March. This will be part of Féile an Phobail’s    Féile an Earraigh.

Brewerys Wake

We have been engaging local schools, groups and ex brewery employees in the Brewery’s Wake Public art in the community project. The project is using local history and participative arts to explore the legacy of the recently demolished Bass Ireland Brewery, one of the former largest employers in West Belfast.

Salvaged artefacts and photographs from the Brewery were used to generate creative discussion and ideas. A Brewery’s Wake house is being created and will be displayed at the public art showcase on the old Andersonstown Barracks site on 27^th March as part of Féile an Phobail’s Draíocht children’s’ festival.

Engage in Art Age

The aim of this project was to increase the quality of life of older people in our community by creatively addressing what it means to grow old, in West Belfast.

It consisted of workshops in visual art, storytelling and creative writing and resulted in an outdoor showcase of public art on the old Andersonstown RUC barracks site in October 2011.

It addressed issues which the older participants identified and the project provided a voice to creatively tell their stories through the written word and imagery.

This also resulted in a limited edition book with a foreword written by Gerry Adams and a further series of publications to be launched at a celebratory event in the Upper Springfield Development Trust on 3^rd February at 11.30 am.

Inter-Faces

Upper Springfield Development Trust Arts Team and Youth Teams, Féile an Phobail, Coiste and Divis Youth worked jointly on public art projects which have transformed a part of the North Howard Street Interface.

Each young person created their own design of their Pac-Man avatar face and all fourteen large scale faces are now installed on the palisade fencing at North Howard Street, straddling both sides of the Falls and Shankill interface.

This unique project has engaged young people from each side of the Interface. It has encouraged those young people to think about their own identities and the identities of others. It is also quite a humorous way for young people to portray themselves and their views of interfaces and the peace walls which are part of their everyday lives.

This project won the overall Public Arts Award in the West Belfast Environmental Achievement Awards.

I would like to thank the funders of the project for making all this work possible. These projects are funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. They are also funded by Department for Social Development’s Belfast Regeneration Office. The Engage in Art Age project was funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Arts and Older Peoples’ Programme.

Up and coming events:

The following public arts events are all open to the public and free of charge.

3^rd February Upper Springfield Development Trust, Book Launch of the Engage in Art Age Arts and Older Peoples’ creative writing book.

15^th March 2012 Dreamscapes Public Art Showcase on the old Andersonstown Barracks site.

27^th March 2012 Brewery’s Wake Public Art Showcase on the old Andersonstown Barracks site.

For details Tel  028 90236677

Email: deirdre.mackel@usdt.co.uk

Ag baint leasa as an dúchas / Building on authenticity

In this timely blog posted a number of days before the grand opening of our new flagship cultural centre - Cultúrlann Mac Adaim O Fiach. Irish language activist and director of Forbairt Feirste Jake Mac Siacais outlines how the Irish language has survived, developed and now thrives as an integral way of life and unique part of Belfast’s diverse history and culture.

The development of our language and culture is a central part of our tourism offering and has contributed to the success of West Belfast as must see tourist destination.

Building on authenticity

From its origins as a ford at ‘the mouth of the sand-banked river’, Belfast has always and ever reinvented itself, its people, from their native creativity, giving new meaning to their place, experience and existence, as they pushed new frontiers of industrial, economic, social and environmental achievement.

Yet, there were always significant parts of the city which due to marginalisation, and often exclusion, were never able to fully realise their potential and which were consequently, in the context of citywide development, unable to derive, or supply maximum benefit from their native talents.

As regards the Irish Language and culture, this was all too true for long periods of the city’s history and it was the city itself which was the poorer as a result. The Irish Language community itself never lost hope and was always ready to offer its vision and talent even if others were not always ready to listen to or embrace that vision.

Given the current fascination with cultural roots and riches, however, it is surely time for us all to realise that the Irish language and culture is rich raw material which we should be exploiting for the benefit of the entire city and all its citizens.

It is high time for the city authorities and others to begin seriously and strategically investing in these cultural raw materials, which have grown and continue to grow here in this part of the city, so as to transform them into products.

A planned and medium to long-term city and regional policy designed to do this, and agreed with the local Irish Language community, would give us competitive advantage and add to our strategic attractiveness as a distinct and unique area where people would want to live, work and visit as well as enjoying the benefits of and adding to its assets.

The Gaeltacht Quarter is both an appropriate and effective model for achieving this. It was conceived and is specifically structured to maximise the economic opportunities provided by the growing cluster of Irish language and culture-based enterprises. Over time and with appropriate investment this will produce a self-sustaining entity with people attracting more people, businesses creating further businesses, imagination firing further imagination: a living, organic village, giving extra colour and credibility to the idea of Belfast as a vibrant, open and pluralistic city.

Belfast’s Irish speaking community has never been shy of stepping up to the mark. From the visionaries of Shaw’s Road, who dared to dream the dream of an urban Gaeltacht here in Belfast, despite the formidable obstacles and the naysayers, there sprang a belief in the worth of allowing new voices to be heard in this city, among them the authentic voice of the Gael. From that belief and that vision sprang a cultural revival which has placed Belfast at the transformational edge of cultural change on this island and which if embraced by the city as a whole would make the authentic voices of this great city of ours audible throughout the world

The policy framework already exists in the Dutton and Deloitte Reports on the Gaeltacht Quarter and the methodology couldn’t be simpler: identify resources and opportunities in partnership with local people and put them to use.

We could make a real and immediate start by adding to the Culturlann’s wonderful new extension and developing the old Beechmount Leisure Centre site and the Irish Medium Trust building at the corner of Broadway. These would be a trio of inspirational building blocks and a clear statement of the city’s intent to put its money where its mouth is. It would also be a move which would have citywide and far-reaching implications.

It’s as easy as one, two three really.


Jake pictured here (left) with members of the Laocra Loch Lao GAA team at a recent mayoral function at Belfast city hall


Ag baint leasa as an dúchas
Ón chianaimsir i leith, ó d’fhás an áth ag béal na Fearsaide, bhí Béal Feirste aríamh a athmhúnlú féin, a phobal, óna chruthaitheacht dúchasach féin, ag tabhairt brí úr dóibh féin agus dá éispeireas, an pobal i gcónaí ag brú teorainn úra i rith ama maidir le dul chun cinn agus forbairt sóisialta, eacnamaíochta agus timpeallachta de.

Ach i gcónaí bhí codanna suntasacha imeallaithe den chathair ann nach raibh, i gcomhthéacs mórfhorbairt na cathrach agus an eisiamh seo, ábalta iad féin a chur i lár an aonaigh agus nach raibh, de bharr an imeallaithe agus an eisiamh seo, ábalta leas iomlán a bhaint as a dtalúin dúchasacha, nó socmhainn s’acú féin a scaoileadh chun leasa na cathrach.

I dtaca leis an chultúr Ghaelach de bhí sé seo amhlaidh ar feadh tréimshe mhóra de stair na cathrach agus is boichte i bhfad a bhí an Chathair iomlán dá bharr. Níor chaill Pobal na Gaeilge féin dóchas in am ar bith agus bhí an pobal sin ríamh agus i gcónaí réidh aisling s’acu féin a roinnt fiú mura raibh daoine eile réidh nó toilteanach éisteach leis nó bheith páirteach san aisling sin.

Ach san aois seo, ina bhfuil an oiread sin spéise ann maidir le fréamhacha agus saibhreas cultúrtha de, is mithid dúinn-ne uilig tuigbhéal gur amhábhar saibhir í an Ghaeilge agus an cultúr Gaelach agus go bhfuil sé i bhfad thar am againn buntáiste a bhaint aistí chun sochar na cathrach agus a cuid saoránach.

Tá sé i bhfad thar am ag údarais na cathrach agus na páirtithe leasmhara eile infheistiú staitéseach agus dáiríre a dhéanamh sna hamhábhair cultúrtha seo, atá i ndiadh fás agus atá ag fás go fóill go nadúrtha anseo sa taobh seo cathrach, chun tairgí a dhéanamh dóibh.

Dá mbeadh polasaí straitéiseach agus réigiúineach meán agus fad-tréimhseach ann, agus é aontaithe le Pobal na Gaeilge, leis an sprioc seo a bhaint amach chuirfeadh sé go suntásach lenár n-iomaíocht agus thabharfadh sé tarringteacht straitéiseach don cheantar seo mar áit uathúil inár mhaith le daoine cur futhú, obair a dhéanamh agus cuairt a thabhairt air chomh maith le bheith ag baint buntáiste as agus ag cur lena sócmhainní.

Is samhail cuí agus éifeachtach í an Cheathrú Ghaeltachta chun seo a thabhairt i gcrích.. Tá sí deartha agus struchtúrtha d’aonturas chun na féidirtheachtaí agus deiseanna eacnamaíochta a eascríonn ón chnuasach d’fiontraithe Ghaeilge a uasmhéadú. Thar am agus l’infheistiú cuí forbrófar ceantar agus Ceathrú féinchothaithe ar leith, daoine ag tarraing tuilleadh daoine, gnóanna ag cruthú agus ag cothú gnóanna eile, samhlaíocht ag cothú samhlaíochta: sráidbhaile beo, orgánach agus é ag tabhairt breis dátha agus creidiúint don choincheap gur chathair beoga, oscailte agus iolraíoch í Bhéal Feirste.

Ní raibh leisc aríamh ar Ghaelphobal Feirste nuair a theastaigh beart a dhéanamh de réir briathar. Ó na ceannródaithe físeacha ar Bhóthar Seoighe, a raibh sé d’uchtach acu aisling an Ghaeltacht úirbeach a fhíoriú anseo i mBéal Feirste aineoinn na ndeachrachtaí agus lucht a gcáinte, uathú sin a thainig an creidiúint gur rud fiúntach é ligint do ghuthanna úra a bheith a chluinstean anseo sa chathair, agus guth údarach na nGael ina measc. Ón bhunchreidiúint sin d’eascair an athbheochán cultúrtha agus teangan a chuir Béal Feirste ag croílár proiseas claochlaithe ar an oileán seo, proiseas a d’fhéadfadh guthanna údaracha na cathrach seo a chur ar a chluasa agus a súile don domhán mhór dá nglacfaí go fonnmhar leis.

Tá an tagarfhráma polasaí ann cheana féin i dtuairiscí Dutton agus Deloitte maidir leis an Cheathrú Ghaeltachta agus ní thiocfadh leis an cur chuige bheith níos simplí: déan sócmhainní agus deiseanna a aithint i gcomhpháirt leis an phobal agus cur chun tairbhe iad.

Thiocfadh linn, le chéile, tús dearfach a chur leis an obair láithreach agus muid ag cur le forbairt iontach úr na Cultúrlainne fríd deiseanna iontacha Suíomh Ard na bhFeá agus foirgneamh Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta ag an Bhealach Leathán a thapadh. Tríréad de blocanna tógála ionspioráideacha a bheadh ann a dhéanfadh ráiteas láidir go bhfuil údaras na cathrach seo réidh beart a dhéanamh agus infheistiú cuí a chur ar fáil.

Tá sé chomh héasca le haon, dó, trí.


Jake pictured with model of An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta.


For further information on the work of Forbairt Feirste http://www.forbairtfeirste.com/

German Competition winners arrive in West Belfast!!

In this blog Harry Connolly, coordinator at Fáilte Feirste Thiar reflects on time spent yesterday with German competition winners ……..

Pictured above are West Belfast’s newest friends receiving a warm welcome yesterday from our new MP Paul Maskey and our new director of Féile an Phobail Kevin Gamble, on the surface this may look like just another group of tourists enjoying another fantastic Féile an Phobail and bumping into a local public representative however that couldn’t be further from the truth because Christina Lowe -Bruhn and her family along with Andreas Rüther and his family are the lucky winners of a competition ran in a leading German travel guide ‘Irland Journal’.

You may ask why Germans are running competitions to visit West Belfast. Of course nothing ever happens by accident and this is in fact the outworking of a marketing campaign by Tourism Ireland (The organisation that markets the island of Ireland to the rest of the world) assisted by ourselves here in West Belfast and supported by German operators to ensure that Ireland is seen as an accessible, fun place to visit were visitors can submerge themselves in Irish culture and events.

It shows the strength of our local festival that from all the places in Ireland to choose from Tourism Ireland continues to plug West Belfast significantly. When Niall Gibbons current CEO of Tourism Ireland led a delegation to West Belfast in the summer of 2008 they instantly grasped the real potential of West Belfast’s offering. Tourism Ireland has stuck with West Belfast advised and enhanced our approach.

Tourism Ireland has helped to showcase West Belfast to the rest of the world at some of the most prestigious events in the world of international marketing. West Belfast has showcased at huge events such as the largest Irish festival anywhere in the world at ‘Milwaukee Irish Fest’ to the largest trade show in Europe ‘ITB Berlin’.

The challenge for us in West Belfast is to capitalise on all of this good will by ensuring our community continues to churn out events and product with global appeal whilst at the same time maximising local participation.

Timing is absolutely everything, as we happened to be having tea and a yarn with our new German friends in Caife Feirste another German family who have in fact been attending Féile events for the past ten years happened to fall into the company and of course that happened by accident!!

So farewell to Christina and Andreas and their respective clan’s who left us in absolute no doubt that we will be seeing them back at the people’s festival in the years ahead!!

PS – Next years German competition may have to be more of a brain teaser. The question for the competition was ‘On which road in Belfast are Féile an Phobail offices based?’ Now, German or not who wouldn’t get that right!!

Auf Wiedersehen

Harry Connolly

Tourism development Co-ordinator

It’s Féile time again!

Hi world let me introduce myself.

My name’s Seán Quinn and I’m the new Tourism Development officer for Fáilte Feirste Thiar, we are tasked with developing West Belfast as a tourism destination. As part of my brief and this blog I will be asking leading figures in Culture, Arts, Hospitality, Music, Irish Language, Sport, Economic Development, Business, Politics, and Community Development to write about their ideas and organisations and how they contribute to making West Belfast a must see for any tourist visiting Ireland. 

So our first piece is by Kevin Gamble new Director of Féile an Phobail

It’s Féile time again!

28^th July till 7^th August

Having grown up, lived and worked within West Belfast my entire life, it gives me great pleasure and it is with much pride that I introduce this year’s summer festival as Director of Féile an Phobail, the largest community festival in Ireland!

23 years ago this year, a group of West Belfast activists had a vision and a plan to show the people of Belfast, across Ireland and these islands, and internationally that we in West Belfast are proud of our culture, our heritage and our community – and that vision was made flesh in Féile an Phobail.

Once again, the staff and management have worked tirelessly to deliver a great programme, with a huge array of exciting arts, multi-cultural, sporting, debates and discussions, dramas, youth and music events for you to experience. This year’s highlights include headline music act The Stranglers, our famous comedy night with Des Bishop, Poc Fada in the grounds of Stormont, and the PJ McGrory Human Rights Lecture which will be delivered by the leading Palestinian spokesperson Hanan Ashwari.

We must also be the only festival to have three mayors launch events:

Lord Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile of Belfast (the youngest ever Mayor of Belfast); Lord Mayor Brian Heading of Lisburn; and Lord Mayor Jame McKerrow of North Down.

As a result of Féile’s success thousands of tourists come to West Belfast from places such France, Germany, the Basque country, Catalonia, Spain, and America. They also come from places much closer to home Derry, Dublin, Cork, Galway and Armagh. They all come to see and take part in events that are run from Twinbrook down to the City Centre, the debates, the music, the tours, the exhibitions and so many more.

A big thank you must go to all of the community organisations and artists who have been working on the ground creating the local events that are the backbone of our great Féile.

Finally, I would also like to thank Arts Council NI and our many sponsors for their continued support. I look forward to seeing you at the many events throughout the Féile.

You can contact me and Féile through our website www.feilebelfast.com, with links to our Facebook, twitter and emails. You can also call and see us in Teach na Féile 473 Falls Road. Belfast BT12 6DD or ring (048) from the South of Ireland (028) from the UK and North of Ireland  90313440.

Kevin Gamble

Director

Féile an Phobail

Belfasts Cultural Heart!

Here we are in Belfasts Cultural Heart blogging our first blog (is that blogger speak!?) - The maginficent Cultúrlann Mc Adaim Ó Fiach is currently undergoing a 1.5 million pound refurbishment set to be ready in time for the 23rd annual Féile an Phobail - the best festival in the world!! The Cultúrlann as it is affectionatly known marries the historical significance of the Irish language in Belfast with the modern hustle and bustle of modern living hence it is no contradiction that we find ourselves in an upstairs conference room undergoing social media training that will help to raise the profile of this must see part of Béal Feirste!