TWO 'influencers' came to visit Belfast and they called out some unsavoury truths about our shared city. Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield were, until this week, entirely unknown to me but they are big on YouTube. During their trip to Belfast they said that they felt afraid. They witnessed violence, open drinking and open drug taking. And they said what many of us have been reticent about saying.
When the genius behind the Movie Houses took the upper floor in CastleCourt and created the Avenue Cinema, myself and my granddaughter found a new treat. It is pricey, but once a month me and her went for a nosey in Primark, and went to the Avenue Cinema, got our popcorn and loved our girly day out. However, each and every time we came out of CastleCourt we were greeted by open drug-dealing and drug-taking. There were fights and shouting, and quite honestly behaviours that had they been on the screen inside the Avenue Cinema my granddaughter would not have been allowed to view the movie. But when we were coming out she was seeing it and I was afraid for us both, and afraid for the impact on her seeing these things. So this city centre treat came to an end.
There are wonderful city centre businesses struggling to keep going in an environment of ugliness, with vacant and, increasingly and deliberately, derelict buildings fostering an environment of decay. We have fabulous restaurants serving world class food whose owners must despair when their diners are looking out their windows at people smoking heroin. This is not one off, it is routine.
I know wonderful angels also walk the city centre streets supporting the health and emotional needs of those suffering from addiction, trying to mitigate some of the social impacts. They are stepping in where healthcare, housing authority and policing structures fail. They are supporting complex needs and it is God’s work. I also know that those they support more than deserve, and are entitled to, care and support. That these needs are so visible speak to public policy and resourcing failures that are systemic, generational, and arise from deep and significant underinvestment.
Let’s not pretend, though, that Belfast city centre is family-friendly or feels safe. When the fire in Primark devastated the city centre Belfast City Hall responded with wonderful initiatives that made the streets feel like a joyful and free place for children and families. It was attractive and innovative, and felt like a moment when meaningful change was possible. The lockdown then changed the dynamic and something dark fell over the city, resulting in something we need to call out.
Of course Belfast is fabulous, with caring and wonderful people who dedicate their lives to support, kindness and love. But a structural change is required that tower blocks of student accommodation cannot mask. Families and public safety must be at the heart of Belfast’s development. Family homes and services could be at the heart of planning permissions rather than adult entertainment and booze-filled plans. Safe paths filled with flowers and trees, not drug taking detritus.
A city centre where value, love and care are meaningful and long-term.
