IT has been a full week since the 2022 Féile kicked off and what a jam packed week of family fun, debates and entertainment it has been.

As we prepare for yet another bumper weekend of activities, here are our top pics for Thursday at Féile: 

Trócaire Film - Short Films for Global Justice 

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 11am.

Join Trócaire to watch a series of short documentaries on themes connected to global justice, including human rights, corporate power and sustainable development. Learn about the experiences of Trócaire partners from Latin America to Israel and Palestine and hear the perspectives of young activists at home who are committed to building a just world for all.

A Struggle Thwarted

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 11:30am.

Kenneth Griffith and Timothy O’Grady’s 1982 book based on a banned film, Curious Journey, contained a series of interviews with republican veterans reflecting on the past. Now reissued, with an updated introduction taking in recent political developments in the struggle for reunification, it illuminates the conflicted period of the Tan War, the Treaty and Partition, and the fratricidal Civil War.

IPSC Palestinian Day Afternoon of Activities 

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 12pm to 3pm.

Join the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign on their annual Palestinian Day for an afternoon of activities including Palestinian lunch, bookstall, Palestinian solidarity goods, interview with Malak Mattar, Palestinian artist from Gaza, and Poetry & Palestinian films. Take 2 minutes to support Palestine – Join the European Citizen’s Initiative.

According to Brandon Lewis, the British Army/RUC killings of men, women and children were 'lawful'. Discuss.

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 1pm.

Brandon Lewis and the NIO insist that the ‘vast majority of security force killings were lawful’, despite mounting evidence that the vast majority were never even investigated. Using our own case files, legal judgements and evidence from the archives, an expert panel will reveal that this is a gross misrepresentation brought to us by the same people who are proposing an ‘Independent’ Commission and an ‘official’ history of the conflict.

Organised by the Pat Finucane Centre.

Our Ireland Also

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 1pm.

Elements of the Dublin establishment have increasingly sought to portray citizens in the North as less Irish than citizens in the south. The southern state is promoted as ‘Ireland’. There are numerous examples of this dominant narrative. Radio traffic reports, boundaries on weather maps, competition entry limitations and the marking of key historical moments.

This partitionist narrative causes real anger amongst Irish people living in the north. This panel discussion led by historians from across the island will discuss the roots of this mind-set and in conversation with those in attendance explore how this can be best challenged.

A number of Ireland’s best known artists as well as key cultural figures on the Island have agreed to share their experiences.

Chairperson – Cliódhna Nic Bhranair
Panel – Lorcan Collins, Liz Gills and Tom Hartley

Drawing Support

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 3pm-8pm.

In 1992, Bill Rolston published Drawing Support, with over 100 photographs of murals from the decade before. There was no initial intention for Drawing Support 2, but it followed in 1995.

Now, thirty years after the first volume, Drawing Support 5 has been produced, with over 100 photographs from 2013. Bill will launch the book and talk a little bit about his ‘mural hunting’, the hobby that got out of hand!

John Toland - Ireland's Forgotten Freethinker 

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 3pm.

2022 is the tercentenary of the death of Ireland’s forgotten freethinker and radical John Toland. Daltún Ó Caellaigh, historian and humanist philosopher will talk about Toland’s life as a tireless promoter of radical thought and toleration in religion and politics, yet he is without honour in his own country.

Scribes at The Rock

The Rock Bar, Falls Road. 4pm. Admission £10.

Louise Kennedy grew up in Holywood, County Down, and worked as a chef before turning her skills to writing. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed short story collection The End of the World is a Cul de Sac (2021). Her debut novel Trespasses, set in Belfast in 1975, has been described by the Guardian as ‘a novel distinguished by a quality rare in fiction at any time: a sense of utter conviction… a story told with such compulsive attention to the textures of its world that every page feels like a moral and
intellectual event.’

Ricky Ross’s music has melded rock, pop, blues, folk music and Celtic soul. In this memoir he writes movingly and with great wit about his formative years growing up in Dundee, his early forays into music and the beginning and extraordinary success, fallout, and re-emergence of his band Deacon Blue. He writes movingly and with great wit about the people and places that have meant the most to him, as well as his relationship with faith, politics, and the ever-changing challenges of being a musician.

Novelist & scriptwriter Damien Owens’s new novel, Duffy and Son, tells the story of Eugene, the owner of a small-town hardware store as he meddles in the personal life of his 40-year-old, live-in bachelor son, Jim. A quietly moving gem it is told with wry humour, tremendous heart, as well as a strong sense of community, which celebrates the messiness of ordinary lives. ‘Funny, sweet, charming’ – Dara O’Briain. ‘Charming, warm, touching and funny’ – Marian Keyes

My Name is Joseph

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 5pm.

This documentary details the story of young Joseph Rainey who was found hanged inside his cell in Hydebank Young Offenders Centre in 2013. It’s a story of one family’s struggle for truth, resulting in unprecedented findings after a 7-year legal battle against the Prison Service. The film will be screened followed by a Q and A with Director Seán Murray, Joseph’s family and Professor Phil Scraton.

IPSC Palestinian Day Panel Discussion

St. Mary's University College, Falls Road. 7pm.

Panel Discussion with Tim Hanley, Campaigns Officer for Amnesty International Ireland, who recently published a report entitled ‘Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestine’, David Landy, member of Jewish Voice for Just Peace-Ireland, Academics for Palestine and author of “Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights: Diaspora Jewish Opposition to Israel” and Keynote Speaker Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights defender and co-founder of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.

He is a co-recipient of the 2017 Gandhi Peace Award and is the author of BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. Chaired by Patricia McKeown, Regional Secretary, Unison N. Ireland.

Annual Caoimhín Holland and Pat O'Hare Award

Cultúrlann MacAdam Ó Fiaich, 7pm.

The annual Caoimhín Holland and Pat O’Hare award recognises those Gaels who have worked relentlessly to promote the language in the city. This year the award is going to ‘An Dream Dearg’ for the success of La Dearg 2022 and for their tireless and ongoing work around an Irish Language Act.

This will be followed by a monster traditional session. Free admission
Supported by Foras na Gaeilge.

Éire The Women's War

Áras Uí Chonghaile, Falls Road. 8pm.

A rehearsed reading of a work in development. Inspired by historical events. The Women’s War focuses on the role that women played both North and South in the 1916 uprising. They would change the course of Irish history. This piece of new writing was originally funded by the ACNI.

Historical advisor Deaglan White. Written by Victoria Gleason with contribution from Kathleen McGrath. Directed by Colin Carnegie

£5 per person, pay at the door.