Opinion

IRISH MUSIC SCENE: Exciting news from the road as live music continues its slow recovery

QUIET on set! Dancing is back, baby! Welcome, readers, to the first edition of Northern Winds on the road – coming at you from the mean streets of Bolton, England, where I type words from a hastily arranged one-night stop amidst one of the first UK tours from an Irish artist in over two years (shout-out to the Richardson clan for putting us up). And while the UK surges ahead with performances and live music, the North is not far behind. It was hard to miss on my end, but for those that didn’t get the memo, it looks like we’re out of the woods. the final number has been played and the ending dance sequence has been pirouetted, and dancing is set to return to the town of Bomont/Belfast as of the 14th of October. It was announced mid-last week that the Assembly would fully remove restrictions on indoor entertainment and that proposed gigs could go ahead without rescheduling. This was greeted with widespread acclaim and condition across both the industry and the public, with SHINE Promotions boss Alan Simms calling it “Great news” adding that he was looking forward to “finally recommence indoor music events in Belfast after a very long time.” SHINE would then go on to announce that their last event had been rescheduled and all 2021 shows would proceed as normal (barring illness). This is a load off the mental brow for a number of Irish artists who will be performing in the city going forward. Alt-folk songwriter and firebrand live act David Keenan will light up Limelight 1 on Wednesday the 13th; indie-rock quintet Brand New Friend headline the prestigious Black Box on the 16th (the first Saturday gig in Belfast with no restrictions in the longest time); and Megan O’Neill will eviscerate crowds at Voodoo on Thursday 21st. They’re just some of my recommendations, but full listings and tickets are available directly from SHINE Promotions website. The easing of restrictions also sets the stage for Irish artists with eyes further abroad while the likes of Cork’s Quiet Lights Festival (Emma Langford, Lisa O’Neill, Anna Mieke) and Sligo’s Spilt Milk Festival, which we covered last week, have a plethora of native talent. The likes of Eurosonic in Groningen – Germany is a one-way ticket to the upper echelons of the industry and the Irish are more than represented. Irish talent will be on full display for the international music industry in Germany in 2022. Online showcases will be available but if possible I’d recommend going – it's like Glastonbury without the mud. And as we approach the end of this week's Northern Wind, I can hear my touring party begin to load the equipment into the van downstairs (I think I’ll hold off on finishing until they get the amps loaded). And as such it’s only appropriate to fill this week’s spotlight session with the new Irish tracks that have kept us going through the miles of nameless, faceless English motorways.

WE SAY: Beattie Express hits the buffers

AND new(ish) Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie had been making such good progress. A camóg in the party political broadcast, Irish dancing at the UUP annual conference, positive noises on the need for inclusion, respect and equality.Then the Sinn-Féin-in-the-First-Minister-chair question came up and it’s all gone a bit pear-shaped. New(ish) DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had been asked the same question and refused to answer whether he would serve under (actually alongside, since it’s a joint office) a Sinn Féin First Minister. That’s not surprising for the DUP, particularly since the man formerly considered to be a relative moderate in the party has decided that reviving the party’s fortunes lies in fighting vacuous culture and identity war battles and talking tough on the Protocol. Doug had struck out on a different path, however, or so we were led to believe. But the first time he was asked to make good on his promise of a new kind of UUP politics, he failed miserably. Why he and his lieutenants refuse to say they’ll accept a Sinn Féin First Minister only they can truthfully say, although we all have our own thoughts on the matter. He can and does argue that it’s a hypothetical question and that he’s going all out for the First Minister post himself, but when the First Minister issue has brought his encouraging start as a self-declared progressive and a reformer to a screeching halt, when the uncertainty has cast a cloud over his plan to improve the party’s fortunes by providing a warm house for moderates and even non-unionists, then the refusal to come clean can only be seen as a very significant error. Is Mr Beattie afraid of being ‘Lundied’ by the DUP and the TUV? Perhaps, although his positive words and actions up to recently had already opened him up to that familiar possibility. Or is there a mindset altogether more traditionally grim and depressing behind a unionist leader refusing to say that he’ll respect a Sinn Féin First Minister if that’s what the election brings? That’s the fear – and it’s a fear that Mr Beattie and his party have done nothing to assuage. With clanging inevitability, the unionist refusal to respect the most basic laws of electoral democracy have led to calls for the legislation to be changed and the First and deputy First Minister to be made equals – in name as well as in practice. No big deal, the argument goes, it would get us over this bump in the road and nothing of substance will have changed. Except that unionism will have been rewarded for its refusal to acknowledge the equality of the ballot box and rewarding political parties for such supremacist arrogance will do nothing but store up huge problems for the future. The time may come when the office becomes equal in name and effect, but that time is not now. If Sinn Féin does gain the First Minister post (and that is not a given) they must be allowed to take it and unionists must take what the election gives them. Otherwise, what’s the point of Stormont?

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OPINION: As planet burns, action on climate change long overdue

Milan, September 2021. Youth4Climate delegates from all over the world meet in an attempt to goad environment ministers into radicalising their commitments for COP26 to be held in Glasgow in November. Towering over the speakers’ podium is a huge screen showing Alok Sharma MP, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and the man appointed by Boris Johnson as President for COP26. Unlike the fictional “Big Brother is watching you” figure in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (written in 1949), Sharma looks miserable and distinctly uncomfortable as two keynote speakers take to the podium. First up is Vanessa Nakate from Kampala, Uganda, the founder of the Rise Up Movement. Uganda has “one of the fastest changing climates in the world”.

ELLY ODHIAMBO: Irish and Ethiopian famines share a history

IT is tempting to compare the devastating Irish famine of the mid-19th century to the Ethiopian food disaster 140 years later. The Ethiopian famine went on for three years while the Irish one lasted nearly ten years. These two terrible narratives can fit into one glove, that is, the man-made causes of both disasters. In Ireland, the then colonial power, Britain, had her landowners keeping food prices artificially high and at the same time the government refused to license the distribution of surpluses to the poor Irish. People were dying essentially because they could not afford the food which was actually there. At the time, extensive commercial and agricultural wealth did not belong to the poor Irish, obviously. There was token emergency famine relief for the poorest of the poor and that was part of the state-manufactured famine. In Ethiopia, every single element of their famine was created by the state. When Bob Geldof, an Irishman co-wrote and sang of the Ethiopian disaster, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, the Ethiopian government of dictator Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam crafted a denial that his regime was to blame. The civil war in the country made matters worse. In the long run, the Ethiopian civil war ended up splitting the country, hence the birth of Eritrea.

THE MOTOR MAN: Vegan Volvo looks to new interior future

IS this something that is amazing, or is it political correctness gone mad? Volvo Cars is taking an ethical stand for animal welfare in its fully electric cars. Starting with the new C40, all new fully electric Volvo models will be completely leather-free. In the coming years, Volvo Cars will launch a completely new family of pure electric cars. By 2030 it aims to offer only fully electric cars, all of them leather-free.

ARTS: Being sent to Coventry for a cultural reconciliation

On arrival In Coventry, we asked at the visitors information outside the train station what might be on during that day. Mondays have a reconciliation prayer at noon with organ recital at 12.30pm in the Cathedral. As it’s beside the Herbert Art gallery where we were booked in at 2.30pm, we thought we would make our way there.

DÚLRA: Will the sparrows accept a house-share offer?

WHAT do you have to do to attract the everyday, common-or-garden house sparrow to your home? That was going through Dúlra’s mind this week when he was putting up the ultimate nestbox which had been purpose-built for a wee bird whose numbers are falling rapidly. Or to be more accurate, three nestboxes, all designed to sit alongside each other – a left, a right and a centre box with holes pointing in different directions. Sparrows love each other’s company so they are much more likely to use a nestbox if the extended family can move in next door. Then they can share out all the parental chores and the kids can all keep each other busy just like in a nursery school. If you have house sparrows in your garden, you take them for granted. Most people don’t appreciate them, and why would you when they’re just like a garden fixture?

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Picking up the pieces on both sides of pond

If hotelier John Fitzpatrick had the best line of the 2021 New York-New Belfast conference on 1 October and session chair David Gavaghan the best topic — a high speed rail line from Belfast to Dublin — then the best time was had by those who joined Rob Walsh's walking tour of the spectacular new Moynihan Train Hall.

MINDFUL MOMENT: World Mental Health Day allows us to relfect on progress made in tackling taboo subject

How times have changed for the better! Not too long ago mental health was a taboo subject. It was an area that was not talked about and unfortunately by not talking about our mental health adds to our suffering in silence. Today we have a World Mental Health Day - today, 10 October — to highlight the crucial importance mental well-being.

ANDRÉE MURPHY: A startling glimpse of the ugly Protocol truth

WHILE Facebook and WhatsApp went down for six hours this week Twitter came into its own and a most startling video of Englishmen discussing the Protocol at the Conservative Party conference emerged. Now, as dry as this sounds, please don’t switch off because the comments made at this event are going to be repeated and written down in the history books. The gist of it is this. Englishmen representing British policy makers and traders came together with Arlene “I praised the Protocol, but now oppose the Protocol” Foster (remember her?) and David “I wrote the Protocol, but now oppose the Protocol” Frost and talked about, yes, the Protocol. In the meeting they bewailed the actions of businesses on the island of Ireland who are finding new supply chains, away from Brexit Britain, which are North-South. This reasonable business practice, facilitated by the GB-EU-negotiated Protocol, is undermining the Union in people’s heads, so is, according to them, bad. Just stop for a moment and think about the implications of this. Gone were the faux arguments that the Protocol is not working in terms of trade, goods on shelves or tractors. This was plainly and simply an issue of whether people’s heads are in the Union with Britain or not.

GERRY ADAMS: Here’s your chance to reach out, Jeffrey

IS the Union the only reason why some working class unionist voters persist in voting for parties like the DUP when that party clearly doesn’t represent them on social and economic issues? In fact, the DUP often acts against the class interests of working class Protestants, Unionists and Loyalists, especially those from deprived communities, suffering from the effects of Tory policies. The failure, thus far, of parties like the PUP and other smaller parties to organise and to win more significant electoral support compounds this anomaly. So does sectarianism. I don’t buy into the current popular notion, based on recent opinion polls, that the DUP vote is in terminal decline. Unionism has lost its electoral majority but that could be turned around if its leaders got their act together. The scandals involving some of the DUP’s Assembly Ministers had a negative influence in the last election, but the DUP still emerged as the largest party. Its difficulties have increased since then. Its handling of the Brexit project was shambolic. The way its Assembly team treated Arlene Foster was cowardly, but then let’s not forget that Ian Paisley also was dumped, both by the Free Presbyterian Church and the party that he founded. Edwin Poots’ leadership tenure was notable only for its brevity. Jeffrey Donaldson is now leader with a First Minister who he cannot change and whose office he cannot occupy at this time, despite his desire and stated intention to do so. Of course the DUP could get over all these problems and its electorate may forgive them when it comes to the Assembly election. But for the first time in a long time the UUP, with its new leader Doug Beattie, is now standing on a platform which is different from the DUP, particularly on its approach to the Assembly and the Irish Protocol. The UUP have a lot of catching up to do, but its leader certainly has articulated more positive attitudes to social rights issues than the DUP. How that will play out remains to be seen. Certainly a gay unionist voter denied his or her right to marriage equality may have an electoral choice beyond Jim Wells’ dangerous silliness. But the UUP will also not represent the economic or social interests of deprived PUL working class communities, even if it improves its mandate. The fact is, Sinn Féin policies are more advantageous to these communities than those of any of the unionist parties, but the majority of these folks would not countenance voting republican in any significant numbers at this time. It’s all about the Union and perceptions about Sinn Féin. Those perceptions won’t change in the short term. And the Union? The DUP say it is being undermined by the Protocol. Everyone knows the Protocol is a result of Brexit and everyone also knows that Brexit is a child of the DUP. But will that affect their vote? Jeffrey leads a party at the crossroads. So what of Jeffrey? I won’t spend too much space here recounting his career highs and lows or take us through the twists and turns of his contorted narrative on all these matters. Or on his threat to pull his Ministers out of the Executive. Or the DUP’s absence from cross-border meetings, almost certainly in breach of the ministerial code. Jeffrey knows the game is up for old unionism. But he also knows it’s not over. So he is playing for time. He recently did an interview with Freya McClements of The Irish Times. In it he gave some interesting insights into his view of the country he lives in. That’s the same place we live in. In response to a question of whether he would move if there was a United Ireland he said no.

IRISH MUSIC SCENE: Belfast makes itself heard – and distributes a few musical gongs

WE’RE fast approaching one of Belfast's most celebrated new festivals, which will culminate with an evening of some of the best NI music of the past year. The Sound Of Belfast festival is approaching its eighth year of existence and promises to build upon the restrained success of last year. Amidst the pandemic, as it was, several online showcases and workshops were launched that continued to platform some of our best and brightest – but thankfully this year we can return to a real-life stage.

JUDE COLLINS: Let’s figure out the post-pandemic economics

‘SENSIBLE’ politicians and pundits regularly scold us for being fixated on flags and emblems, even (God bless the mark) on a border poll. It would be better, they tell us, if were to focus on ‘bread-and-butter’ issues (cue John Hume’s father telling his wide-eyed son that he couldn’t eat a flag). So what is the bread-and-butter outlook for Ireland? Is the bread fresh and crusty? Is the butter rich and creamy? Well, according to Prof Neil Gibson of EY Economic Eye Forecast, last year the South of Ireland was identified as the fastest growing economy in the world. And in recent days, the South’s Department of Finance says it expects the state’s GDP to improve this year by 15.6 per cent. However, the Finance Department is a cautious lot and urges the public not to go crazy with joy. This stunning 15 per cent-plus is due to the impact of contract manufacturing arranged in Ireland but undertaken overseas, notably in China, and very strong exports from the pharma and IT services sectors. Apparently, citizens should think more in terms of 5.25 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent next year. Which is an awful lot less but still pretty good. And our own dear NE stateen? Not bad at all here either. Danske Bank’s forecast for 2021 is six per cent growth and 2022 four per cent growth. As for the UK, the British Chambers of Commerce predicts 6.8 per cent growth in 2021 and 5.1 per cent in 2022. All of which sounds as though sunshine and roses will be showering down on both these islands in the coming year or two. But what about the truckloads of money shelled out to protect jobs and businesses during the Covid lockdown? Both the British and South of Ireland governments have been spending billions upon billions over the past eighteen months, keeping jobs and the economy alive. Won’t that come back to bite them and us? Not according to one economist, David McWilliams. He figures the European Central Bank has taken IOUs from any number of countries, and it’s not going to make the 2008 mistake of then applying austerity in an effort to balance the books. The EU doesn’t want another financial crisis like 2008, so it’ll not be demanding its money back in the foreseeable future. The interest rate for money is presently at an all-time low, McWilliams says, and Ireland should seize the opportunity to invest heavily in green technology, so that the kind of prosperity which oil brought to Norway back in the day can now be experienced by Ireland, if it invests in what McWilliams calls “our Atlantic blessing of wind and waves”. McWilliams was right about the housing crash in 2008 and I have a feeling he’s right here too. Besides, most of us figure out how a country is doing by following the news rather than the statisticians. And the news coming out of Britain these days is not good.

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