Culture in the classroom

This morning I visited the fife and drum class in Glengormley High School in my own constituency of North Belfast.  The tutor is Mark Anderson, who is a peripatetic tutor with the Ulster-Scots Agency, and there is a keen interest in the fife and drum tuition.

Nelson McCausland with the school's head of music William Hill and pupils from Years 9 and 11 participating in the fife and drum tuition, which is being delivered by Mark Anderson on behalf of the Ulster-Scots Agency.

There is also a fife and drum class in the Boys Model Secondary School and Mark Anderson is delivering tuition week after week in schools across the province.  This shows the potential to introduce this form of traditional music into more schools, both primary and secondary.

Nelson McCausland with pupils Holly Lee and Ryan McKay at Glengormey High School

This is good for the students, who learn musical skills and are then able to perform at community and cultural events.  It is also good for the school and for the cultural tradition of the fife and Lambeg drum.  It is important that such musical skills are passed on to a new generation of young people.

I was pleased to meet both the principal and the head of music in Glengormley and to hear them speak enthusiastically about the fife and drum tuition.  They commented on the benefit of the class as regards the personal development of the young people and that is something that I have heard from teachers in other schools that are participating in the scheme.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child affirms the right of children in school to learn about and enjoy the culture of their community and these schools are implementing that right. 

It is most encouraging to visit schools such as Glengormley which are introducing aspects of cultural heritage from the cultural community to which the children belong.  Some have introduced the fife and Lambeg drum, whilst others have introduced tuition in fiddle music, Scottish highland dance and Scottish country dance.  Culture has always been at the heart of the Roman Catholic maintained sector and the Irish-medium sector and it is right for the children and indeed the right of the children in the controlled sector that they too can enjoy and celebrate their cultural traditions.  Culture should be celebrated and affirmed in our schools and not left outside the school gate.

The Ancient Island Celts - are they simply a modern invention?

DCAL is sponsoring a series of talks entitled Exploring Culture and the first is this Thursday evening in W5.  The inaugural lecture ‘The Ancient Island Celts – modern invention or rediscovery?’ will be delivered by archaeologist Dr Simon James from the University of Leicester and the chairman for the series is William Crawley.

Dr James believes there are serious difficulties with some of the common, basic assumptions of Celtic history. He writes that the concept of the Scots, Welsh, Irish and other groups in the British Isles being called 'Celtic' evolved during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Simon James asks how far is it a rediscovery of a forgotten past reality? Or is it simply a modern invention, imposed on the past? His presentation will provide a highly visual and entertaining analysis of these issues.

The word Celtic is the name of a football club in Glasgow but it is also used in many other ways.  Yes there are Celtic languages but are Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire really 'Celtic countries' as they are sometimes described?  The word Celtic is sometimes used to link them together and to differentiate them from England and we see this in the names of a range of organisations, networks and competitions.

Is there such a thing as 'Celtic music' and what is 'Celtic art'?  Is a Celtic cross really Celtic?  In what way are 'Celtic spirituality', 'Celtic Christianity', 'Celtic knotwork' and 'Celtic artwork' really Celtic? 

This first lecture takes place at 6pm on Thursday 11 November at W5 in the Odyssey Complex – tea and coffee from 5.30pm.  The lectures are free and you can contact Catherine Lowe at: catherine.lowe@dcalni.gov.uk or 028 9051 5035 for further details.

You can also get an insight into Dr James's research at http://www.ares.u-net.com/celtmean.htm

Team GB or Team UK?

East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell has tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling for the UK’s Olympic team to recognise the entirety of the United Kingdom.

The official name of the team is Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but the brand name is the shortened form of Team GB, which excludes Northern Ireland, and this brand name appears on all the literature and information about the Olympic Games.

Gregory Campbell has called for this to be changed to the equally succinct but more accurate name of Team UK.

This was an issue that he lobbied on when he was Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure and it is one that I continue to lobby on today.

As well has receiving support from within the House of Commons, the proposal to change the name to Team UK has been supported by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Act of Remembrance

The main Act of Remembrance in Belfast is on Remembrance Sunday, which is 14 November this year, but each year some people who are working in the city centre or out shopping gather informally at the Cenotaph in the grounds of Belfast City Hall at 11.00 am on Armistice Day, 11 November.  This is the actual anniversary of the end of World War I.

They stop the normal activities of the day and gather for a few minutes at the Cenotaph to remember whose who died in two World Wars and other conflicts.

Last year several people approached me at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day and said that it would be helpful to have something organised so that there was a formal Act of Remembrance rather than just an informal gathering.  

In response to their suggestion I raised this in Belfast City Council and the Royal British Legion has agreed to organise a brief Act of Remembrance at the Cenotaph at 11.00 am on Thursday 11 November.   

If you are working in the city centre or out shopping on Thursday morning I would encourage you to come along to the Cenotaph for those few minutes to reflect on the service and sacrifice of those who died.  Perhaps you could also pass this information and invitation on to others.

QUB apology to Jewish academic

Professor Peter Gregson, the vice-chancellor of Queen's University, has written an apology to Professor Geoffrey Alderman, the lead columnist in the Jewish Chronicle, who was invited to join a panel discussion in the Belfast Festival, only to have the invitation withdrawn.  In his letter he stated that he endorsed the 'full and unreserved apology' already offered by the festival director.   I have already blogged about the background to this matter and do not intend to cover that ground again but I do welcoem the apologies.

This is the premier arts festival in Northern Ireland and it should be inclusive and fair, in keeping with the vision of a 'shared and better future'.  It certainly accommodates a wide range of events, provides a platform for a wide range of  perspectives and caters for a wide range of tastes.  However if we look back over a number of year there are some views and some types of event that appear to have been ignored.

The programmes may well have reflected a consensus within the cultural establishment but if there are views and interests that are not reflected or represented within that establishment, then the festival organisers should engage with those who hold those views and have those interests.  That is the first step on the road to addressing the problem of exclusion.

Recently I talked to Professor Gregson about my commitment to a 'shared and better future', a future that is built on equity, diversity and interdependence, and I was encouraged by his response.  If the festival organisers pursue that vision they will undoubtedly enhance the festival and increase their audience.  There are significant opportunities to reach new audiences who may never have attended festival in the past and surely that is good for everyone.

A King on Zion

I came across this today in the Fountain Centre in Belfast.  It is on the glass wall beside the escalator.  It is rather unusual and I wonder what inspired someone to put it there.  I have been at the Fountain Centre many times but have never noticed it before.

The first part of the text appears to be the New International Version of Psalm 2:6.  This is a Psalm that speaks of a world in rebellion against God but also of the ultimate triumph of God and it includes an appeal to men and women to be reconciled to God and so avoid the wrath of God.  The second part is the New King James Version of 2 Samuel 7:13 which is prophecy that the Throne of David will last forever.

It is extremely refreshing to find that someone felt led to incorporate a portion of the Bible in the fabric of a commercial building.

Putting the case for sport

This is a slightly expanded version of an article I wrote for the Platform piece in the North Belfast News.

As the Northern Ireland Executive works towards setting a budget there will undoubtedly be many conflicting voices.  As Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, I will be in there arguing the case for culture, arts and leisure.  However there will also be those who say that if there are cuts to be made then areas such as health and education should take priority over sport and arts.  Some will even suggest that sport and arts are simply entertainment and scarcely deserving of public support at all.

However that is a very superficial view of the situation because sport and arts are much more than entertainment.  They provide enjoyment and they enhance our quality of life but they do much more than that.

Earlier this year I published a new sports strategy for Northern Ireland and it set out a vision based around participation, places and performance - getting more people involved in sport, providing the right facilities for posrt, and helping athletes to achieve their very best.  The strategy also highlighted the contribution that sport makes to various aspects of life.

It contributes to improving the health of society, especially in tackling the problem of obesity and the illnesses associated with obesity.  Young people today spend more time than ever indoors, often sitting in front of a computer or a television, and this can lead to inactivity and obesity, which is a serious health problem in itself but also causes other problems.  Tackling obesity must be a priority.

We spend a lot of money in the Health Service addressing the results of ill health but how much better it is to prevent ill health by promoting a healthy lifestyle and sport has an important role to play in health promotion.  Prevention is better than cure.

Sport also contruibutes to education.  There is good evidence that young people who engage in sport and other healthy activities tend to perform better in school.  Competitive sport also enables young people to learn social skills and team games teach young people about working as part of a team.  We should not set sport and arts against health and education because they can contribute to health and education.

Yes, every department will face pressures but if we were to ring-fence every single penny in the education and health budgets, as some politicians are demanding, the cuts in sport and arts would be especially severe.  However the fact is that you could wipe out the DCAL budget entirely, close all our libraries and museums and stop funding sport and arts, and it would hardly do anything to meet the demands of health and education.

A lot of money has been invested in our sports infrastructure but during the years of the Troubles there was a prolonged period of underinvestment.  Now we are making up for that underinvestment and catching up on others.

Since my appointment to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in July last year I have visited many sports facilities and I have seen the imrpovements that are taking place but there is still a long way to go.  And here I am thinking not only of the planned stadium development at Windsor Park, Ravenhill and Casement Park, but of such things as the provision of more 3-G pitches in local community facilities.

Some time ago I visited a gymnastics club in Bangor and was pleased to hear that they had just had an influx of young people.  The reason was that a young gymnastics team had won Britain's Got Talent!  The success of the Northern Ireland team in the Commonwealth Games has highlighted the sporting talent we have in this country and the Olympics in 2012 will also increase the number of young folk wanting to play sport.

If we are to avail of those opportunities and provide the facilities for our young people, then we need to invest in sport.