Sinn Fein minister's 'cultural programme' (1)

Child with replica terrorist weapon at Ti Chulainn

For the past two years and then again this year, the Sinn Fein culture minister Caral ni Chuilin has operated a 'cultural programme' under which she has handed money over directly to the West Belfast Festival, Feile an Phobail.

In order to fund this new programme she has operated a 'smash and grab' policy, taking money away from other organisations and other programmes.  This may help to explain why she abolished the scheme to part-fund musical instruments for bands.

Under her own 'semi-secret' programme Feile has retained the largest portion of the money handed over to it and has then distributed the remainder to other groups which it has selected.  

There was no advertisement in the press inviting arts and cultural organisation to apply; there was no application process; there was no assessment process and there were no criteria by which applications were assessed.  Instead she and her department invited the West Belfast Festival to run this 'cultural programme'.

Gerry Adams, a director of Feile an Phobail

This was of course the decision of a Sinn Fein minister and the money was directed to an organisation, File an Phobail, which is a limited company with four directors, all of whom are senior members of Sinn Fein - Gerry Adams, Councillor Geraldine McAteer, Sam Baker and Harry Connolly.  Gerry Adams in the Sinn Fein president, Geraldine McAteer is a Sinn Fein councillor, Sam Baker is chairman of Belfast Sinn Fein and Harry Connolly was a Sinn Fein youth organiser.  The simple truth is that Feile is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinn Fein.

In year one of the 'cultural programme' the amount given to Feile was £479,000 with £21,000 for marketing and communications - a total of £500,000.  Of the £479,000 Feile an Phobail kept £254,000 with £115,000 going to the McCracken Cultural Society, an Irish language organisation in the minister's constituency of North Belfast, and another £110,000 going to the Belfast Film Festival, which was originally the West Belfast Film Festival and was founded by Laurence McKeown, an IRA hunger striker, as part of the Feile family.

I have already written about some of this today in my weekly column in the Belfast Telegraph and next Thursday Caral ni Chulainn and her officials will appear before the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee at Stormont to answer questions about this and other matters.

However there are just so many angles to this story that it is impossible to cover them all in one article, so here is another one.

This year, 2015-2016, a sum of £10,000 has been allocated, via Feile an Phobail, to the Ti Chulainn Centre in South Armagh.  Indeed of the organisations that money has been diverted to via Feile an Phobail, this is the only one outside Belfast.  So why did Feile an Phobail select it?  What is so special about it?

Ti Chulainn was established in 1999 as an Irish language centre in South Armagh, close to the border in Mullaghbawn, but over the years it as acquired a very distinctive ethos.

You may not be a regular visitor to the area and you may not have had the opportunity to visit the cultural centre but it has hit the headlines on several occasions.  The most notable was in 2011 when photographs appeared on the internet of children who were attending the centre and who were dressed as IRA terrorists, holding replica weapons.

Of course that is not the only reason why the Ti Chulainn centre has been in the news.

As a cultural centre, one of its attractions is in the grounds outside and that is the Provisional IRA memorial, dedicated to the men and women of the IRA in South Armagh.

It was unveiled and dedicated on 3 October 2010 and the main speaker at the dedication was Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MLA, while Megan Fearon of South Armagh Ogra Shinn Fein, now an MLA, read the IRA roll of honour, and Conor Murphy MLA, then Minister for Regional Development, handed over presentation to the families of the 'South Armagh patriot dead'.

So a Sinn Fein minister hands over money, with no application process, to an organisation with four directors who are members of Sinn Fein, and then they hand on £10,000 of that DCAL money to a centre that is home to an IRA memorial.  Yes I think we get the picture!  It isn't too difficult to work out why Feile an Phobail chose this as the only rural organisation in the whole of Northern Ireland to benefit from this Sinn Fein minister's programme.

This is just one of the issues that Caral ni Chuilin will have to explain next Thursday because, as the comedian Jimmy Cricket used to say, 'There's more.'

The plain truth is that she has imposed Sinn Fein cuts on arts and cultural organisations and programmes across Northern Ireland and has thereby damaged much of the cultural and artistic life of Northern Ireland in order to create a 'cultural war chest' for this and other equally dubious schemes.

Interestingly SDLP politician Dominic Bradley MLA, who is an Irish language enthusiast and an Irish teacher,had been a director of the company Ti Chulainn Ltd from 19 December 1994 but resigned as a director on 1 January 2010,, nine months before the IRA memorial was unveiled.

Culture in the classroom, including Orange culture

Tonight there has been some comment on Facebook about a situation that arose earlier today in a primary school in North Belfast.

 

The issue of culture, including Orange culture, in the classroom is an important one.

 

Bringing the culture of the child and the child's home and family into the school is (1) right for the child - it leads to a better educational outcome and (2) the right of the child.

 

In this post I simply want to quote one sentence from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  There are other relevant paragraphs in the UNCRC but paragraph 29c is the most relevant and specific.

States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to the development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living ...

 

In this case the 'state party' is the United Kingdom government which has signed the UNCRC and therefore in any part of the United Kingdom the education of a child should be such as implements this principle.

 

If a child comes from an Orange family, in which there is an affection for and affinity with the Orange Order and Orange culture, then there should be respect for the Orange Order and Orange culture in the classroom.  It should not be denigrated in any way and that includes denigration by the wilful exclusion of Orange culture.

 

To suggest to a child that Orangeism is something negative or divisive would undermine the child's respect for his parents and his family.  Moreover the exclusion of Orange culture from the classroom and curriculum would contravene Article 29c.

 

That culture must be included, not excluded, and should be included in a way that is positive and welcoming.

 

Any parent who is faced with this situation should refer to Article 29c of the UNCRC.  Then if the school ignores it and the outcome is unsatisfactory both child and parent can take the matter up with the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People.

 

We hear a lot today about 'rights' and children from Orange families or an Orange community have rights too!

Women's football in Belfast in 1918

A women's football team from the early 20th century

Women's football is increasing in popularity and gaining increased coverage on television.  However women's football was also popular during the First World War, when many games were played to raise money for charity.  It was helped at that time by the fact that women were starting to work in munitions' factories and they were invited to join the remaining male workers in their lunch-time kick-abouts.

 

However in 1921 the Football Association banned all women's teams from playing on the grounds of teams affiliated to the FA.  It was only in 1969 that the situation changed with the formation of the Women's Football Association. 

 

I came across a local reference to women's football in the Northern Whig for 27 July 1918.  This reported that the Ulster Women's Gift Fund - 14th Royal Irish Rifles (YCV) Comforts Committee had raised £94 8s 7d and that this was the proceeds of a Ladies Football Match at Grosvenor Park, organised by Mrs Walter Scott and Mrs Mercer.  The sum of £36 had been deducted for 'amusement tax'.

 

The advertisement was signed by Dehra Chichester of Moyola Park, Castledawson.

 

Dehra Parker and her grandson, James Chichester Clark (1931)

She was then the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Chichester MP (1874-1921) and was herself elected to the Northern Ireland parliament to represent Londonderry from 1921 to 1929.  Later she remarried and returned to the Stormont parliament as Dehra Parker, representing South Londonderry from 1933 to 1960.  She was succeeded by her grandson, James Chichester Clark, who became the fifth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Ardoyne Fleadh

Ardoyne Fleadh 2014

In an interview in the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday 6 August Paul McCusker , one of the organisers of the Ardoyne Fleadh, said, 'The Fleadh is very positive.' 

 

The interviewer, Lyra McKee, then assured readers that 'Since then the Fleadh committee has put in guidelines for performers to ensure there isn't a repeat of the incident this year.  Open air concerts this weekend will see Irish reggae band  Breagh and pop act Fusion play with The Wolfe Tones headlining on Sunday night.

 

The columnist also noted: 'At the end of its Press Release it says: 'Ardoyne Fleadh is very much welcomed by the people of Ardoyne and we would like to extend a hand of friendship to our Protestant neighbours.''

 

The Wolfe Tones, Ardoyne Fleaqdh 2015

So how did they extend a hand of friendship to their Protestant neighbours?  They subjected them to another Rebel Night with The Wolfe Tones, the grandfathers of 'rebel music'.

Someone who was there had posted a short Youtube clip of the performance, which showed that nothing had really changed.  My DUP colleague Brian Kingston then commented on this and the band responded but the Youtube clip seems to have been taken down.

Casement Park - Project Assessment Review

The Culture Arts and Leisure committee at Stormont is to meet next week to consider the Project Assessment Review (PAR) on the DCAL stadia programme, which was published this afternoon, and the Minister, Caral ni Chuilin and her Permanent Secretary have been asked to appear before the committee.

 

‘This report vindicates the decision by the committee to conduct its own inquiry into the emergency exiting arrangements for Casement Park,’ said the committee chair, DUP MLA Nelson McCausland. 

‘Once again the Sports minister Caral ni Chuilin has treated the committee shabbily.  The report was given to the media at 1.00 today but the committee members were only allowed to see it when it was put on the DCAL website at 4.00.  This gave the department three hours to brief and to carry out a damage limitation exercise.’

‘The PAR confirms that there are ‘major issues’ with the Casement project and we will want to consider the detail of the report carefully.  We will also want to interrogate its contents.  It will certainly inform our own inquiry, which will resume in a few weeks at the start of September, and will form part of the evidence.’

‘However our report will be more focussed and in-depth and will receive evidence from a wider range of people.  Some of those who will be coming to the committee in September were not contacted by those carrying out the PAR.’

DUP MLA and committee member William Humphrey said, ‘This report is a damning indictment of the department and the way it has handled the Casement Park project.  It is no exaggeration to say that it has been shambolic.  The minister Caral ni Chuilin is at the head of the department and she must take responsibility for what has happened under her watch.’

‘The report identifies serious governance issues within the project and confirms that there has been a shortage of skills, capability and experience in some parts of the programme.’

‘None of this would have exposed and the flaws in the system would have remained uncovered if it had not been for the intervention of Sport NI safety expert Paul Scott.  He must be congratulated for his courage in coming forward and it is imperative that his expertise is utilised to the full as the project is taken forward.’

‘Up until now the Senior Responsible Owner in DCAL has been the deputy permanent secretary Cynthia Smith.  However this review recommends that she be removed as the SRO and replaced by a new full-time appointment.  That is highly significant as the report says that the previous arrangement is an arrangement seen elsewhere.’

‘This review does nothing to remove the cloud hanging over Caral ni Chuilin for her oversight of the Casement project.’

Anti Internment League

The Anti Internment League is an alliance of dissident republican groups including members of Erigi, Republican Network for Unity and the 1916 Societies.

It held its first march through the centre of Belfast in 2013 and the organiser was Dee Fennell, a dissident republican from Ardoyne who is a member of the 1916 Societies and spokesman for the Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective, the dissidents' 'residents group'..

This year the organisers stated that they expected 5,000 participants, 4,000 supporters and 14 bands. They intend to start at Ardoyne Avenue and then make their way down the Cliftonville Road through the New Lodge Road and North Queen Street to Royal Avenue and then up Castle Street, Divis Street and Falls Road to Dunville Park.

The Parades Commission has approved the march but with the restriction that it must be past Millfield and away from the city centre before 1.30 pm.  However the Anti-Internment League have stated that they will only leave Ardoyne at 2.30, so there is no way they can make the 1.30 deadline - barring time travel!

When the determination was announced UTV contacted the organisers for an interview they said they would not put forward a spokesman in protest at the strict bail conditions on their chair, Dee Fennell. 

These conditions were imposed on Fennell after he was changed with encouraging terrorism ad inviting support for a proscribed organisation.  The charge related to a speech given by Fennell in Lurgan on Easter Sunday.  The event at which he was speaking had been organised by the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association and the bail conditions included a ban on public speeches.

However the Anti-Internment League issued a statement on social media condemning the restriction on timing, stating that they would break the determination and threatening the PSNI and the Army: 'The Anti Internment League ask all republicans, nationalists and human rights advocates to join with us at Ardoyne Avenue at 2pm on Sunday 9th August.  The days of 'croppy lie down' are over, let the State militia of the PSNI and British Army try to stop us.'

This morning I was on the Nolan Show on Radio Ulster about this and the other contributor was the Erigi spokesman in Belfast Patrick McCotter, otherwise known as Paddy MCotter or Padraic Mac Coitir, who was speaking in support of the Anti-Internment League march.

He was for many years a member of the Provisional IRA and according to The Independent (11 September 1994) he was jailed for 20 years for involvement in a gun battle with the police. His brothers Liam and Sean also served prison sentences for IRA-related terrorist offences and his uncle Seamus Twomey was twice chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.

Back in 2004, while McCotter was still within the Sinn Fein fold he was associated with the launch of An Phoblacht (30 October 2004) explained that the name of the club was taken from the writings of hunger striker Bobby Sands.
a new GAA club in Twinbrook, Cumann na Fuiseoige.  He chaired the proceedings to launch the club and Gerry Adams was the speaker, while Miceal Greenan, chairman of the Ulster Council of the GAA, officially launched the club.  Subsequently, an article in

By 2014 McCotter was a member of Erigi and stood in the Blackmountain area of West Belfast in the local government elections.  He had been expected to gain a seat but performed badly.

During the interview this morning McCotter was pressed by Stephen Nolan to condemn the murders of soldiers and other acts of terrorism but of course he refused to do so.  His contribution was nauseating and exposed once again the true nature of Erigi and other dissident republicans.

So tomorrow I will meet senior PSNI officers, along with my colleague William Humphrey, to press them on how they intend to police the weekend parade.  They got it badly wrong in Londonderry and we must hope they have learned some lessons.

The Union Flag, a flag for all!

A flag for Northern Ireland, that truly represents all of Northern Ireland, what could that be?

 

Well it could be an inclusive flag that reflects or represents the three historical and cultural traditions that have shaped modern Ulster, the Scottish, English and Irish traditions. 

 

If you go to Downpatrick, at the bottom of the hill that leads up to the Church of Ireland cathedral, there are three streets that meet at the traffic lights and they are English Street, Irish Street and Scotch Street.  That is a simple illustration of the cultural diversity of Northern Ireland.

 

In Carrickfergus there is a Scotch Quarter, an Irish Quarter, and a Church Quarter, meaning the Established Church as it was then, the Church of Ireland, a daughter church of the Church of England.

 

The aim then is to design a flag that reflects those three traditions. but what should be included to represent each of the traditions?  Perhaps the Cross of St George to reflect the English influence, the Cross of St Andrew to represent the Scottish tradition and the Cross of St Patrick to represent the Irish tradition. 

 

That means we need a flag that incorporates those three crosses and thereby is truly inclusive, so here goes.

 

An inclusive flag ... what could be more inclusive than the Union flag?