Derry essays
Derry Essays 8: “It’s the ‘Alternative’ that unites us all…”
Guest contributor Middlemarch gives us a tour de force of the importance of music of what has been at times, a power alternative cultural force in the city. If you want to contribute to the series, or blog for our sister site listenderry.org, send Mick an email with your ideas at editor@sluggerotoole.com. more »
Derry Essays 7: Derry Culture or Londonderry Culture. Which?
Culture is a slippery concept to get a grip of. According to Chairman Mao: - “ People live and move in culture as fish live and move in water.” This is true of an homogeneous people like the Chinese. The people of Derry aren’t homogeneous but are culturally divided. A more apt view of Derry [...] more »
Derry Essays 6: So good they’ve named it several times…
Whether it is the Derry Air, the Londonderry Air or Danny Boy you sing, one sure thing is that if you’re from the North West you have a more than reasonable chance to have a fine voice and musical talent – and as a musician born from the musical Cassidy clan from Derry I don’t [...] more »
Derry Essays 5: Culture bid can help with Derry’s image problem
We have to admit, there’s something absurd about the idea of Derry as a city of culture. It would be OK if the other contenders were Beirut, Kabul, Baghdad and Tehran. But Derry’s competition for The City of Culture title comes from tranquil English cities where history stopped years ago. The maiden city is better [...] more »
Derry Essays 4: We are the greatest…
I have written many times about Derry’s importance as a European cultural capital [1], and every time I’ve met with relentless patronising from subjects of much-lesser cities whose only notable attribute is size. There’s a small snigger, accompanied by an oh-so-clever remark about “chips on his shoulder” as they slope back to their generic lattes, [...] more »
Derry Essay 3: Sharing our Past, Sharing our Future
A couple of years ago at an event to promote the Walled City cultural tourism attractions at Stormont, Martin McGuinness talked about ‘Derry’ and ‘Londonderry’. With those two words he gave explicit recognition to the multiple narratives that are required to tell Northern Ireland’s story. The story that Derry/Londonderry wishes to tell entwines Colmcille, Plantation, [...] more »
Derry Essays 2: A city on the border…
Derry is in the UK, true enough, but not only in the UK. The potential ‘UK City of Culture’ now stretches well beyond the boundaries of the state. Housing estates full of Derry commuters have sprung up in recent years on all the roads that stretch north, south and west of the city centre and [...] more »
Derry Essays 1: Precarious future of the living Protestant heritage
“Derry/Londonderry” is either an expression or stalemate or a statement of intent to create a truly shared future. The UK City of culture bid should help decide which it really is. Outwardly, the Jerusalem of Ulster where I grew up over half century ago has survived far better than I could have hoped. The physical [...] more »
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Books
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Hearing the Other Voice from the Grave: Why Should we Listen to David Ervine’s Stories?
Ed Moloney’s Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland has received considerable attention in the press and in the public realm since its publication earlier this year. Although the book relates the experiences of the Provisional IRA’s Brendan Hughes and the PUP/UVF’s David Ervine, much of the discussion has focused on Hughes’ stories [...] read our review » -
The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman) – an insight into a newspaper that’s maybe not so fictional
‘news’ is often a polite way of saying ‘editor’s whim’ Given the shift from print to online and e-ink, maybe Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists was a suitable first first book for me to finish reading on the Kindle. Considering the economic pressures on the newspaper industry, his novel perhaps captures the spirit and soul of [...] read our review »
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The peace process not such a good model after all
Which reminds me…. Platform for Change’s driving force Robin Wilson has produced a corrective to the notion that the lessons of the NI conflict are easily exportable. Like myself, Robin is associated with the Constitution Unit. He introduced his new book in a CU blog which I here reproduce. The water crisis in Northern Ireland [...] read our review »
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