Ulster-Scots DVD & Events Reviews

NEW Killaloo Accordion CD

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:18:49 +0000

NEW Killaloo Accordion CD

The Killaloo Accordion Band, Londonderry, have released a New C.D. ‘LOYAL AND TRUE’.

Founded by the members of “Killaloo True Blues” L.O.L.621 in 1946 the band has been leading the Lodge on the Twelfth of July each year and has close links with City of Londonderry L.O.L. No5 District, Cumber Claudy L.O.L. No 2 District, City of Londonderry R.A.P.C. No2 District, Ballintine Heroes R.B.P. No 94, Fawney Fort R.B.P. No 143 and the Fawney Fort Branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry Browning Club.

The band also participates in many local band parades and concerts.

Killaloo continues with the traditions set out by its founding members, maintaining and promoting our culture and this C.D. features a wide range of well known marches, traditional music and hymn tunes.

At a cost of £12 ( inc p&p ) it’s a must have for the band fraternity and their loyal supporters.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY

TEL. Raymond on 07814330913 or online at raykab@hotmail.co.uk

Scots-Irish rascals: The making of America

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:59:01 +0000

Scots-Irish rascals: The making of America
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2012/042012/04062012/692146
How Scots-Irish Rascals Made America, by Karen F. McCarthy.
Date published: 4/6/2012
NEW YORK

--It was with some surprise that I happened upon the little known story of the mass migration of Protestants from Ireland to America in the 1700s, 150 years before the Catholic Irish arrived on Ellis Island. It was even more surprising to find that they have had more influence over the creation and character of the nation than the Irish of New York, Boston, and Chicago, the Irish of Kennedy repute.
My search for this lost chapter of the Irish Diaspora took me from Dublin to Belfast and into some of the remotest regions of the South. It was a journey on which I discovered the extraordinary contribution these intrepid migrants made to American culture and character.

I learned why they produced American legends like Davy Crockett, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King, why they became Second Amendment traditionalists, politically conservative, and devoutly Christian. I discovered what led them to invent country music and America's biggest spectator sport. I also learned what few Europeans understand: why no presidential hopeful seems to be able to win the White House without some help from their Southern enclaves.

From the beginning the Scots-Irish were a different breed. Hardworking, religiously devout Presbyterians, they arrived in the north of Ireland in the 1600s at the behest of King James I of England, who was keen to colonize the country. Despite constant fighting with the Irish, they managed to set up a thriving merchant colony and celebrated their ability to freely practice Presbyterianism, far from the interfering Anglican bishops of England.

Yet not 100 years later they were setting sail on brigantines for the New World, driven off the land by the English government's tax hikes, rack-renting, and religious persecution when their linen industry grew too competitive and their religious practices too independent.

On those ships they brought their expectations for a warm welcome in a Protestant country. But it was not to be. Their sheer numbers and feisty nature overwhelmed Boston, prompting one man to cry, "There are more Irish than people here."

And so, partly bribed and partly coerced, they tumbled down the Appalachians into the welcoming arms of the Virginia and Carolina colonial governors who were only too happy to have hardy settlers buffer them from the Indians.

They lived in a wilderness beyond the reach of government, forced to elect their own leaders and become their own law. Subject to Indian attacks, they could rely only on themselves to protect their homesteads and feed their families. This environment, filled with hardworking, hard-fighting people with an aversion to religious restriction, government interference, and taxation, was unlike anything in the more settled northern colonies. From it a completely different character and culture evolved.

WELL-KNOWN LEGENDS

In Virginia, they produced country music legends like the Carter family and Ralph Stanley. Elsewhere, singers like Hank Williams emerged, embodying the contradiction at the heart of the Scots-Irish--a poet who could move people to tears with his sincerity, yet terrify them with his violent self-destructive streak.

Richmond was the chosen home of Scots-Irish writer Edgar Allan Poe, father of American Gothic and predecessor to kinsman Stephen King, whose stories were influenced by the horrors from the frontier that were creeping into Southern folklore.

North Carolina is also home to Junior Johnson, the notorious Scots-Irish moonshine runner and race-car driver, whose rebellious outrunning of the law was part of a tradition that eventually gave rise to NASCAR, America's biggest spectator sport. But North Carolina didn't just produce rascals, it gave America James E. Webb, who helped put the first man on the moon.

Their feisty nature, partly derived from being under siege from the Irish, the English, the Native Americans, and the Yankees, has resulted in an entrenched militarism that has filled the ranks of the U.S. military, and given the nation warriors such as Stonewall Jackson, George Patton, and Jim Webb.

Their championing of governmental noninterference has entrenched them in conservative American politics and produced a long list of Scots-Irish presidents who have left a defining mark on American society: Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, and others.

Perhaps the strong sense of their own culture and identity was reinforced for the Scots-Irish by their history of fighting the Irish and the Indians, and by the Civil War and subsequent exploitation at the hands of carpetbaggers.

But whatever the reason, their history in Ireland and in America has shown: Leave them alone, give them a fair shake, let them feed and defend their own families, worship their own way, and entertain to their own liking, and they'll keep their spirits high, work hard, play hard, and mind their own business. Three hundred years later, it seems Scots-Irish culture is America's way.

Karen F. McCarthy is a political/war journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of the recently released book "The Other Irish: The Scots-Irish Rascals Who Made America" (Sterling).

New TV series lifts lid on Ulster’s war heroes

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:11:27 +0000

BBC Iplayer of the series here:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hzqzj

New TV series lifts lid on Ulster’s war heroes
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/new-tv-series-lifts-lid-on-ulster-s-war-heroes-1-3838427

New BBC One NI series Dig WW2 With Dan Snow Dan Snow in fron of Catalina Flying boat

Published on Monday 14 May 2012 08:15

THE “pivotal” role Northern Ireland played in the battle against Nazi Germany is to be revealed by military historian Dan Snow in a new television series starting tonight.

The three-part BBC1 investigation will look at the importance of Northern Ireland’s location in protecting essential supply convoys during the battle of the Atlantic, the military tanks built by Harland & Wolff, submarine hunter flying boats made at Shorts – and the bravery of Ulster soldiers.

The first programme also tells the story of the Northern Ireland pilot who would become the most successful U-boat hunter of all time.

“As a military historian World War II is a story I thought I knew,” said Snow.

“But now I’ve come to Northern Ireland where I’m discovering all sorts of incredible stories – secrets, heroism, suffering and valour. This is the untold story of how Northern Ireland played a pivotal role in the war and how its people helped shape the outcome.”

In the series he travels to key sites across Europe and visits some 350 related sites in Northern Ireland – many of which are now forgotten but which were central to the defence of Europe.

The documentary team also dives to the bottom of the Atlantic to capture images of American Sherman tanks on the sea bed off Malin Head and sees a sunken U-boat that was one of the most successful in the German navy.

John McNee, a World War II aviation enthusiast from Northern Ireland, told the News Letter that the Sherman tanks on the sea bed were lost when a US convoy coming into Ulster was torpedoed by a German submarine.

After the war some 75 German U-boats surrendered to the Allies in Northern Ireland. They were then taken out to sea and the Allies “had some fun using them as target practice”, he said.

“I think the most surprising thing about this series for viewers will be how much of a role Northern Ireland actually played in the war,” he said. “People will be surprised how much of a role we played.

“US troops were prepared here for the D-Day landings and their planes were converted for tropical climates at our airfields. Northern Ireland played a very significant but relatively unknown role in WWII.

“Churchill Tanks were built at Harland and Wolff and the Sunderland flying boats – submarine hunters – were built at Shorts. Both factories were hit by the Nazis during the blitz.

“The Germans would have gone for key targets and manufacturing plants like that.”

He also told the story of Bud Wolfe, a US commercial pilot who wanted to fly the latest fighter plane of the day – the Spitfire – and so volunteered to fight for Britain even before the US had entered the war.

“There were some 300 Americans who volunteered before the US entered the war,” he said.

“There were three squadrons made up entirely of Americans and Bud was in one of them, based at Eglinton airport.

“He was flying out with two other pilots to welcome in a US supply convoy when his engine began to overheat and he had to return to base. Another two minutes and he would have made it, but he had to bail out to safety while his Spitfire crashed in the mountains.”

As a result, Bud ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Republic, which was neutral during the war. John told the News Letter the story of how he played a key role in the recovery of the Spitfire.

Together with a BBC crew, they were looking for another Spitfire that was understood to have crashed at Eglinton, but it proved a hopeless search. In desperation, they decided to look for another, so he set off to look for Bud Wolfe’s plane in Co Donegal instead.

He said: “I set out with my daughter one morning and we stopped in a local shop to buy her chocolate. The shopkeeper told me who I needed to speak to, and by pure chance the two men I needed both came into the shop in the space of five minutes.”

The programme team even manages to restore one of the Spitfire’s Browning machineguns and fire it, despite the fact that it had been underground since 1941.

See page 14

n Dig WW2 With Dan Snow starts tonight at 9pm on BBC1 Northern Ireland and follows at the same time on the next two Mondays.

Titanic: John Harper, Man Behind the Legend

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:40:52 +0000

www.newsletter.co.uk
4/12
Christian perception of liner tragedy

‘TITANIC’ Is the title of a new book relating the story of an evangelist who was on board the ocean liner on that fateful night. Author Victor Maxwell says there have been many stories told of events surrounding the great ship’s tragic end in April 1912, but this one tells of an earnest evangelist named John Harper, who, even as the great ship began to sink into its watery grave, ministered to others with no thought for his own safety.

Retired Baptist pastor Victor Maxwell gives the background of one of the great heroes of the Titanic story. The Rev. John Harper, he says, was “a mighty preacher” but more than that he was a man who lived the was put to the test in the most difficult circumstances imaginable and even 100 years later it still burns as bright as the light he brought to many lives on that dark and fateful night in 1912,” writes Maxwell.

I Titanic - John Harper, Man Behind the Legend by Victor Maxwell. Published by Biblical Books. 128 pages. £5.99.

Entertainment of Titanic scale to rule the waves

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:13:03 +0000

Entertainment of Titanic scale to rule the waves
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/lifestyle/features/entertainment-of-titanic-scale-to-rule-the-waves-1-3729750
The centenary of the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage has captured the imaginations of local playwrights, artists and musicians

Published on Friday 13 April 2012 08:39

JOANNE SAVAGE rounds up the best in Titanic-themed dramas, documentaries, concerts and commemorations

TV drama asks if the SS Californian could have saved Titanic passengers

Nearby steamship the Carpathia made its way through the treacherous fields of ice and arrived at the scene of the tragedy soon after the Titanic sank, rescuing more than 700 survivors from the ocean’s icy waters.

The SS Californian, en route from Boston to London that same night, saved none.

SOS - The Titanic Inquiry is a an original TV court room drama made for BBC NI by the Hole In The Wall Gang Ltd.

It uses transcripts from the British Inquiry into the sinking to focus on captain and crew of SS Californian and the question of why it didn’t go to the liner’s aid.

“There’s a real possibility that the SS Californian could have saved everybody on Titanic and saved everyone 100 years of misery and kept the tourists from all heading to Belfast,” says executive producer Tim McGarry (who is also in rehearsal for the Give My Head Peace tour which kicks off on Tuesday).

“There was a dispute about whether the Californian was as far away from the Titanic as it said it was. This is a drama based on this dispute.

“There were allegations that the captain of the Californian was asleep and that he had been drinking and that this was the reason why the ship didn’t help Titanic. The crew ended up giving contradictory evidence about what happened that night.

“But perhaps the main thing that held them back was fear that if they went near Titanic the safety of their passengers would have been compromised.”

The drama is headed by Lord Mersey (Tom Chadbon) with Sir Rufus Isaacs (Paul McGann) representing the Board of Trade, Captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord (Stuart Graham) and the crew of Herbert Stone (Owen McDonnell), Charles Groves (Iain Robertson) and James Gibson (Sam Holland).

SOS - The Titanic Inquiry, BBC One Northern Ireland, April 16 at 9pm.

Gerry Anderson asks how the ‘unmentionable turned to the admirable’

Visiting Belfast’s Titanic landmarks and chatting to Titanic experts, Gerry Anderson considers the complex journey that has brought the ill-fated liner back to the heart of her native city in radio documentary Titanic Town. Anderson visits the home of the sprawling Harland and Wolff shipyard, examines a famous 1911 photograph which shows the half-built ship towering above the terraced streets behind, and meets a woman called Susie Millar whose grandfather was an engineer on Titanic.

But perhaps most interestingly, the documentary considers how Belfast - once an official memorial was erected in 1920 - was keen to relegate Titanic to the past.

In 1947, when the BBC in London announced plans for a programme about the ship, Harland and Wolff pressurised both the Northern Ireland government and the local BBC to lobby against the idea. NI Prime Minister Sir Basil Brooke sent telegrams to the Home Secretary and the BBC Chairman to request the programme’s cancellation.

“We’re looking into how the unmentionable turned to the admirable,” says Gerry. “It’s an intriguing turn of events and I suppose one of the questions we’re asking is whether a sprinkling of Hollywood stardust in the 1990s with the James Cameron movie could really have swept away much of the negativity towards the ship.”

Titanic Town, BBC Radio Ulster, April 16 at 6.30pm.

Courtroom drama based on testimony of survivors

STAGED at the MAC, Belfast’s brand new arts hub, Titanic - Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912 is a play that can boast special authenticity: the 14-strong cast here tell the story of the disaster through the actual words of survivors.

The lines are taken verbatim from the accounts recorded at the British Inquiry that was held immediately after the ship sank. Owen McCafferty has crafted these lines into a coherent narrative and direction of the court room drama is provided by Charlotte Westerna.

“What is so powerful about this piece of drama is the fact that it uses the word for word testimonies of the survivors and uncovers their personal stories,” says Gillian Mitchell, director of programmes at the MAC.

“Everyone knows the tragic story of the Titanic sinking, but less well-known are the individual stories of the struggle for survival that were uncovered during the Inquiries that followed.”

The cast will include Ian McElhinney as the Court Clerk (the only fictional character in the piece) while Downton Abbey’s Thomas Howes will play the role of George Symons, look-out on Titanic, who gave his testimony to the British Inquiry on May 17, 1912. Ben Caplan (Call the Midwife) will play Sir J Simon, the Solicitor General.

Titanic - Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912, the MAC, Belfast, April 22 - May 20. Call 02890 235053 or visit www.themaclive.com.

A Titanic ‘comedy’

German poet and author Hans Magnus Enzensberger reads the Sinking of the Titanic: A Comedy in English and German on board the Lagan River boats Mona and Joyce Too on April 14.

Enzensberger will be joined by Ann Zell, Gearoid MacLochlainn, Susi Olpe, Dorothee Fassunge and Gerard McLaughlin - who will all read parts for the performances.

Enzensberger is one of Germany’s most important contemporary poets and has earned the reputation as a provocative cultural and political commentator.

The Sinking of the Titanic uses the tragic vessel as a metaphor for society. The poem comments on the differences between the conditions and fates of her poor and wealthy passengers, and describes events from several perspectives. The world’s most iconic ship with its human freight becomes an emblem for the modern predicament. The final stanzas are a hymn to the fierce necessity of survival.

Performances, in English and German, on board the Lagan river boats Mona and Joyce Too depart from Donegall Quay, beside the Big Fish Sculpture at 11.20pm, April 14. Tickets available from the Lagan Boat Co ticket office. Call 02890 240124 or visit www.laganboatcomapny.com.

Missives from the deep - Titanic Letters

SOME of Northern Ireland’s best known personalities in the arts here read real letters written by passengers of all classes on the RMS Titanic each day on Radio Ulster.

In each five-minute programme, Ciaran Hinds introduces the letter with the story behind the individual who penned it and concludes with the information of their fate when the ship sank.

The 42 letters featured were written by those who worked in different areas of the ship and passengers from all walks of life, from the aristocracy to those residing in steerage. Some letters were written before the ship set sail, others during its voyage, some once the survivors had docked on dry land.

Letters are read by Amanda Burton, Jimmy Ellis, Bronagh Gallagher, Ciaran McMenamin, Francis Tomelty, Eamonn Holmes, Christine Bleakley, Gloria Hunniford, Colin Bateman, Marie Jones, Paul Rankin and many others.

“Making this series truly opened my eyes to the more human side to the Titanic story,” says Ciaran Hinds. “These letters were written by real people embarking on an adventure, be it professionally or personally, and they bring to life the personalities, hopes and dreams of some of the 2000-plus people on board.”

Titanic Letters will be read on BBC Radio Ulster each day (8.55am, 11.55am, 4.55pm or 6.05pm) until April 22.

The Titanic Lockdown and Titanic Sounds

A boutique music festival for Ulster’s music lovers, the Titanic Lockdown will take place at T13 in the Titanic Quarter on the double bank holiday Diamond Jubilee weekend – June 1-2.

New Order, making their first appearance in Belfast for 26 years, have been confirmed as the headline act on June 2, and will be supported by BRIT Award and Mercury Music Prize nominee Anna Calvi, legendary reggae producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Ghostpoet. Manchester legends Happy Mondays headline on the Friday night line-up, supported by Factory Floor and Glasgow-based band Errors - with more bands to be announced.

Tickets are available online from www.titanic-lockdown.com and over the counter from Ticketmaster outlets.

Meannwhile, around 16, 000 people are expected to attend the MTV Titanic Sounds outdoor concert against the background of Titanic Belfast tonight. The event will feature performances by Pixie Lott, Katy B, X Factor favourite Olly Murs, Sean Paul and Rizzle Kicks and will be broadcast across 63 MTV channels worldwide.

Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic

Written in memory of those who perished, this new musical work by Belfast composer Philip Hammond promises to be a moving commemoration. Involving over 200 musicians and singers, Requiem for the Lost Souls will be premiered in St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast on April 14 (and repeated as part of a special memorial mass the following day in St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast).

Following the performance, the audience will be invited to take part in a candlelit procession from St Anne’s to Belfast City Hall in memory of all the ship’s passengers.

“This piece is not about the ship but about those who died – the lost souls who were never recovered, those who survived but were, in a way, ever after lost souls in the shadow of the tragedy,” says Hammond.

Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek will perform as soloist and choral sections will be sung by the Belfast Philharmonic Society.

Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic, April 14, St Anne’s Cathedral at 9pm. Tickets are available from the Belfast Welcome Centre.

Interactive Exhibitions at Titanic Belfast

The new £97m building, Titanic Belfast, tells the story of how the ship was built and launched through nine interactive galleries. Visitors can walk through the original Harland & Wolff shipyard gates, take a six-minute Shipyard Ride through different parts of the ship, with the sounds of riveting and smells of metal burning, and see replicas of the first, second and third class cabins. There’s also a glass floor with video footage of the Titanic on the seabed.

At the Titanica exhibition at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, hear audio recordings of stories told by survivors, and enjoy an exhibition of some original artefacts recovered from the ship, including a porthole and soup tureen (more information at nmni.com).

For more on Titanic Belfast visit www.titanicbelfast.com.

Titanic - A Commemoration in Music and Film

Katie Melua, Mica Paris and Maverick Sabre will join Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone, Nicola Benedetti, Charlie Stem, the Ulster Orchestra, Alfie Boe and the Irish Harp Orchestra for Titanic - A Commemoration in Music and Film, to be held at the Belfast Waterfront on April 14 and broadcast live on BBC Two at 8.30pm.

The extravaganza will be hosted by John Humphrys and is a unique mix of music interspersed with films which tell the story of Titanic, those who made her, those who sailed on her, and those who carried on playing while the ship was sinking. There are contributions here from Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton and Simon Callow - who will be reading accounts written at the time of the disaster.

The show will also feature the world premiere of Titanic Drums, an original composition by John Anderson featuring 100 traditional drummers from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

“Belfast will always have a special place in my heart so it is an honour to return to the birthplace of the Titanic, a city I once called home, for this special commemoration,” says Gergia-born singer and musician Katie Melua, who lived in Belfast from the ages of eight to 13. “I’m really looking forward to performing at what I’m sure will be a very memorable and moving event.”

The concert will also be shown live on the big screen in the grounds of Belfast’s City Hall. The outdoor site has capacity for 4,000 people; admission is free and on a first-come-first-served basis.

Titanic - A Commemoration in Music and Film, April 14, Waterfront Hall, broadcast live on BBC Two at 8.30pm.

Ulster-Scots ‘oat cuisine’ with leading culinary duo

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:58:33 +0000

Ulster-Scots ‘oat cuisine’ with leading culinary duo
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/ulster-scots-oat-cuisine-with-leading-culinary-duo-1-3708783

Nick Nairn and Paul Rankin launch their new UTV prog Paul and Nick's Big Food Trip

Published on Friday 6 April 2012 08:15

Two top chefs are cooking up an Ulster-Scots storm in a new TV series. Liz Kennedy joins Paul Rankin and Nick Nairn to share the secrets of ‘scad the beggars’ salad

What do you get when you take an Ulsterman and a Scotsman and set them free to explore in some of the finest scenery in the world – bickering and bantering as two old friends do?

Well, when they are top chefs and you add the best Northern Ireland produce, a pinch of laughter and a wheen o’ Ulster-Scots wit and wisdom, you get a great TV series.

Ulster’s Paul Rankin and Scottish chef Nick Nairn take their cooking to the high seas this springtime as they sail down the coasts of Northern Ireland and Scotland in Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip, which starts on Easter Monday night on UTV. And the broadcaster is hoping to sell the food tourism show across the globe to showcase the Province.

When I joined Paul and Nick to do some serious cooking, Paul told me when they’d met.

“It was 20 years ago when we’d each won Michelin stars and we made a connection then and we’ve been friends ever since,” he said.

“We are spookily similar and our careers grew up side-by-side.

“We auditioned for Ready, Steady, Cook together and then I did Gourmet Ireland and Nick was doing a TV programme in Scotland.

“Then they would put us together on TV and things haven’t changed two decades on. I was even best man at Nick’s wedding. But this new series was a great learning experience for Nick, filming here.”

Nick Nairn confessed that he always thought Scotland had the best coastline, but he’s had to revise his opinion.

“I was blown away by the beauty of it here in Northern Ireland. And the people were so welcoming,” he said.

Paul, who grew up in Ballywalter, said he was astonished by how much of an ear he had for Ulster-Scots.

“I told Nick that all his Scottish coastline lacked was the warmth of Ulster folk,” said the chef. “And because I had grown up on Strangford Lough, I could understand everything ... and Nick soon tuned his ear to the language too.

“The most alarming moment was when Ulster-Scot Frank McLernon arrived on the boat, with what looked like a machete. It turned out to be a knife for despatching a pig.”

And Nick weighs in with the tale of another ‘alarming’ incident in Co Antrim during filming.

He said: “We were up at Glenarm Castle when the fire alarm went off. And given that the castle had previously burned to the ground, we were all a bit worried.”

In fact, it was third time lucky for the stately home of the Earls of Antrim. In 1929, the main body of the house was badly damaged by a fire, while another fire in 1965 led to the demolition of the servants’ wing. This time all was well, however, and the historic location features in the first programme in the TV series.

Others include everything from feeding bikers in Armoy to Burns lovers in Ardrossan, and folk from Donaghadee to Downpatrick, Kilkeel to Bushmills.

Throughout the eight episodes, the culinary duo set sail for a new town in each programme. Upon arrival at each destination they have just one day to create, prepare and serve a delicious three-course meal from the very best in local produce.

“We literally make it up as we go along – in the best possible way,” said Paul.

“And we talk to people at each port we visit – from the local historians to the ordinary folk in the pub, the farmers, butchers and fishermen who all provide us with the best local ingredients for our recipes.”

And one of those recipes was for seared scallops with ‘scad the beggars’ and green salad. The ‘scad the beggars’, as well as being the name of a Co Antrim music group, is oatmeal fried in bacon fat – roasting hot out of the pan and could scad (scald) the beggars or, as Frank McLernon more elegantly called them, “the gentlemen of the roads”. Paul Rankin warns not to let it “burn the bake” off you.

I tried my hand at it, cooking with bantering boys and it was as tasty as it looks.

Join the duo for the series, part-funded by Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, with a how-to-cook guide online at www.u.tv/bigfoodtrip

Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip starts on UTV this Monday, April 9, at 8pm.

Cameron's 'Monumental' has impressive launch

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:30:19 +0000

Cameron's 'Monumental' has impressive launch
Posted on Apr 2, 2012 | by Staff
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=37520&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0402&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Kirk Cameron's patriotic documentary "Monumental" had an impressive opening last week, grossing $1.23 million for a $2,400 per-screen average -- a figure that places it close to some of the most successful faith-based films ever and could help it land in more cities.

Perhaps most impressive, it did it on a weeknight, playing in 550 theaters on a Tuesday (March 27).

Monumental's $2,400 average approaches that of 2011's "Courageous," which had a per-screen average of $2,694 its first Friday and $2,809 its first Saturday. "October Baby" was considered a success in its first weekend this year and grossed about $1,500 each of its first two days. Courageous and October Baby both were marketed to Christian audiences.

But Monumental's numbers may be even more impressive than they appear, because it played only once that night, whereas Courageous and October Baby played multiple times in a single day.

The Monumental data was released Monday (April 2) in a press release.

In Monumental, Cameron follows the footsteps of America's founders -- first the Pilgrims (he travels to England) and then America's forefathers, interviewing experts and historians along the way. His goal is to find the source that inspired the founders and to explore whether America can be turned around economically, morally and spiritually.

Although the March 27 showing was a one-night event, it is still showing in six theaters and will roll out in about 25 more cities April 13, according to the press release. It had a per-screen average of $4,800 for the weekend of March 31-April 1 in the six theaters, a weekend average that would fall between that of October Baby ($4,352) and Courageous ($7,849).

"It's incredible what we've accomplished together already," Cameron said in the press release. "Tens of thousands of families, thousands of churches, hundreds of organizations, and many devoted individuals have turned this small budget project into a monumental success. This is just the beginning. People are turning a movie into a movement by calling our nation back to its powerful spiritual heritage of faith and freedom. Our plans are to now roll the film out to more theaters, introduce educational and family resources, and launch plans that will build the momentum for many months to come."

Find a list of theaters at MonumentalMovie.com.

Catholic PSNI recruits speak of experiences

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:43:52 +0000

31 March 2012 Last updated at 17:14
Catholic PSNI recruits speak of experiences
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17573585

Catholics and the police in NI

Catholics were historically under-represented in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, making up about 8% of officers in 2001 when it became the PSNI.
In order to redress this a new rule was introduced which meant 50% of all new recruits had to be from the Catholic community.
It has boosted Catholic membership to almost 30% and both main nationalist parties, the SDLP and Sinn Fein, now fully support the police.
However, dissident republicans still oppose the PSNI with officers targeted in both gun and bomb attacks.

Nuala Kerr with pictures of her son Ronan who was murdered in April 2011
It is the first anniversary on Monday of the murder of the Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr, who died when a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh, County Tyrone.

The 25-year-old officer was targeted because he was a Catholic by dissident republicans who wanted to deter other people from his background joining the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The PSNI was formed in 2001 following an overhaul of the old Royal Ulster Constabulary, with the aim of boosting recruitment among the Catholic community.

Ahead of the anniversary of Constable Kerr's death, BBC Radio Ulster reporter Barbara Collins has been talking to Catholic officers about their experiences in the PSNI for a documentary broadcast on Sunday.

One officer she spoke to did not want to give her full name, as being in the police means you have to remain constantly vigilant because your personal safety is at risk.

Deirdre is from the Republic of Ireland but has lived in Northern Ireland for 24 years.

She fulfilled her childhood ambition of joining the police eight years ago, but her family was not so encouraging.

"I didn't tell my family about it until just before I was passing out, but they declined to attend," she said.

"I have colleagues who have never told their families what they're doing."

Deirdre said it was hard at first to get used to the security precautions needed, but "it's now just part of everything I do".

"The children have always understood that they're not to come outside the house until I've made sure the car is safe - they just think I'm checking that it's working," she said.

The detective constable said her colleagues all agree that the threat is greater to Catholic police officers, "because the dissidents don't want any political progress".

"They hate the fact that people of Northern Ireland are supporting the PSNI, and that Catholics are keen to join," she said.

"It's never going to stop me, and whenever they attack any of my colleagues, it just makes me more determined."

The Secret Policeman was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster on 1 April, and is available on the BBC iPlayer for seven days afterwards.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f5hpm

Review: A Protestant perspective on 1912

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:32:59 +0000

Review: A Protestant perspective on 1912
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/lifestyle/features/review-a-protestant-perspective-on-1912-1-3682950

White Star of the North(by Rosemary Jenkinson(Directed by Des Kennedy Cast includes Andrew Simpson ,Ruairi Conaghan and Michael Liebmann ,Roisin Gallagher �and Kerr Logan. Lyric Theatre Belfast March 2012

Published on Friday 30 March 2012 08:47

Broad in sweep, White Star of the North looks at the political tensions that led to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, Titanic’s maiden voyage and the signing of the Ulster Covenant, all through the prism of the Protestant Massey family.

It’s Belfast, 1912. Robert (Ruairi Conagahan) is a level-headed if slightly pompous doctor who worries over the delicate constitution of his daughter Evelyn (Roisin Gallagher) and his fervently pro-union son Crawford, who longs to stand proudly with Carson’s Volunteers (Andrew Simpson).

Evelyn married a Catholic who rejected her and took custody of their daughter when she would not convert to his faith. And so she frets, weeps, dreams of seagulls and drowning, and sips laudanum under her father’s instruction. The Catholic Church comes off badly here: “They practically shoved commmunion wafers down her throat” is the recurrent sentiment; Evelyn chooses to remain defiantly Protestant even if it means losing access to her daughter.

Meanwhile Crawford is full of fighting talk, fearing Home Rule. “We’ll end up digging turf, with potatoes for fingers if Sinn Fein get their way,” his UVF sergeant tells him - and he believes it.

Conaghan’s spirited Robert sees the madness in his son’s gun-toting politics and siezes the opportunity of a new beginning for both his children by purchasing their tickets to sail to an American life on Titanic - “the ship of dreams”.

The action is thoughtfully staged on a dark, wood pannelled set, lit with drop lanterns, while the costumes evoke the period in beautifully understated style. A panel with rivets and a spare wooden deck suggest the moving liner.

The moments of crisis become a wonderfully immersive theatrical experience: the audience, with the actors, are plunged in total darkness as the hull glances against iceberg, a panicked voice calls out and water starts spilling through the backdrop.

Andrew Simpson (Notes on a Scandal) shows real verve in this his Lyric debut and Roisin Gallagher is convincingly, powerfully anguished in her final scenes.

Kerr Logan is excellently charismatic as both fellow passenger Frank Buckley and then the lugubrious Reverend Ferguson - who presides over the signing of the Ulster Covenant, the solemn document laid out on a Lambeg drum swathed in a Union Flag.

Jenkinson’s play perhaps takes on too many moments of historical significance to have seamless, organic unity and the overwhelmingly unionist perspective often felt too heavy-handed, so that the sense of political agenda encroached on the integrity of the artistic exploration of the human situation.

But there were delicately crafted exchanges too, humour when you least expected it, superb acting, imaginative stagecraft, devastating tragedy and poignant insight into the primal will to survive.

White Star of the North runs at the Lyric Theatre’s Naughton Studio until April 14. To book tickets call the box office on 02890 381081 or visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk.

JOANNE SAVAGE

Review: A Protestant perspective on 1912

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:32:46 +0000

Obama’s insight into Ulster-Scots heritage

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:31:30 +0000

News Letter 31/3/12
www.newsletter.co.uk

US President Barack Obama with Danny Kennedy MLA. Minister for Regional Development. and John A Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Obama’s insight into Ulster-Scots heritage

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama was given an insight at the White House in Washington this week into the outstanding contribution of the Ulster-Scots (Scots-Irish) diaspora to the making of America.

Danny Kennedy. Regional Development Minister and Newry-Armagh UUP MLA, presented the President with a copy of Our Most Priceless Heritage: The Lasting Legacy of the Scots-Irish in America, a book authored by his brother. News Letter journalist Billy Kennedy.

The title of the book, which traces 18th century Ulster-Scots migration to America, emanates from words spoken by President James Buchanan (of Tyrone / Donegal family roots), who said “my Ulster blood is my most priceless heritage".

With Mr Obama and Danny Kennedy at the presentation was John A Boehner, who is Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Three other US Presidents - Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton and George W Bush - have received copies of Billy's books.

Danny Kennedy was part of a Stormont ministerial delegation in Washington this week.

Titanic with Len Goodman will be shown on BBC One this Friday (March 30) at 8.30pm.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:15:14 +0000

Deirdre comes on board Titanic
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/deirdre-comes-on-board-titanic-1-3672011

27/3/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. Deirdre MacIntyre with a portrait of her great grandfather Roderick Chisolm who was a draughtsman working for H&W on the design of the Titanic and also sailed and perished on the ship's maiden voyage. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER.

Published on Wednesday 28 March 2012 08:43

BELFAST woman Deirdre MacIntyre may never have met her great-grandfather, but through years of listening to her grandmother - his daughter - impart fond memories and stories about his life, she admits that “he is as alive to me now as before he sailed.”

The ship he not only travelled on, but was also intrinsically involved in the design of, was the Titanic, and Roderick Chisolm, a Scottish born father-of-two who settled in east Belfast, was one of the 1,517 people who perished when the famous vessel sank on her maiden voyage.

As the centenary of the tragedy approaches, interest in not only the ship itself, but ultimately, the lives of those people who died when it floundered, is at an all-time high, and Deirdre is one resident of the birthplace of Titanic who will be revealing what she knows about her ancestor in a new three-part series due to be launched on BBC One this Friday night.

Titanic With Len Goodman will see the Strictly Come Dancing judge - who was a welder for Harland and Wolff, based in their yard in east London, before he became a dancer - learn more about how the impact of the Titanic disaster is still felt a century after the ship sank.

He will explore its 100-year legacy and discover how for victims’ families - and for the survivors themselves - the sinking of the ship was just the beginning of the story.

Fifty-three-year-old Deirdre will feature in the second programme, when viewers will see her meet Len in the Drawing Offices of Harland and Wolff where her great-grandfather once worked.

“Without a doubt Roderick has always impacted my life,” she says of her relation, who was also part of the Guarantee Group, the team of H&W workers who helped build Titanic before sailing - and then dying - on her.

“Roderick has always been with me, purely because I had such a close relationship with gran - he was precious to her and she was precious to me, and so the connection goes on.”

Born in Dumbarton in Scotland on December 20, 1868, Roderick Chisolm was one of four children - he had an older brother, Duncan, and his younger siblings were John and Jessie. Their father was James Chisolm, who was born, Deirdre recounts, “in 1832 in the parish of Urray in the County of Ross and Cromarty” in Scotland and worked as a ship’s carpenter. He moved to Plymouth to work in the naval shipyard where he met and married Sophia Voden. They married and returned to Dumbarton where Roderick was born.

He, it seems, followed in his father’s footsteps by going to work in Clydebank shipyard near Glasgow.

Deirdre says that he was transferred to Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1890 - “

around that time his weekly wage would have been about five pounds, six shillings and eight pence. And by 1907 his wage had gone up to 15 pounds, 13 shillings and eleven pence.

“When he was in Belfast he met and married my great-grandmother, who was a Susan Anderson, of the family of the Anderson Felt Works. They married in Newtownbreda Parish Church on February 24, 1897.”

The couple settled in east Belfast, finally ending up in number six Sandford Avenue, off Cyprus Avenue.

“They had two children, my grandmother Alice, born in 1897, and then her brother James, or Jimmy, born in 1898,” continues Deirdre.

“At the time of the tragedy he was the chief draughtsman in Harland and Wolff.

He would have had a lot to do with the whole of the ship, its design, making sure it was done correctly.

“I have been told that he had an absolute intimate detailed knowledge of both Titanic and Olympic, that was why he was picked to go in the Guarantee Group.”

In fact, Deirdre has learned that apart from Thomas Andrews, who was the managing director of Harland and Wolff, there was no-one else who “knew Titanic like my great-grandfather.

“I’ve been told that he was a very capable official, he was a man of great integrity, a good linguist and was highly respected.”

Deirdre’s grandmother Alice also recounted her memories of Roderick as someone who adored being out in the countryside, bird watching, “was always reading, and the Bible was always read faithfully every Sunday”, was fluent in German, and also learning Russian.

“So he was obviously a very gifted guy, but gran said from what she would have heard, in a quiet and unassuming way,” says Deirdre.

However, Roderick Chisolm was, she has discovered, a family man first and foremost.

On April 2, 1912, he sailed on Titanic over to Southampton, where he stayed until the ship moved on to Cherbourg in France eight days later.

“In that time span he purchased a couple of vases and sent them home to his wife,” says Deirdre, who is now in possession of those vases, after they were passed down through the family.

“So I have often thought, ‘this was a really busy man, getting ready to prepare for this maiden voyage amidst all the buzz going on - and yet he took a window of opportunity in the middle of it to go out and think of his wife and send her back a gift. He sent a tangible expression of his love and that to me is more important than him being a draughtsman or being on the Guarantee Group.”

When Roderick died on board the Titanic, his daughter Alice was just 14, and his son Jimmy was 13.

Deirdre says that her grandmother believes that because Roderick’s final words to Jimmy before he left were ‘now look after your mama’, he never married and lived with her until his own death.

Roderick’s passing also, of course, had a huge impact on his wife and daughter.

Alice told Deirdre that she believes she “would have been a well educated woman had her daddy survived.”

And according to Alice, her mother Susan, Roderick’s widow, became a different person after his death.

“Now what she meant by that, I can’t tell you clearly,” says Deirdre.

“But in those days, things weren’t discussed. There was no counselling, any counselling would have been done by your minister. It happened, and you just got on.”

Deirdre is happy to play her part in simultaneously helping keep her great-grandfather’s memory alive, and satisfying other people’s desire to learn more about who those people who perished on Titanic really were.

And she feels people in Belfast - and Northern Ireland - need to let go of feelings of ‘shame’ associated with building a ship that came to such a tragic conclusion, and instead feel proud to be able to take ownership of a vessel that belonged to its people “from top to bottom and inside out.”

She adds: “More than 100 years ago this city was, I believe, traumatised and covered in shame because this so-called unsinkable ship sank. But the ship was never, ever stated to be unsinkable, that was never quoted by anyone.

“It was seen as being a reflection on Belfast and on our skills and our ability - when in actual fact, the ship was a beauty, she was ahead of her time.”

Titanic with Len Goodman will be shown on BBC One this Friday (March 30) at 8.30pm.

Titanic with Len Goodman will be shown on BBC One this Friday (March 30) at 8.30pm.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:15:13 +0000

Peter Gurney, a 'born bomb-disposal officer'

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:11:59 +0000

23 March 2012 Last updated at 03:50
Peter Gurney, a 'born bomb-disposal officer'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17475286
By Mark Devenport
Political editor, Northern Ireland
Twice awarded the George Medal for bravery, as well as an MBE for gallantry, Peter Gurney was one of the world's top bomb disposal officers, who has defused hundreds of bombs and saved many lives during his 40-year career.

Peter Gurney recently met Sir John Major to present him with the firing pin he had removed in 1991
"It's almost beyond comprehension to most of us" - that's how the former Prime Minister Sir John Major sums up his thoughts on the risks run by bomb disposal officers like Peter Gurney.

Twenty-one years ago, Mr Gurney - then the Metropolitan Police's chief explosives officer - straddled an IRA mortar bomb which had just been launched at Downing Street and, armed with an adjustable spanner borrowed from the Number 10 boiler room, prised out the weapon's firing pin.

As a one-off act of bravery, Peter Gurney's actions would have earned plenty of plaudits. But the Downing Street job was just one of scores of life-threatening tasks he performed during an extraordinary career which spanned four decades.

'Fascination for explosives'
Over that time, he dealt with improvised explosive devices planted by Britain's home-grown 70s extremists the Angry Brigade, the Palestinian Black September faction and the Provisional IRA.

Ask Mr Gurney how many times he made the "long walk" towards a bomb which might go off at any minute, and he can't tell you. He simply lost count.

Continue reading the main story
Find out more

It's My Story: The Long Walk is broadcast on Monday 26 March at 20:00 BST on BBC Radio 4
Or listen again after broadcast on iPlayer
Radio 4: It's My Story
If you had to list prerequisites for being a bomb disposal officer, then courage would go without saying. Patience, ingenuity and an ability to keep a cool head under pressure also spring to mind.

But if you talk to Peter Gurney, something else strikes you - he is an enthusiast with a life-long fascination with explosives, ammunition and armaments. If ever a bomb-disposal officer was born, not made, then Peter Gurney seems to fit the bill.

He calls himself an "army brat" - a boy brought up on a military base in the 1930s who became enthralled by the weapons all around.

On one occasion, a local farmer chased the young Gurney and his friends away from his apple orchard, firing pellets from a shotgun at their backs. The Gurney gang took revenge by strapping a military rocket to the farmer's bicycle then launching the machine into the air, where it bounced around, in Peter's vivid description, like "an incandescent kangaroo".

The "army brat" went on to become an ammunition examiner, dealing with the World War II munitions littered around post-war Berlin and North Africa.

When the troubles in Northern Ireland broke out, Peter Gurney completed a short but eventful tour of duty in Belfast. He had acid thrown over him whilst trying to deal with one device, damaged his hearing when a charge went off prematurely during another alert and then, after a bombing at a cafe, survived electrocution by - of all things - a string of sausages. He picked the sausages up without realising they were touching a ruptured mains cable.

'Nightmares'
In 1973, Peter Gurney left the army and joined the Metropolitan Police's Explosives Office in London.

Peter Gurney (right) lost his friend and colleague Ken Howorth (left) to an IRA bomb in 1981
During the next two decades, he and his colleagues dealt with scores of alerts, on many occasions without the technical back up available now.

Without doubt their principal foes were the bomb-makers of the Provisional IRA, who claimed the lives of two of Peter Gurney's close friends - bomb disposal officers Roger Goad, murdered in August 1975, and Ken Howorth, killed in 1981.

The bomb which killed Ken Howorth exploded inside a fast-food restaurant in Oxford Street.

After the explosion, Peter Gurney made his way into the Wimpy Bar in order to check for secondary devices. He stared down at the mutilated body of his friend. It was a gruesome task but provided vital clues before he headed off to defuse a similar device at a nearby department store.

Peter Gurney habitually blocked out all emotions whilst on a job, but he found it hard to stick to that rule when he came across a fragment of the cardigan Ken Howorth always wore.

On his next job, he says, "I really let emotion take over. I let anger take over, because I was determined to get forensic evidence out of the bomb which hadn't gone off to arrest those who had planted the bomb which killed my friend."

On the outside, Peter Gurney continued to go about his job in what he calls a "cold and impersonal way", but he began to experience nightmares in which he tried repeatedly to stop friends walking towards bombs which then detonated.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

Anyone who is a bomb disposal officer and says he's not afraid is a bloody fool and he's going to die”

Peter Gurney
The nightmares only stopped when he began to talk more openly about his experiences.

In order to learn lessons from each dangerous job, explosives officers recorded their own commentary whilst dealing with devices. Listening back to the tapes provided important lessons for future alerts.

Peter Gurney retired in the early 1990s, but just before he left the Metropolitan Police he found himself once again at the centre of a major incident, with the IRA's 1991 mortar attack on Downing Street.

Meeting Mr Gurney for the first time in 21 years, Sir John Major calls him and his colleagues the people "who make democracy safe".

Twice decorated for his courage, Peter Gurney explains what it takes. "Bravery is not having no fear," he says. "Anyone who is a bomb disposal officer and says he's not afraid is a bloody fool and he's going to die.

"If you have ever seen the immediate results of a bomb explosion - the damage, debris, people screaming in terror - to be able to stop a bomb going off, not only to stop it going off, but to provide evidence which leads to the arrest of the people concerned gives a great sense of satisfaction which is unmatched."

With those more positive memories to the fore, he sits back and smiles before adding, "I love my work."

It's My Story: The Long Walk will be broadcast on Monday 26 March at 20:00 BST on BBC Radio 4 or catch-up on iPlayer using the above link.

DVD promotes loyal order

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:19:47 +0000

DVD promotes loyal order
www.newsletter.co.uk

THE Orange Order in Fermanagh has launched an educational DVD to promote the ethos and values of the loyal institution.

The documentary, entitled "The Big Day", focuses on last year's county Twelfth of July demonstration in Lisnaskea.

In the production, senior Fermanagh brethren, bands personnel and supporters speak openly and candidly about what the day means to them and detail the preparations involved in organising one of the most family friendly parades in the marching calendar.

Among those featuring in the 35-minute programme are Orange Grand Master Edward Stevenson, UUP leader Tom Elliott and DUP MLA Arlene Foster.

Meanwhile, the county's Grand Lodge has also set up a new website to communicate to a wider audience.

Launched last week, the online facility includes information on all the district lodges within Fermanagh, the history of

the institution and highlights the large amount of charity work carried out by members.

It also incorporates a calendar of forthcoming events and features pictures relating to Or-angeism in the county.

The new website can be found at www.countyfermanaghgol.co.uk

Copies of "The Big Day" DVD are available free of charge by contacting County Grand Secretary Robert Dane on 07811 886276 or emailing robert.dane1 @btinternet.com (remove the space - spam prevention measure)

1st UllansCAST Episode

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:28:06 +0000

Podcast Powered By Podbean

1st UllansCAST Episode
http://ullans.podbean.com/

Posted in Ullans by ullans on March 20th, 2012
In the first UllansCast we take a look at Dervocks own olympic hero, Kenndy Kane McArthur as we celebrate 100 years since the Stocholm Olympics. We also take a look at the short history of the RMS Titanic, the great ocean line that was build in Belfast but tragically sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

Also we have the Ullans News as well as a short passage from 'Alice in Wonderland'

In the furst UllansCast we tak a luk at Dervocks ain olympic hero, Kenndy Kane McArthur as we celebrate a hunner years since the Stocholm Olympics. We also take a luk at the short history o the RMS Titanic, the great ocean liner that wus build in Belfast but tragically sank efter hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

Also we hae the Ullans News as weel as a short passage fra 'Alice Carrants in Wunderlan'

Latest episodes of the Ulster-Scots / Scots language programme Santer from BBC NI iPlayer

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:36:18 +0000

Latest episodes of the Ulster-Scots / Scots language programme Santer from BBC NI iPlayer - Santer: Series 3

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=santer

Songs of Praise reflects on Titanic

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:23:33 +0000

Songs of Praise reflects on Titanic
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/lifestyle/features/songs-of-praise-reflects-on-titanic-1-3606485
Songs Of Praise comes from Northern Ireland for a Titanic special presented by Eamonn Holmes

Published on Friday 9 March 2012 08:57

AS Northern Ireland and the wider world prepares to commemorate the centenary of Titanic, Songs Of Praise visits Belfast ahead of the Titanic Festival to reflect on the world’s most famous ocean liner, those who lost their lives and the legacy that survives today.

In this special programme which airs on BBC One on Sunday, March 11 at 5.10pm, the Reverend Chris Bennett, Chaplain to the Titanic Quarter, shares his knowledge on faith within the shipyard at the turn of the century and his drive to establish a new faith community within this historic area.

Ninety-six-year-old Eleanor Thompson shares memories of her late father, a senior draughtsman from the Titanic who escaped the fate of many of his colleagues on board the ship.

BBC Northern Ireland journalist Mike McKimm is the first man from Northern Ireland to have visited Titanic since it left Belfast 100 years ago. He shares the memories of the moment he visited the underwater grave that is the wreck of the ship and the moment he laid a plaque on the hull of Titanic from the people of Belfast to those who lost their lives.

And, of course, the programme will feature well known songs of worship. Popular singer Brian Houston (a former Harland and Wolff employee) returns to the Harland and Wolff drawing offices and gives a very special performance of Precious Lord. Meanwhile, in another location within the same building, the Celtic Tenors perform Remember Me, a piece of music composed by Phil Coulter.

The congregational elements of the programme are filmed at St Thomas’s Church, Lisburn Road, Belfast, which backs on to the marital home of Titanic designer Thomas Andrews.

All the hymns have resonance with the Titanic theme and have been specially selected. These include: Eternal Father Strong to Save; Lead Us Heavenly Father, Lead Us; Nearer My God To Thee; Faithful One So Unchanging and Abide With Me. The closing benediction is given by Canon Walter Lewis on the theme of achievement and pride.

Other locations include Titanic Belfast, the general shipyard area and Thomas Andrews’ marital home.

The programme is presented by regular Songs Of Praise host Eamonn Holmes, a lifelong Titanic enthusiast.

Songs Of Praise, BBC One, Sunday, March 11 at 5.10pm

Ulster Scots books launched

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:31:11 +0000

Ulster Scots books launched
http://www.ballymoneytimes.co.uk/news/local/ulster-scots-books-launched-1-3589384

Published on Monday 5 March 2012 09:44

The Ullans Speaker Association have launched their latest four books - a children’s activity book on the ‘Saisons an the Wather’, ‘Furst reading book in Ulster Scots’, ‘Heroes from the Heartland’ and the most recent ‘Alice Carrants in wunnerlan’.

The launch was attended by several members of the Ullans Speakers Association along with guests which included Liam Logan, Ian Adamson, Ulster Scots Agency & Community Network representatives and also Ballymoney Mayor Ian Stevenson.

‘Alice Carrants in Wunnerlan’ is the first translation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland into Ulster Scots, a language which derives from the Lowlands in Scotland and which was imported into Northern Ireland in the early 17th century.

As a dialect of Scots, it is closely related to standard English, but there are many differences in both grammar and vocabulary between the two languages.

A good deal of effort has been put into ensuring that the orthography used in Alice Carrants in Wunnerlan is as consistent as possible.

The spelling conforms to traditional practices amongst most of those writing in Ulster Scots, brought up in the Ulster Scots speaking areas.

How Turks eased hunger of our Famine

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:01:50 +0000

How Turks eased hunger of our Famine
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/how-turks-eased-hunger-of-our-famine-2996544.html
independent.ieKen Sweeney EntertainmentJanuary 23rd, 2012view original
A TURKISH film that tells of how the Ottoman Empire sent food aid to Ireland at the height of the Famine will begin shooting here this July.

'Hunger' is based on events during 1847, when -- moved by stories of the humanitarian disaster in Ireland -- the Sultan of the Ottoman empire, Abdul Majid, sent £1,000 and three ships laden with food to Drogheda, Co Louth.

"It's a little-known but inspiring story," writer and director Omer Sarikaya told the Irish Independent.

The filmmaker will travel to Ireland in three weeks time to audition Irish actors for the project, which will be filmed in both Turkey and Ireland.

"Our film tells an incredible story, but also the meeting of a Turkish sailor called Fatih, and an Irish woman called Mary.

"This is a story of two countries coming together during sadness and a love affair between two people from different countries," Mr Sarikaya said.

Legend has it that the Sultan Abdul Majid had intended to pledge £10,000 to Irish farmers but that Queen Victoria requested that he send only £1,000, because she herself had only donated £2,000.

But apparently the sultan, after agreeing to the change, secretly sent three ships to Ireland laden with food.

The Turkish generosity is remembered by a plaque which was unveiled at the West Court Hotel in West Street, Drogheda, in 1995.

Former president Mary McAleese referred to the episode when she addressed guests at a state dinner in Ankara in 2010.

- Ken Sweeney Entertainment Editor

Irish Independent