Derry 'Crowned' First UK City of Culture

by George Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:58

I watched a news report of that win and was gobsmacked to see Martin McGuinness nearly jump up and down with excitement when Derry was announced as the winner. WTF is that about? Are that sinn fein so easily bought that they will try and sell the proud heritage of Derry for a career in politics?
sad bunch and no mistake.

by DERRYNOTFORSALE Thu Jul 22, 2010 13:02

TOTAL WINDUP!it is absolute madness,renaming derry,what a lot of hot air..it is an insult to the normal irish civilians both protestant and catholic and atheist to put up with this rubbish,rubbing salt on old wounds..

thirty years ago the british soldiers were shooting up every day irish born citizens like dust..

there were no talks or snacks and supplies sent out to us or anything like they have now..

people today watch tv and all types of media with british soldiers helping people and delivering friendly goods but thats not the way it was back in the 70's etc..

and thats what people today FAIL to understand,im suprised at this,but then again people don't understand..so i hope it doesnt have a negative effect i know for this reason(lack of understanding)people are not bothered about this but i think it could stir up some hatred amongst certain groups.. YET AGAIN..

IT WAS POINTLESS DOING THIS,IT IS JUST A WASTE OF NEWS REALLY AND FUNDS,POINTLESS!

It is destructive and a waste of time being honest it doesn't bother me personally but i think it would be best if they would just leave things the way they are..so much time has passed,if it aint broke don't fix it..

Thanks to the uk irelands laws are outdated,we have undesriables getting away with every type of crime you can think of, and a lot of politicians both north and south are too lazy to change a thing!

by Sharon. - Individual. Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:49

Hi George!
It's a good many years now since the pro-establishment antics of Deputy McGuinness and his colleagues left me "gobsmacked" , but I know what you mean.
The Provisionals have turned into that which they once rallied against and , in my opinion , are on their way to Westminster to complete the circle.
OBE's all round!
Thanks!
Sharon.

by Jacqueline Fallon Sat Jul 24, 2010 23:49

God, Eleanor, you must really hate all Irish nationalists and Irish republicans to come up with such a title for your spiteful article - you go out of your way by using words such as 'crowned' and 'victorious' (rubbing salt into open wounds) to offend, when other words would have done just as well (or maybe your vocabulary is limited to imperialistic terms).

Who the fuck do you work for Eleanor - MI5/MI6? MI5/MI6 is the only foreign organisation that I can think of who would glory in such an 'award' of 'crowning' Derry as 'UK' City of Culture, MI5/MI6 would have a right laugh at this, an opportunity to mock the Irish people and their desire for independence - that is when they are not secretly murdering them.

by Citizen Sun Jul 25, 2010 00:34

Jacqueline, I think it's actually an article highlighting an action against the award

by Jacqueline Fallon Sun Jul 25, 2010 01:16

My apologies if it is an article against the award, but it was not clear to me on first reading - the "don't spoil our party" should have read "don't spoil their party" then.

I wish people would not poke fun at such 'awards' being given out - it is a very serious matter and far from trivial - it makes a mockery of all those who lossed their lives down the centuries fighting for Irish independence.

Imperialist 'awards' handed down to Derry such as the one, are an incitement to hatred. I am outraged that there are Irish people out there stupid enough to think this is a good idea and not an insult!

by Sceptic - None whatsoever . Sun Jul 25, 2010 04:27

Its a calming award simply to test which way the wind is blowing ,

or to put it another way 'they' are simply testing the peoples reaction .

'They' have to start somewhere , dont 'they' ?

by opera fan Sun Jul 25, 2010 15:28

It is the greatest cultural honour for Derry since Dana won the Eurovision song contest in 1970 with 'All Kinds of Everything'. How about Brian Friel for the Nobel?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Sun Jul 25, 2010 18:46

Or even get him to set his 'Freedom of the City' to ceol?I wouldn't insult him with a Nobel.Kissinger has one of them.More like nominate him for the Aras.

by opera fan Sun Jul 25, 2010 19:34

I wouldn't honour Brien Friel with the same prize as Kissinger either, but I was thinking of the literature rather than the 'peace' prize - which the Vietnam negotiator Lee Duc Tho had the good grace to refuse.
Brian Friel has been an innovator dramatist and has done Derry proud by establishing the highly influential Field Day project. This contributed to some refreshing thought about culture, history, political philosophy and literature.

I nominate Brian Friel as a cultural champion of Derry, and a dramatist of world rank.

by Eleanor Thu Jul 29, 2010 22:04

Public Meeting/Debate:

"Our Identity - Whose Culture?"
Tuesday 10th August @ 7.30pm
An Culturlann, Great James Street, Derry.
...
As part of this years Gasyard Feile, this debate will look at Derry's bid for the title, UK City of Culture and discuss the implications for the city and its people in terms of national identity.

Pass it on please.

by Jamie S. Sun Aug 01, 2010 20:19

The sign at the top on the picture says NOT FOR SALE. The sign should actually read SOLD - By Sinn Fein.
The sell out party.

by Historian. Tue Aug 03, 2010 20:34

Nobody remembers "Cities of Culture" twelve months later.

A real city ot culture like Florence is remembered forever.

No colourful creatures like "Lorenzo the Magnificent" in Derry.

Derry bores people.

by Sharon. - Individual. Tue Aug 03, 2010 23:29

Hi Historian!
What will be remembered by some is the fact that Irish 'republicans' promoted an Irish city - Derry- in a 'UK City of Culture' competition.
A "colourful" memory , too , it makes.
Thanks!
Sharon.

"Aye, that's right , Martin - it's 'LONDON-DERRY' ..."

by non-voter Fri Aug 06, 2010 19:26

Don't forget that there were three strands to the Good Friday Agreement. With the Tory government in power at Westminster we can expect to see strand three increasingly come into play - now that the agreement has had time to bed itself down .

"Strand Three of the Agreement established a British-Irish Council, encompassing the British and Irish Governments, the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, together with representatives of the Channel islands and the Isle of Man and, prospectively, of English regional assemblies if they are established. Strand Three also paved the way for a new British-Irish Agreement between the two Governments and established a standing British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference designed to promote bilateral cooperation on all matters of mutual interest within the competence of both Governments. "

The British Irish dimension , the council of the isles ,the head of the British armed forces to pay a call etc. Although there is certainly more than a touch of comic-opera to the whole affair, this isn't about culture ,it's about politics

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Fri Aug 06, 2010 19:38

but the empire migrated trans atlantic a century back.Its O'bama runs the op these days; and we are well on his lap with the Shannon collaboration.
The brits are a decoy they would rather see you preoccupied with.no harm if these islands co-operate politically to balance the Brussells brigade.
Now all we have to do is get the co-operation down to ground level and change the management.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Fri Aug 06, 2010 21:25

I'm not anti EU. I think nationalism had its place in getting us the shabby home rule we have. I just think we have to see that half the biggest economies in the 'great game' today are Trans National Corporate rogue states unto themselves.And Britain today is not the animal it was a century ago so it becomes tiresome to hear nineteenth century depictions of our current challenges.

One of the main problems is the inordinate power of their corporate cheerleading media.Tony O'Reilly and Geraldine Kennedy and their teams do more to retard our development as a democratically managed (in the interests of ALL the population) nation than washingtton and london multiplied by brussells.
They control what passes for debate. If you took out all the political posers tomorrow they have a crew of groomed replacements eager for the chance.
And paddyland produced its generals too, not just fodder.But the job is not to produce a castro or Chavez, its to try to get a miseducated population to take up its responsibilities to its offspring instead if dumping them onto the emigrant ship for yet another round of inbred apathy.
Culture and politics intersect and overlap, they are not two absolutely distinct fields.I dont see flags as enemies per se.Its when they are used as hypnotic aids they become volatile, as in modern US which looks more and more like it may return to a President Ollie North mode, judging by the shape of things.

by Falls Roader. Fri Aug 06, 2010 22:35

Calling Derry or Belfast "cultured" is going a bit too far.

Both places are a bye-word for barbarism all around the world.

How many Falls Road people go for a casual pint in Loyalist Sandy Row?

None.

by Barry Mon Aug 09, 2010 18:29

City of culture. Aye drink culture maybe. You just have to wander round Strand road on a Sunday morning to see how cultured the people of the Maiden city are.
Or go up on the walls where the wee hoods go with their blue bags and then celebrate their culture by stoning each other's areas and hurling abuse at anyone they see.
Culture. Don't make me laugh.

by Doire Boy Mon Aug 09, 2010 20:16

Barry
How is this different to any other areas in NI? Go to Belfast, Portadown, Lurgan, Coleraine and any other major town or city and you will get exactly the same thing.
For every "wee hood" that drinks, riots, blows things up, shouts hatred and abuse and all the rest, there are 10 decent people who want to get on with life and enjoy it and share it with like minded people.
These are plenty of decent, intelligent and cultured people in Derry so don't tar them with the same brush as the scumbags.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Aug 09, 2010 20:43

Well stated. They've united Ireland in squalor and exclusion.
And I drank cider on the walls with the 'scumbags'.Thats back a while ago, but they were civilised hosts.I've been a damn sight worse treated in the streets of several southern cities. And I found hospitality in Belfast a few times, and not because I had disposable tourist cash, I assure you.For Brian Friel alone the tribute is merited.
The test for that decent intelligence would seem to be to extend the cultur to the disaffected. Never an easy trick. Maybe ye should ask the Dun Laoire organisers of their world fest to lend you their guest-list. Launch The Global Street Party. Excuse for a visit.