Halloween took on a new meaning in 1959. It was the day Ulster Television opened its doors to the public, initially in the Belfast area but destined to become a station popular in the west, down south, even across the sea to Scotland.
This Thursday is the 65th anniversary of that day and many ‘TV types’ will be meeting over lunch to celebrate and to laugh and cry over our wonderful lifetime in television.
I find it very pleasing to know that much of the old film is being archived and made available to the public. For instance, you can view 650 clips reflecting programmes and events just by visiting the local library, all part of the British Film Institute Replay project.
- Use your loaf and bake bread for peace - Anne HailesOpens in new window
- The Outcasts’ Greg Cowan: ‘I played Paris when I was 17 and imagined I was David Bowie. The next day I was painting the railings in Ormeau Park’ - Anne HailesOpens in new window
- Gaza one year on: Belfast Jewish and Palestinian voices appeal for prayer - Anne HailesOpens in new window
Or, if you want to sit at home and be entertained, the Digital Film Archive is a treasure trove of thousands of hours of programmes. It’s enthralling, it will bring the older viewer back years and the younger viewer will be fascinated.
I’ve had a sneak preview - Charlie Witherspoon features strongly. I make an appearance during a production meeting sitting beside the man who was eventually to become my husband, although neither of us knew it at the time...
To access digital archive material for home viewing, the link is https://digitalfilmarchive.net
Facing Facts
A dark wet Thursday evening in Belfast. People gather in Waterstones book shop for what turned out to be a memorable event; Trevor Birney is launching his book, Shooting Crows: Mass Murder, State Collusion and Press Freedom.
Never far from his side was his colleague, fellow journalist Barry McCaffrey, who, with Trevor, produced the documentary No Stone Unturned which opened the flood gates of knowledge about the trauma of the Loughinisland massacre, not only for the families but also for the two journalists.
People kept arriving to the launch, some had travelled from Loughinisland, not far from Ballynahinch; some were colleagues in the media; there were representatives from the legal profession, and a multitude of others.
Noel Doran, until recently editor of the Irish News, set the scene, the build up to the killings in the pub in the Co Down village, and he read the names of the six local men who, at 10.10pm, were shot where they sat enjoying an evening of craic over a drink on a Saturday evening. You can just imagine the banter as they watched the Republic of Ireland win against Italy in the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.
As he recited the names there wasn’t another sound, only Noel’s voice. It was a powerful look at history, both past and present.
Susan McKay then interviewed Trevor on the background of the story, and it was chilling. One word kept being repeated: collusion - ‘an agreement between people to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive or cheat someone.’ The people involved were the security forces and the RUC.
The book makes compelling and disturbing reading. As well as the six Catholic men shot to death by a loyalist murder gang, more were injured and the wave of grief continues to this day and will do so beyond this day.
Loughinisland is still reeling from what happened on that June evening, so are the two journalists involved. Shooting Crows: Mass Murder, State Collusion and Press Freedom is published by Merrion Press.
Shooting Crows makes compelling and disturbing reading. As well as the six Catholic men shot to death by a loyalist murder gang, more were injured and the wave of grief continues to this day and will do so beyond this day
Belfast man’s Take On Basra
Tim Shaw, member of the Royal Academy of Arts, said last week that he was deeply honoured to have been announced winner of the prestigious 2024 Marsh Awards for Public Sculpture. The Belfast man’s enormous work, ‘Man on Fire’, was acquired by the Imperial War Museum North last year and now sits outside their front door in Manchester.
His remarkable sculpture is influenced by several events: a visit to Pompeii, images from the Iraq war, the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack in 2007 and a personal experience during the Troubles when he and his mother were caught in a bomb blast in Belfast. This is reflected in the tortured man on fire as he lunges forward in panic, his fingers stretching towards safety, his face distorted in fear and pain as he is caught between life and death.
Giving Man On Fire birth was a colossal task which involved the casting and welding together of over 100 separate pieces of bronze onto a steel reinforcement with the entire image balancing on one area of the foot. Then it had to be transported on a massive low loader from Tim’s studio in Cornwall to its place outside the museum.
This remarkable sculptor has come a long way since his art master noticed how he modelled in clay and encouraged him to concentrate on studying this art form to becoming a man who is creating a reputation around the world.
