One of the world’s longest established and most influential travel publications has labeled the Titanic centenary commemorations in Belfast as the “world’s biggest tourism story in 2012”. Fodor’s Ireland 2012 has dedicated an unprecedented eight pages of its guidebook to the Titanic, two of which focus on Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest Titanic exhibition which is set to open on March 31^st.

The book features two pages on Titanic Belfast, which it describes as a ‘Top Attraction’, and a six-page colour photograph ‘spotlight special’ on the Titanic, covering its history and the special centennial events set to take place. The section also includes information on the Titanic Quarter development and on touring the landmarks associated with Titanic, such as Titanic’s Dock and Pump-House and the Slipways.

Fodor’s Ireland has also named Belfast as one of the top 21 places in the world to visit in 2012.

Travel journalist Paul Clements, a contributing writer to Fodor’s Ireland, said:

“The New York editor of Fodor’s Ireland 2012 believes the Belfast commemorations of the centenary of the Titanic will be the biggest tourism story in the world in 2012 – even bigger than the Olympics as far as the US market is concerned.  That is quite an endorsement from one of the most respected and long-established travel guidebooks in the world – one which is a major influencer amongst US tourists when choosing holiday destinations.

“It is most unusual for a guidebook to dedicate as many as eight pages to the coverage of one topic, but this reflects the scale and depth of interest throughout America and the rest of the world in the Titanic story. The book has already hit the shelves in the US and tourists there will no doubt be reading up on Titanic Belfast and planning their trips to Northern Ireland.”

Tim Husbands, CEO of Titanic Belfast, said:

“We always knew the Titanic story was a truly global one which has captured the imagination of people around the world and the extensive coverage in Fodor’s, coming so soon on the back of National Geographic naming Belfast in the top 20 places to visit in 2012, is further evidence of this.

“Belfast will open its doors to the world more than ever before this year and we are looking forward to Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest Titanic experience, being the focal point for international visitors. We have already sold over 40,000 tickets, including to people in the US, Australia and Canada, and the excitement really is starting to gather pace as we approach the official opening on March 31^st.”

Fodor’s Ireland is the second best seller in the Fodor’s range (50,000 per year), which includes more than 300 titles around the world.  It is owned by the world’s largest publishing firm, Random House, and is revised annually by local writers – one of the few international guidebooks to reprint each year.

Siobhan McCauley, Director of Product Development at the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, said:

“Titanic Belfast and the whole range of commemorative events and celebrations in Northern Ireland across 2012 is set to provide huge positive lift and excitement. This latest accolade from Fodor’s will give another boost to our focused efforts to make 2012 an outstanding success story for tourism, and deliver more jobs and revenue for Northern Ireland. It is also a very welcome addition to a growing list of travel endorsements that have recently appeared in major international publications nominating us as a ‘must see’ destination.

“Our hope is that people throughout Northern Ireland will also be inspired by what we have already announced to reach out to family and friends abroad and encourage them to come here or come home in 2012 to experience the very many exciting events and attractions that we now offer visitors.”

Titanic Belfast is asking potential employees if they have the ‘Titanic T-Factor’ necessary to impress visitors when the attraction opens in March.  As part of the recruitment drive for 250 overall positions, a unique ‘T-Factor’ Audition Day is being organised to help track down 70 front line staff who can promote Titanic and Northern Ireland to the world.

Candidates, who must pre-register to secure a slot, will be given a script in relation to one of the nine galleries in the visitor attraction, and will then be required to give a three-minute interpretative presentation to demonstrate their communication skills and passion for the project.  Successful participants will then be asked back for a formal interview on a subsequent date.

The Audition Day for prospective front-of-house employees will be held next Saturday (January 14^th) at Grafton Recruitment’s Belfast headquarters in ‘The Boat’, Custom House Square.

Tim Husbands, CEO of Titanic Belfast, said:

“Last Autumn almost 1,500 people attended a drop-in day at Belfast City Hall with over 850 expressing a definite interest in working at Titanic Belfast.

“Such has been the interest that it’s been necessary to appoint an agency to assist in the company’s overall recruitment process.  Grafton Recruitment will bring a track record of working throughout Northern Ireland and across disciplines to help us secure the right people.

“We’re conscious that everyone working at Titanic Belfast will be an ambassador, not just for ourselves, but for Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole.  This is a unique project with unique potential to promote Belfast to the world, so we need people with that special Titanic ‘T-Factor’.  The Audition Day will give prospective employees a chance to let their true personalities shine through.

“Titanic Belfast provides a great employment opportunity and we will continue to work hard with Belfast City Council and DEL to ensure that as many people as possible have access to the positions.”

When it opens next March Titanic Belfast will be one of the largest employers in the local tourism industry. It’s also expected to be one of the largest job recruiters in Northern Ireland during 2012.

Belfast City Council and the city’s partnership boards have already held a series of information days and a drop-in-day in City Hall.  Around two thirds of those who expressed an interest at that event were from Belfast, with interest generated equally from the North/West and South/East of the city.  Other people travelled in from as far afield as Aughnacloy and Castlederg.

In addition, as part of Belfast City Council’s community access campaign, two employment programmes, specifically tailored to Titanic Belfast, will provide 36 candidates with a recognised qualification and a guaranteed interview.

Belfast Mayor, Niall Ó Donnghaile, said:

“The level of interest from people keen to work for such an iconic project as Titanic Belfast has been staggering.  Belfast City Council and the Department for Employment and Learning have been working very closely with local training organisations, jobs and benefit offices and job assist centres to ensure information about these jobs reach right across our local communities.

“Pre-employment programmes, funded by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) and Belfast City Council (BCC) have been put in place to ensure local people are job ready in time for the recruitment campaign.  In providing these programmes we are ensuring that potential employees are aware of the level of skills required and are suitably equipped with the right level of skills for the jobs.  To facilitate this, a Titanic Quarter information page has been set up on both the BCC and DEL websites.

“Belfast City Council and the Department for Employment and Learning are delighted to be at the forefront of this recruitment campaign and to be working so closely with Titanic Belfast on this iconic project. Ensuring the provision of training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged communities right across the city must continue to be the cornerstone of our development of Titanic Quarter. Improving the standard of life for people in Belfast is our priority.”

Cathy McCorry, Managing Director, Grafton Employment Group, Ireland, said:

“Grafton Recruitment is thrilled to be working with Titanic Belfast to secure candidates for this eye-catching project. There are a wide variety of roles available and all employees at Titanic Belfast will be charged with ensuring that everyone visiting the attraction enjoys a friendly and knowledgeable experience.

“With an increasingly competitive job market, these auditions are a unique procedure as part of the overall recruitment process of Titanic Belfast to suit a growing candidate pool. This is a great opportunity for anyone who has a keen interest in the Titanic story and the history of Belfast, so if you are interested in working with Titanic Belfast, please contact us.”

Among those Titanic Belfast has already recruited include a marine biologist to manage the attraction’s Ocean Exploration Centre, which will include live footage of underwater explorations by Dr. Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who discovered Titanic.  Titanic Belfast will also recruit maintenance, ticketing, retail, finance, catering and event staff.

Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board said:

“Following the phenomenal success of the MTV awards late last year the tourism industry is keenly awaiting the next big event, the opening of Titanic Belfast in the spring. This new attraction is set to give another massive boost to tourism and to Northern Ireland’s reputation around the world.

Job creation and economic regeneration are at the heart of the tourism strategy for Northern Ireland, and NITB welcomes this latest recruitment initiative by Titanic Belfast and its partners, designed to ensure we offer the best possible experience to visitors. This is a unique opportunity to work at a state of the art attraction that is set to rival other global, iconic attractions and I wish all candidates, of all ages and interests, every success in finding employment.”

The Audition Day will take place between 10am and 5pm on January 14^th, with available positions including full-time, part-time, casual and seasonal. Those wishing to attend must pre-register by calling into Grafton Recruitment between 3^rd and 13^th January or registering online at www.graftonrecruitment.com which also provides full details of the positions available.

The New Year is about letting go of the old and ringing in the new but the thirty-rule, which sees the release of official files from the Government archive, is akin to an annual political time bomb.  We learn what we would prefer not to. We read the thinking of our generation in our generation. We open sores, which are still scabby.

The release of historical papers of is immense interest to historians and political buffs but it may be uniquely threatening to our political stability. The duplicity of governments, the murky and inconsistent forked tongues of players past and present are there for all to see. It’s not so much warts and all as blood, bowels and intestines of all. It’s the offal of politics.

The truth about our conflict is that both the British Government and the IRA played the wider public for fools and their terror and counter-terror initiatives which included the Government giving loyalist paramilitaries an ‘un’official leg-up meant that the death of innocent civilians, police, prison officers and indeed some volunteers became acceptable collateral damage in pursuit of the game.

It’s difficult to comprehend just how leading figures in the IRA, UVF, UDA, and securocrats still active in Government sleep easy in their beds knowing that they are steeped to their armpits in blood. It’s difficult to understand how any of them can look families of victims in the eye without suffering mind-blowing flashbacks. The irony of the released Government documents is the clear demonstration that even during the Hunger Strikes preventing loss of face for both the Government and the then Leadership of SF/IRA was more important than saving the lives of the individual Hunger Strikers who were making the ultimate sacrifice. There is not enough stone in all the quarries in Ireland to make monuments or headstones big enough to fill the gaps left in some families by an unnecessary and wanton loss of life.

To some the archives show just how far we have politically travelled. Frankly, I believe the release of the papers show just how much sooner the conflict could have ended.  The papers clearly demonstrate that just as the Catholic hierarchy used to put the reputation of the Church ahead of the needs of the victims of clerical child abuse so too did British securocrats and leaders of paramilitary organisations put the protection of their own personal and organisational reputations ahead of the victims of violence by waging a fruitless strategy of military and political attrition. How do we know this?  Well its apparent by the recorded patronising lip service paid both by the authorities and some patsy like interlocutors to the then mainstream constitutional national party. While the SDLP collected international gold stars for good behaviour the British Government was clandestinely practising the military two-step behind their back with the paramilitaries.

The families of victims from all sides of the divide must find the thirty-year release of files particularly gut wrenching, especially when some of the main local protagonists are still very active in public life.  Baroness O’ Loan is correct when she asserts that some in the current political classes want to live only in the bubble of the present as if they had no pasts.  If the current process of opening these documents continue in its present format it may only serve to embarrassingly demonstrate how some of our political representatives could be unsuited to holding public office.

Today with hindsight its easy to see how wrong De Valera was about the Treaty but the prism through which he is judged is against the backdrop of an Imperial world order. The current conflict can claim no such excuse.  Throughout the 20^th Century the campaign for equality has always been an evolving one whether it’s about religious, gender, sexuality, colour or disability rights.  Our campaign for civil and equal rights did not need to spill blood.  The British Government should have recognised that from the start.

Loyalist and republican paramilitaries who are now so determined to find common cause used to feed off sectarian blood-letting, fear and suspicion that unnecessarily set working people from different traditions but of similar economic backgrounds against each other. Their breeding grounds for hatred created killing fields of some housing estates. Of course this was our past, one fuelled by misty green-eyed, corner boy militants and sectarian coat trailing bigoted preachers, unworthy of any Godly calling.  The past like conscience may make us cowardly but which political Hamlet will first say ‘Be all my sins remembered’.

Claire Bradshaw, Head of Sales and Marketing, Titanic Belfast, spreads the news that there are now just 100 Days until the official opening of Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest Titanic visitor attraction. Work on the internal fit-out of the iconic building is ahead of schedule and will be completed ahead of the official opening on 31st March, 2012 . To mark the milestone Titanic Belfast is offering 100 lucky members of the public the chance to win free tickets to Titanic Belfast by visiting the Belfast Welcome Centre in Donegall Place, where Titanic Belfast tickets are on sale

It is now just 100 days until the official opening of Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest Titanic visitor attraction. Work on the internal fit-out of the iconic six-floor building in Titanic Quarter, Northern Ireland’s largest ever tourism project, is ahead of schedule and will be completed ahead of the official opening on 31^st March, 2012.

To mark today’s milestone (Thursday 22nd, December) Titanic Belfast is offering 100 free tickets (50 pairs) to lucky members of the public who can win them by visiting the Belfast Welcome Centre on Donegall Place, Belfast city centre, where Titanic Belfast tickets are on sale, today.

Claire Bradshaw, Head of Sales and Marketing, Titanic Belfast, said:

“The wait is nearly over – in just 100 days from now Titanic Belfast will officially open its doors to the world and Belfast can finally begin to reclaim its place at the centre of one of the most captivating global stories in history. Interest in Titanic Belfast has been building steadily for years now, but there has been a massive surge in recent months, with enquiries and group bookings from across the world arriving with us on a daily basis.

“Worldwide interest in the Titanic story is huge and we have already secured nearly 35,000 visitors through pre-booked tours and over 100 event bookings at the Titanic Suite.  Tickets are also selling well online, with buyers from Australia, the US, Canada, Germany and Spain having already purchased tickets. They will be among the 400,000 plus visitors we expect to attract in our first year, 110,000 of who will be out of state, placing Belfast very firmly at the forefront of global tourism.”

Work on the Titanic Belfast building began in May 2009 and since then over 1,000 workers have worked on site during construction. The building’s iconic hulls are covered in 3,000 aluminium panels, of which two thirds are unique in design, and the hulls are the same height of Titanic from keel to deck

One hundred Christmas shoppers will today have an opportunity to get their hands on free tickets to Titanic Belfast. The first 50 people arriving at Belfast Welcome Centre on Donegall Place between 4pm-5pm will win a pair of tickets to the attraction.

Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, commented:

“As we move towards the completion of this iconic building, we prepare to mark the beginning of a new time of opportunity for the tourism industry here.  The local economy is set for a big boost in Titanic’s centenary year as a result of the opening of Titanic Belfast and the unique programme of celebratory events in 2012.

“It has the capacity to drive significant numbers of new visitors to Belfast and Northern Ireland, increase visitor spend and create new jobs.  I am delighted that we have an opportunity to capitalize on one of the world’s most globally recognized brands and help put Belfast and Northern Ireland firmly on the global tourism map.”

Meanwhile, Christmas Eve will mark the conclusion of the ‘Twelve Titanic Days’ campaign, which has seen 12 lucky people buying Titanic Belfast tickets online since they went on sale on 12^th December  receiving a 5% discount and entered into a daily prize draw. Prizes have included highly sought-after tickets to the MTV concert taking place on Titanic’s slipway next April, along with VIP tickets to the attraction’s opening ceremony and a chance to meet Dr. Robert Ballard, the Oceanographer who discovered the Titanic wreck.

Tickets for Titanic Belfast can be bought online at www.titanicbelfast.com. Tickets are also available via telephone on +44 (0)28 90 766399 or in person at the Belfast Welcome Centre on Donegall Place, Belfast, ranging from £5 for school groups through to £13.50 for adults. Discounts are available for groups, families, students and OAPs.

I remember reading a story about a father not being able to provide for his family one Christmas. He became quite angry and frustrated. His youngest daughter however brought very expensive gold wrapping paper to cover a shoebox and placed it under the Christmas tree with ‘Dad’ written on the top. The father thought the wrapping paper was an unnecessary extravagance and chastised her. On Christmas morning opening the shoebox he discovered it was empty. He was furious with his daughter and accused her of playing a cruel joke and of his wasting money on the expensive wrapping.  Crying the child explained that she had blown kisses into the shoebox until it was full. The father broke down begging his daughter for forgiveness. Sometime later the young girl was tragically killed in a car accident and her ever so remorseful father kept her little Christmas shoebox all his life. Every so often if he felt discouraged or in despair he would open the box and taking out one of those imaginary kisses he would remember the unconditional love once put there by his young daughter. Its doubtful if the story is true but amongst all the glitter and consumerism of Christmas, it serves as a useful reminder of what should be truly important to us.

Many people find Christmas difficult, especially those who are facing it alone through bereavement or estrangement with their families. Jolly Christmas cards adorned with picture perfect families seem to mock the pain of those struggling to cope alone.  As we fill our shopping trolleys in wasteful extravagance its worth stopping to ask where the ‘Christ’ is in our Christmas?

This week saw the premature death of the writer and commentator Christopher Hitchens. He was truly a thought provoking man who stoically faced and lost his battle with cancer. He was also a particularly articulate God denier. A friend of his who was a Pastor said of his passing ‘He knows the Truth now’. One does not have to be an altar hugger to know how lonely a life without God could be.  For some at Christmas it’s only the God part that will see them through. The comfort eating of puff pastry mince pies, lashings of cranberry and brandy laden puddings will have a more lasting impact on the gut than the soul.

Yet it’s pointless to turn into a bible bashing Christmas Grinch. Christmas is a happy and celebratory time. A walk around the Belfast Continental market is an explosive smell-a-vision of food and colour with hundreds of happy and smiling people milling about stalls selling everything from beanie hats to paella.  I like Christmas because people are much friendlier than at the rest of the year.  Christmas even brings the best out in those lack lustre supermarket till operators who for the holiday season at least seem genuinely interested in customers.

Even after all these years, I still love Christmas with a child like sense of expectation and wonderment. I don’t agree that Christmas is only for children. Come to Newry to see how my father and aunt keep the fun in Christmas with their dazzling array of snow capped china villages, dancing musical Santa’s, multitude of snow-globes and light-up Disney characters and yet the youngest of my siblings is thirty seven and lives elsewhere with his family!  If there is a condition for it-my aunt is almost certainly a Christmas ornamentalholic.

Something for which there is an officially recognised condition is CLS- better known as Christmas Light Syndrome.  Albert Sadacca is the man to blame for starting it all across the pond in 1917 when he first used Christmas lights but the condition of CLS quickly spread throughout the USA before catching on in Britain and Ireland faster than a bout of swine flu. But not even the tackiness of over-sized plastic lit up snowmen or polar bears can dampen my enthusiasm for Christmas and my goodwill towards all men can even include politicians, estate agents and bookmakers.

Politicians, however, should take the grace that Christmas affords and use it all year round. Too much of what passes for politics its petty point scoring against each other and the media. Politicians are increasingly disengaged from the matters, which concern the public, and they blame public apathy on the media. The media is only a mirror, which reflects political actions or more often inaction- warts and all. Stormont is hardly a shoebox filled with unconditional love but it could be full of unlimited promise.

Every Saturday morning as I convert the family car into a taxi and begin a marathon round of kids drops offs and pick ups, I tune into Radio 5 Live and I have the hilarious Danny Baker for company. This Saturday as post office party eh, dehydration, was also on the cards, Danny let us know what he thinks of the news. He reckoned that all news broadcasts should be banned until a week after Christmas when they could start up again, and be as bad as ever, but at least we would all have had a break from the anxiety. Danny’s view was that the FTSE Top 100 figures mean nothing to the ‘ordinary man on the street’ so why insert them into every bulletin? Reflecting on the news cycle in Northern Ireland over the last week I could see what he meant.

This past week the Audit Office report into the Tourist Board signature projects was released, on the day that tickets went online for the Titanic Belfast building, which will open its doors next April. Talk about bad timing. The audit office questioned the viability of the yet to open building and whether it will meet its ambitious sales targets. In a report which missed the whole point of the exercise by a mile, the boffins of the Audit Office managed to throw a cloud over some of our best hopes for economic regeneration. Naturally elements of the media lapped it up and some commentators, including in this newspaper, took great delight in picking over the bones of a project which has yet to be built, never mind opened. Since the report was published tickets to Titanic Belfast have gone on sale and at the time of writing well in excess of 60,000 have been sold, with more than 300 tourist parties having reserved their place for 2012.

In this column some 5 years ago I questioned whether there was the will within central and local Government to get a suitable Titanic tourist project open prior to the centenary celebrations. At the time of publication there was a lot of talking going on, with not a shovel in sight. It was an opinion piece which earned me a not so gentle rebuke from City Hall officials and I am delighted and relieved to be able to say that my misgivings were misplaced. Through the PR role of the company for whom I work for in my day job I have had a chance to get a tour of the new Titanic Belfast building and it is quite simply stunning. The enthusiasm of those behind the project is infectious and there is no doubt that this venture can succeed. A bit of goodwill will help along the way.

Do you recall the Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams”? It’s one of my favourites and over the Christmas holiday season I am likely to re watch it. It features an Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella who hears a voice urging him to construct a baseball field with the words, “If you build it, they will come”. Titanic Belfast may or may not get the 290,000 visitors it has targeted each year but one thing is for sure, if we hadn’t built it, they wouldn’t come. At least we now have a shot at capturing a decent share of the tourist market next year and beyond.

For those begrudgers who decry the public funding, I really have no time. A couple of months the same people were complaining that the MTV awards cost the Council £1m. So what? Had it been double that it was still worth the money. What Northern Ireland needs right now from those in public office and from the entrepreneurs in society, is courage and imagination, not the spectre of the risk adverse Audit Office and Public Account Committee lurking on their shoulder and discouraging investment. Of course there is a balance between investing money and wasting it, but with the projects under scrutiny last week – which also included the Giants Causeway centre – we are talking about infrastructure projects which can help us make a mark in the international tourism sector.

On the day that I had the pleasure of seeing inside Titanic Belfast I also had a tour of the new Metropolitan Arts Centre which will also open next April. There is another piece of emerging infrastructure which is breath-taking. It is actually difficult to remember that you are not on holiday somewhere overseas when you realise what the MAC is going to be like, and the works which will be on display in St Anne’s Square.

The future of Belfast and of Northern Ireland can be great; there is no question about that. But let’s not have the cynics take over, this is a time to be confident and ambitious in our targets for our new society. In a few years to come, 2012 can be one we look back on as the year we turned the corner.

I only hope that with all these new attractions on our doorstep, I still have time for good old Danny on a Saturday morning.

The Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Niall O'Donnghaile, helps Rebecca Throne get her hands on one of the first tickets for Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest Titanic visitor attraction.

Titanic Belfast tickets go on sale to the public for the first time today (December 12^th) as part of the visitor attraction’s ‘Twelve Titanic Days of Christmas’ campaign. For ‘Twelve Titanic Days’ between now and Christmas Eve, anyone buying Titanic Belfast tickets online will not only receive a 5% discount, but will also be entered into a daily prize draw.   Prizes include highly sought after tickets to the MTV Concert taking place next spring at Titanic’s slipway, as well as a unique opportunity to meet Titanic explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard, when he speaks in Titanic Belfast on April 14^th, the centenary of the night Titanic struck that infamous iceberg.

Winners will also be to hoping to lay their hands on VIP tickets to special previews before Titanic Belfast’s official opening on March 31^st as well as a number of major gala banquets planned for the building’s 1,000-seater Titanic Suite.

Claire Bradshaw, Titanic Belfast’s Marketing Manager, said:

“With just 12 days to go before Christmas we think that tickets to Titanic Belfast will be an ideal present for young and old alike.  This is the world’s largest Titanic attraction and will be one of the most exciting and engaging visitor experiences to open anywhere in the world in 2012.

“If that wasn’t incentive enough, we’re offering those buying tickets online the chance to win never-to-be-repeated prizes tied into Titanic’s centenary year and the official opening of Titanic Belfast.”

Claire Bradshaw, Titanic Belfast’s Marketing Manager, The Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Niall O'Donnghaile, and Gerry Lennon, CEO of Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau, celebrate the Titanic Belfast tickets going on sale to the public for the first time from 12th December.

In addition to the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, Titanic Belfast has also revealed the new iconic image for its national and international advertising campaigns devised by Belfast-based Ardmore Advertising. The striking image which combines both Titanic Belfast and RMS Titanic is expected to start appearing on billboards, magazines and newspapers in January.

Claire Bradshaw added:

“We are currently receiving on average of 150-200 enquiries per week through Facebook and the Titanic Belfast website.  People, both locally and from across the world, have been eager to ensure that they are among the first to visit Titanic Belfast in 2012 while others have been keen to buy tickets as a Christmas gift for family and friends.”

Tickets for Titanic Belfast can now be bought online at www.titanicbelfast.com where visitors can avail of a 5% discount.

Tickets are also available via telephone on +44 (0)28 90 766399 or in person at the Belfast Welcome Centre on Donegall Place, Belfast, ranging from £5 for school groups through to £13.50 for adults. Discounts are available for groups, families, students and OAPs.

Titanic Belfast expects to attract in excess of 450,000 visitors next year of whom 150,000 are expected to come from outside Northern Ireland.

Next year in a small region of Switzerland called St Gallen, they will mark the 1400th anniversary of the founding of their city by a Bangor man. Yes, that’s right a bloke from Bangor. Gallus got fed up with Ireland’s Gold Coast and headed off to Switzerland in 612AD and did not stop until he fell and stumbled over a bush beside a waterfall in the Steinach Valley and hey presto he founded a town. They are planning big things in St Gallen in 2012 which Gallus, a hermit monk would now be disappointed to discover is home to some eighty thousand souls and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the Catholic population only representing some forty percent of the local religious make-up everyone from the Lutherans to Orthodox Christians are getting stuck into the celebrations. But then again this is Switzerland where everything is very civilised.

Back at Stormont and indeed Westminster some of our politicians are getting agitated about the prospect of a decade of anniversaries starting next year with the creation of the Ulster Volunteers and the Signing of the Ulster Covenant.  Naomi Long MP for East Belfast has expressed concerns at Parliament about the possible hi-jacking of some anniversaries for political purposes and up on the Hill, the SDLP’s Karen Mc Kevitt has expressed a worry about the possibility of revisionism concerning the events of 1916.  In a way its pointless getting too exercised about political anniversaries in Irish history as like the dreaded Christmas they will come to pass and we will wonder what all the fuss was about.

Ironically perhaps the most significant anniversary has already passed, as it has been eight hundred and forty years since an Irish tribal leader first invited over the English King Henry II to interfere in Irish affairs.  The English oblivious to the fact that, guests like fish, go off after three days have been involved ever since- thereby creating one of the most dysfunctional neighbourly relationships in Europe.

Of course part of the Sinn Fein agenda was to take advantage of the anger in the Republic of Ireland during the recent Presidential election and have a former member of Oglaigh Na Eireann installed in the Aras in time to oversee the commemoration of the establishment of the Irish Volunteers and the 1916 Rising. The citizens of the Republic having watched how we Northerners get ‘cricks’ in our necks from looking backwards opted for a man of letters rather than a man of action to see them through the theatrics of the 1916 commemoration.

On the other side latter-day Carson Unionists replete with Covenant replicas will dust down Great Granddads old UVF armband while tango-tanned grannies wearing union jack bloomers and orange lilies will give bawdy renditions about the gallant Clyde Valley and SS Fanny gunrunner exploits as part of Ulster’s commemoration pantomime.

These so called seminal moments in our history are of a different era and place. In the rest of Ireland, Britain and indeed the rest of Europe the causes of our divisions are barely recorded let alone remembered. Only here in this small North Eastern part of Ireland and perhaps only in Belfast do the fault lines of the early nineteenth century still run deep.  It’s like living in an un-buried time capsule.

Yet slowly but surely things are changing – even in Northern Ireland were normality still plays catch-up.  Maybe the harsh realities of living in depressed economic times will mean that the usual sectarian appetites for flag waving and emblem fixation will soon dissipate. The British and Irish Governments have shown considerable leadership in managing historical anniversaries and in doing so have made many people revise their myopic interpretations of historical events.

The First Minister often talks about a new more integrated society. It’s a laudable aspiration but it’s peppered with contradictions by the comments and actions by some in his party. Sinn Fein too plays loose with actions. The DUP/Sinn Fein axis has the potential to do some good but they need to demonstrate that their political reason d’être is not ‘equal but divided’ as opposed to ‘shared and inclusive’.  They have spent a long time taking baby steps in the political process and at times they have strutted like peacocks over very little.  The so-called decade of anniversaries will provide both with many opportunities to outreach beyond their usual audiences. Neither party has a monopoly on our history but perhaps like Bangor’s St. Gall they have the potential to go far!

 Deborah has been working with Stakeholder for 6 years, between the company’s Belfast headquarters and the local Newry office. Recently appointed as Vice President of Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade among her clients are some well known Newry businesses including The Quay’s Shopping Centre, Parker Green International, Autoline Insurance Group, Jack Murphy Jewellers as well as the Southern Area Hospice Services. Deborah also works with established regional names, Sainsbury’s, BBC TV Licensing and the Metropolitan Arts Centre.

Deborah said she was delighted to receive the award, for which there was some very stiff competition.

“There were 8 of my PR colleagues from firms right across NI who were shortlisted and to be honest I was delighted to be named amongst them. To win was absolutely fantastic and it is a reflection on the strength of the team which Tom Kelly has established at Stakeholder.”

Deborah is pictured, left, receiving her award from Jane Wilson, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Last week while the Euro tittered on the brink of collapse and Iran upped political tensions in the Middle East, here in Northern Ireland it was business as usual as Belfast Lord Mayor, Niall O’ Donnaghaile was castigated for opting not to give a Duke of Edinburgh Award to a teenage Army cadet. Unionist’s feigned outrage and Sinn Fein retaliated by outlining a litany of snubs by previous unionist Lord Mayors. All very predictable political knock-about; by people who beyond the gaze of their respective electorates, spend most of their time amicably and cosily sharing the tearooms of City Hall or Stormont.

The youthful Lord Mayor has been a good ambassador for Belfast but he seemed like a rabbit caught in the headlights when the fallout from his actions became clear. His snub was ill calculated but it was a mere lapse in judgement.  He quickly apologised and the calls for his resignation are foolish.

Many of those bandwagoning on his mistake have made many more serious political blunders for which they have yet to fully explain, let alone apologise.  The Lord Mayor’s offence was minor compared to that of the self-opinionated turbo driven, publically licensed funded, petrol head- Jeremy Clarkson.  Mr Clarkson expertise is his passion for gas guzzling cars as well as wearing jeans ill suited to his girth. Many people disagreed with the strike action last week but few would have been motivated to come out with the mind numbing comments such as those made by Clarkson about having ‘strikers taken out and shot in front of their families’.  But Mr Clarkson is not unaccustomed to shooting from the lip before his mind is in gear. He compounded his gibberish by hitting out that those who commit suicide by jumping in front of trains as being inconsiderate and selfish. Has this man no depth to his callousness? Has he no thought for the families who struggle to understand the motivation behind the suicide of their loved ones?

When people like Clarkson apologise they tend to be qualified apologies including ridiculous things like- ‘if’ offence was caused- I am happy to apologise’. What nonsense- offence was caused and over twenty one thousand people rang the BBC to say so.  Celebrities should realise that if you have had a car-crash on live TV being open, frank and forthright is a better tact than any mealy mouthed half-hearted apology. In this particular case there should be penalties for both Clarkson and the BBC with both donating substantial compensation to a mental health or victims support charity.

Of course, Clarkson is not the only loose tongued jabberwocky in public life- as would be third time mayor for London, Ken Livingstone is well versed in the art of rubbing people up the wrong way.  Last week he asked an audience how many people thought George Osborne should be hanged. Hanging seems to be a fascination for Comrade Livingstone as he once said that he longed to wake up one day to see the Saudi Royal family – the Al Saud’s hanging from the lampposts in Riyadh. It’s easy to be glib and say that the public don’t take any notice of what these people say or do but that’s not true. Our own history demonstrates all too well how the public comments by some politicians fanned the flames of many a young person’s actions and filled our jails and graveyards as a consequence.

At his party conference as he spelt out some blue-sky thinking for the DUP, First Minister Peter Robinson took a swipe a public broadcaster- Stephen Nolan.  A case of the biggest party in the country taking on the biggest show in the country.  While probably not a good idea -especially when it referred to Nolan’s alleged eating habits -the comments perhaps reflected a genuine sense of frustration by some politicians against what they see as rabble-rousing broadcasting to no good effect. Of course some local politicians would prefer a fawning media but occasionally they have a point if commentators turn to populist haranguing rather than forensic scrutiny.

In Northern Ireland terms, it is the duty of the media to be extra vigilant against the excesses that arise from the enforced Band-Aid type of coalition under which we are governed. Politicians have a mandate to be elected and to govern but that mandate does not come as an unqualified endorsement of everything they do. Pundits and politicians alike need to acknowledge that responsibility goes with the job or else they should beware –the Clarkson effect!