Londonderry Party Ballet Perform Romeo & Juliet; Traditional Music at Fleadh Cheoil Na Héireann

Cultural REVOLUTION Named the UK City of Culture for 2013, Northern Ireland’s second city is ready to celebrate with a full calendar of music, dance, theatre, art and poetry. WORDS JOHN LEE Peace Bridge over the River Foyle, Derry photography: corbis FEBRUARy 2013 QANTAS 49 Clockwise from right: Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream; members of the Royal LONDONDERRY PARTY Ballet perform Romeo & Juliet; traditional music at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Mention a Northern Ireland trip to someone who hasn’t been there and you might be met with raised eyebrows and a possible “Is it safe?” However, the compact region at the top right of the island, which is officially part of the United Kingdom, has been resolutely trans- forming itself over the past 15 years into a visitor magnet. The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 heralded the end of “the Troubles”, and since then the region has been quietly undergoing a cultural and economic makeover. Belfast, the country’s attention- hogging capital, was first out of the blocks with a raft of European funding and a swathe of sparkling new attractions and developments. mounted outside England for the first time in its 29-year history. But it’s not However, it is Northern Ireland’s second city that is now all high art. Alternative rockers Primal Scream and risqué comedian Jimmy ready to seize the initiative. A 117km drive from its big sister, Carr will also hit the stage, while Derry’s annual Banks of the Foyle historic Londonderry has been designated the first UK City Halloween Carnvial will extend to five days of parades and haunted of Culture, beating out heavyweight bids from Birmingham, happenings. Even bigger will be the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland ireann photography: corbis; ballet: royal getty images Sheffield and some 50 others. Derry – as most of its 107,000 Music Festival). The world’s largest Irish cultural gathering is heading north É locals call it – will host a gigantic menu of events throughout of the border for the first time and is expected to lure 300,000 visitors. 2013 featuring a who’s who of artists and performers from Ireland, the UK and beyond. AimiNG FOR the near-miraculous boost that Liverpool enjoyed as Among the hundreds of acts – many appearing here for 2008’s European Capital of Culture, Derry’s hugely ambitious festival would the first time – will be the London Symphony Orchestra and have been unthinkable in the late 20th century. Then the city was still the Royal Ballet. Home-grown stars such as actor Stephen defined by Bloody Sunday, the 1972 tragedy that occurred when a civil rights Rea and Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney will also march spiralled out of control and 13 unarmed locals were killed by British be in the spotlight. And in a major coup, the Turner Prize – the soldiers (another died later). It inflamed a 30-year armed conflict that primal scream/fleadh cheoil na h UK’s leading contemporary art competition – is being resulted in thousands of casualties across Ireland, the UK and Europe. FEBRUARy 2013 QANTAS 51 ONLINE LONDONDERRY PARTY WHILE IN IRELanD... Check out our Belfast city guide, visit an Irish manor or go dining in Dublin at qantas.com/travelinsider Ebrington Square, Derry’s cultural hub; “It used to be like a war zone here,” says Derry resident John McNulty, who political graffiti is never far away (below) leads historical walking tours around the city’s mediaeval walls. “In the 1970s, you stayed home in the evenings and kept your head down. There were no visitors – the tourist scene was nonexistent. But this is a young person’s city and there are now many more people who were born outside the conflict. The vast majority have moved on and visitors have been coming back ever since.” Funding from the UK and the European Community helped, insulating the region from the economic struggles that have hit the south in the past few years. While the Republic of Ireland’s economy all but collapsed during the recent recession, Northern Ireland, which uses the British pound rather than the weakening euro, attracted large-scale government investment for its peace process push. Alongside Derry’s City of Culture designation, several symbolic projects received the go-ahead there. The 312m-long Peace Bridge – a graceful S-shaped pedestrian and cycle crossing over the River Foyle linking Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods – opened to fanfare in June 2011. It leads walkers to an even more impressive development that launched a few months later. WHEN thE BRitiSH ARMY closed its Northern Ireland facilities as part of the peace process, several fortress-like compounds were handed over to the city. Some were transformed into housing schemes, but one of the oldest, Ebrington Barracks, remained mothballed, its wire-topped walls staring blankly at the locals for almost a decade. Until Valentine’s Day 2012, that is, when thousands streamed in for the opening-day party of a giant new cultural complex, comprising concert areas, museum and gallery spaces. Home of this year's Turner Prize and many other City of Culture events, the renamed Ebrington Square – which is now without its looming exterior walls – has become the centrepiece of a drive to transform Derry into a northern version of other artsy Irish success stories such as Cork and Galway. ebrington square photography: alamy; bloody corbis; sunday: bogside: istockphoto FEBRUARy 2013 QANTAS 53 Murals recall the Troubles City of Culture Highlights Derry street, Derry is hosting hundreds of performances and looking towards the river events throughout 2013. See the full schedule at www.cityofculture2013.com The promised economic benefits can’t come too soon, according to Sinn Primal Scream, perhaps shakespeare’s Fein councillor Michael Cooper, as he strolls around Derry’s traditionally Ebrington Arena bloodiest play. Catholic Bogside neighbourhood. “The biggest issue we now face is eco- March 19 Fleadh Cheoil na nomic. There is very high unemployment. The next stage of the peace process open-air concert to hÉireann, Citywide has to be development, which means the City of Culture must create a legacy celebrate the glasgow Aug 11-18 of attractions, infrastructure and new hotels for visitors beyond 2013.” alt-rockers’ 30th anniversary. traditional music and dancing But what about those arriving now? Aside from this year’s mammoth Royal Ballet, dominate the world’s largest cultural fiesta, Derry – recently named one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities to Millennium Forum irish cultural gathering. visit – has beefed up its attractions in recent years. The castellated walls, March 30-31 marking their 400th anniversary in 2013, are ideal for a guided stroll, while On Home Ground, the company's leading the excellent Tower Museum evokes the region’s tumultuous back-story from Laurel Villa, dancers perform highlights its sixth-century founding. Magherafelt from its repertoire. It’s not far to the immaculately preserved St Columb’s Cathedral, which Sep 20-22 was completed in 1633. And then there’s the 19th-century Guildhall, due to The Return of seamus heaney introduces reopen in all its stained-glass glory in June this year, following a meticulous Colm Cille, Along a three-day poetry festival renovation. For many, though, the city’s recent past remains a key fascination. the River Foyle featuring both irish and The political murals, especially in the Bogside, are a must-see, while formerly June 9 international performers. out-of-bounds institutions such as the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall are a three-day performance, Turner Prize, now open to the curious. Next door, the First Derry Presbyterian Church – involving hundreds of locals, Ebrington Square which also has a new museum – reopened in 2011 after a decade of restorative telling the story of saint Oct 23-Jan 5, 2014 work. Senior clergy from both Catholic and Protestant communities attended columba (colm cille), the the UK’s top art its inaugural service. city’s founding monk. competition, exhibiting the The most moving experience for many visitors is the Museum of Free Celtronic, Citywide often-controversial work of Derry (www.museumoffreederry.org), which grippingly contextualises June 26-30 leading contemporary artists. Bloody Sunday with period artefacts and grainy film footage. At the front giant electronic music desk, John Kelly – there on the fateful day and whose brother Michael died The Relief of festival on dancefloors during the tragedy – helps visitors understand what happened. “We get many Derry Symphony, around the city. people from all over the world here,” he says, Ebrington Pavilion For airfares and indicating a pin-studded map representing more Titus Andronicus, Dec 20 holiday packages to than 120 countries. “This year, we look forward Playhouse Theatre ulster orchestra’s closing Londonderry call Qantas July 1-31 concert is a rendition of Holidays on 1300 735 542 to seeing many more. The City of Culture is our or visit qantas.com/ chance to show we’re moving forward and that the royal shakespeare shaun davey’s 1989 work, holidaysaustralianway things here have changed for the better.” c company stages what is aka Symphony Of Peace. mural photography: corbis; street scene: istockphoto 54 QANTAS FEBRUARY 2013.

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