Maybe it was the festive spirit and the fact that the aroma of hot Bulgarian wine and German bratwursts was wafting through the windows from the Christmas Market outside, but peace and goodwill seemed to break out indoors at the City Hall earlier this week.
When a unionist stood up to propose that the area where the Boyne Bridge used to be (it’s currently being knocked down…..) should be called Boyne Bridge Place, seasoned observers expected the other lot to stand up afterwards and vigorously oppose the idea. But, as things happened, no one did and it glided effortlessly through. Although, to be fair, the Shinners did suggest that, in return, the unionists might look a little more favourably on some of their Irish language renamings going forward. Good luck with that one, lads.
What this all does is mark – we hope – a calm and peaceful end to a Boyne Bridge story that has been anything but harmonious, particularly for Translink and its contractors who, after all, are just trying to build an impressive transport hub in the middle of Belfast.
Allowing the name to be retained into the future is a pragmatic and sensible solution to a problem that seemed to cause plenty of annoyance around the Sandy Row area.
Some of them, apparently, believe that King William III walked or rode his trusty white steed across whatever bridge was there (or along whatever road was there) back in the 1600’s on his way to the Battle of the Boyne. It seems more than a tad unlikely, but it’s a nice, wee story.
It would be much easier for Billy and his merry men nowadays. All they’d have to do is wander into Grand Central Station, hop on the Enterprise to Drogheda and they’d be ready for action. They could even have a pint in the new Brewdog pub before they leave….
Meanwhile, traders just up the road in the Sandy Row and Donegall Road areas say that business has been badly affected by the work going on around them. And it’s not surprising.
Now it seems that Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, a man who always seems to have cash to splash, is considering a scheme to help them out. And that’s all well and good.
But Gordon might want to bear in mind that if he opens that particular door, there will be others banging at just about every other door. What about those around the city centre affected by the repeated closures of the Sydenham By-Pass (now paused for Christmas)? Or others impacted by major structural works around the city, and the rest of Northern Ireland?
Going Through The Motions
There might just be a few less brave souls swimming along the North Down coast this week on the back of the latest BBC Spotlight investigation, aired on Tuesday night.
It found that levels of bacteria at some popular swimming spots were more than three times higher than permitted for bathing waters. The water, to put it in layman’s terms, is full of sh**.
And, yes, it’s our old friends at NI Water who are to blame. They’ve admitted breaching the law hundreds of times each year by releasing untreated sewage into Belfast Lough. It’s not a pleasant thought, is it? Yet is doesn’t seem to deter the cold water enthusiasts who like nothing better than shrugging off their fleece-lined robes and marching into the sea.
Just the other day, we were walking the Business Eye border collie at Groomsport when the gentleman in front of us stopped, parked his robe, unclipped the labrador and the pair of them bounded into the waves. It was enough to make the two of us, man and dog, shudder.
Whether our fellow walker bumped into any floating or submerged turds during his Sunday morning swim isn’t clear, but regular swimmers at spots like Helen’s Bay do tell of seeing brown slicks in the water whilst they’re bobbing about out there.
Of course, this being NI Water, there is no easy solution. Not much point in fining them, after all, when they say that it’s all the fault of a lack of funding. Loads of dough, it seems, might help remove loads of sh*** from our bathing waters.
Think we’ll stick with the hot tub at home. If anything bobs to the surface in there, at least we’ll know who laid it.
No Change On The Southern Front
It looked, for a brief while, that the election in the south might deliver some dramatic change. But it hasn’t quite worked out that way, has it? In fact, we’re pretty much back to where we started, heading towards another coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
After a lengthy and not very entertaining count process – beloved only of those strange election nerd types – it’s all come down to the nitty gritty of a deal between the two big parties. Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn Fein, despite high hopes for a while earlier in the count, look like playing second fiddle once again, albeit with a couple more seats.
They won’t be admitting it, but it amounts to a bit of blow for a party that a few months ago had very high hopes for the Irish General Election. But things haven’t gone that well over recent months, and that clearly hasn’t done their electoral prospects a lot of good even if it hasn’t caused any major damage either.
Fianna Fail’s increased vote doesn’t tell any of us very much, but what to make of the Green Party’s collapse? They lost almost all of the 12 seats they used to hold.
Is the green tide turning, like it has and will in America?
A Giant Step
It certainly doesn’t seem like 25 years since we went along to the new Odyssey Arena (those were the days before stadium sponsorship) to watch the Belfast Giants ice hockey team play for the first time. It was hard not wonder back then how long the sport would last around these parts? Football, GAA and rugby, after all, were the established crowd sports.
But, a quarter of a century on, the Belfast Giants are very much part of the sporting infrastructure here, and they’re still packing them in to what’s now called the SSE Arena.
It’s a fast-moving sport, it’s hugely entertaining, it’s spectator friendly and it does’t matter what the weather does. It all happens in a nice, warm arena with food and drink readily available.
What’s more, unlike local football or GAA teams, the Belfast Giants are responsible for increasing visitor numbers to our city. Almost any game will see an influx of a few hundred supporters from teams based elsewhere in England, Scotland or Wales.
So congratulations to the Belfast Giants. It’s quite an achievement and one well worth celebrating.
You’re No Class Act, Brian
Rugby fans get a bit tired of the old class clichés surrounding the sport. The simple fact is that rugby followers come in all shapes, sizes, religions and ‘classes’….whatever that means these days.
So it’s a pity to hear someone reverting to the same old rubbish about rugby players and fans being a bit different than those whom Sir Keir Starmer might call ‘working people’. The latest culprit, and we’ll call him out here, is Councillor Brian Smyth, a Green Party Belfast City Council member.
Brian, in his wisdom, accused the PSNI of ‘class-based policing’ in the pages of the Belfast Telegraph for failing to clamp down on parking around the Cregagh Estate on match nights at the nearby Kingspan Stadium. His inference, although he didn’t say it in so many words, was that the cops did nothing about the badly parked Range Rovers, Mercs and BMWs of the affluent rugby sorts.
Let us help you with that, Brian. First up, rugby fans are just the same as any other fans. Secondly, police officers and stewards are all over the area on match nights to make sure that residents aren’t disturbed or disrupted. And, when bad parking slips through, every match is punctuated by PA announcements instructing car drivers to return to their vehicles and move them.
Still, if it helps you get a few votes next time around, why worry about the rugby fans?
Whiskey In The Tub
We’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Dunadry Hotel & Gardens (as it’s now called), an elegant, warm and welcoming place…especially at this time of the year.
So it wasn’t much of a hardship to stay there – for the first time – earlier this week and try out the new private spa area which the McKeever Group has just built at the hotel. The difference between this and other spas in the area is that just ten rooms at the hotel have private access to the outdoor hot tubs, sauna and relaxation rooms. Throw open the patio door of your room and there’s an outdoor seating area and a little gate leading out to the spa area. The robes and slippers, of course, are provided.
And here’s the thing. You don’t have to share the hot tub with Anne-Marie and her 12 best mates from Lenadoon, all trying to break prosecco consumption records (or, in the interests of balance, Billie and her buddies from Ballybeen).
It’s a significant new addition to a hotel which already has some lovely gardens – including a few resident peacocks and plenty of squirrels – an excellent restaurant and a reception/bar area with a roaring open fire.
But it also has a hidden jewel in the crown. Go down a flight of stairs off the reception area and you’ll find The Cellar, an oasis of wood-panelled luxury with one of the best Irish whiskey collections around…not to mention a few decent bottles of wine.
In the interests of research, and guided by the excellent Gavin Magee, we were forced to sample a warming Redbreast 12-year old, a wonderful 16-year old Bushmills Malt and what we reckoned was an even more wonderful Midleton Very Rare 2024. It might be a blend, but it’s a couple of hundred quid’s worth of blend.
Whiskey, food, gardens, spa and rooms – all highly recommended. Check it all out are www.dunadry.com
Shop Until You Drop
To the courts, and we couldn’t help but notice the tale of an everyday Belfast shoplifter who lifted £25 worth of meat from a convenience store on the Antrim Road.
Our man was given a suspended sentence, but one can’t help but think that he was more than a little lucky. Because, you see, he had a bit of form. Quite a lot of form, in fact. Not only was a previous shoplifting offence mentioned in court, but 199 of them were. The Antrim Road pork chop heist (the type of meat wasn’t specified, to be fair) was his milestone 200th. If he was a footballer or rugby player, he’d get a chance to run out in front of the rest of the team.
In fact, his entire criminal record runs to a total of 455 offences. We’re not sure what the other 255 were about but it’s hard not to wonder how many offences he’ll have to commit before a judge actually sends him to prison. This particular judge was reported as saying: “At some point, shopkeepers must think ‘What About Us?’”. Erm, they probably already are, your honour.
As for the man’s lawyer, he described the crime as a ‘theft of necessity’. “He stole this meat to feed himself as his benefits had not come through,” he said. Ah well, that’s alright then. The shop owners will feel all the better knowing that.