‘Human peace wall’ marks Good Friday Agreement's 25th anniversary by Allan LEONARD 7 April 2023 A “human peace wall” event at a Belfast interface marked the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. About 100 people lined up from the Falls Road to the Shankill Road end on Northumberland Street, forming a line of solidarity … Continue reading ‘Human peace wall’ marks Good Friday Agreement’s 25th anniversary
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Martin Magill, who is a priest at St John Parish on the Falls Road in Belfast and co-founder of the 4 Corners Festival. TRANSCRIPT My family have been here for a number of generations. We're still in the family home out in … Continue reading WNIMTM — Martin MAGILL
Considering Grace: An invitation to listen by Allan LEONARD 5 November 2019 Considering Grace, by Gladys Ganiels and Jamie Yohanis, is a new book that explores how Presbyterians responded to the Troubles, through a series of narratives from 120 people who tell their stories of how they coped with trauma and tests of their faith. … Continue reading Considering Grace: An invitation to listen
The end of Catholic Ireland? by Allan LEONARD 6 November 2018 In what Alan Meban described the event as a symposium (“but don’t say it was in a bar” [The Dark Horse Inn]), Dr Gladys Ganiel, a sociologist of religion from Queen’s University Belfast, laid out quantitative and qualitative findings about the apparent secularisation process … Continue reading The end of Catholic Ireland?
One of the final events of the Four Corners Festival was a discussion on what was described as the psychogeography of the city of Belfast. A panel of four -- with one connected via a video call -- ruminated on their walking through the streets, along borders and through them, sharing their perspectives to an … Continue reading Listening to the pschogeography of Belfast
On BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence programme, I learned of a Passion Walk event that would take place on Good Friday. Passion Walk seeks to recreate the experience of Jesus of Nazareth’s final days in a contemporary environment, using local landmarks in place of those around Jerusalem. Based on the success of a previous Passion … Continue reading The Passion Walk – Belfast 2015
National reconciliation: “Patriotism is not enough” A Journey Towards Healing seminar by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 19 February 2015 In the second of a series of seminars organised by Niamh Mental Wellbing, Reverend Dr Gary Mason facilitated a civic engagement in a packed room at Skainos on the Newtownards Road, Belfast. The discussants … Continue reading National reconciliation: “Patriotism is not enough”
I came across Coffee with Jesus on a display table at the front of a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Just as well, as I doubt I would have perused the religion section to discover it. Coffee with Jesus originated online, under the consortium Radio Free Babylon. It is a irreverent perspective of Christ in everyday -- … Continue reading Book review – Coffee with Jesus (David WILKIE)
The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 4 April 2014 Based on a true story, “A Love Divided” chronicles the aftermath of a mixed marriage in Co. Wexford, Ireland, where Protestant-raised Sheila refuses to send her children to a local Catholic school. She flees with her two young … Continue reading The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided
Accommodating faith and diversity in Northern Ireland: @IFNetUK Inter-Faith Week 2011 by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 21 November 2011 OFMDFM Junior Ministers Martina Anderson and Jonathan Bell sponsored a panel discussion marking Inter-Faith Week, organised by the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum: "Accommodating faith and diversity in Northern Ireland". The panel discussion was chaired … Continue reading Accommodating faith and diversity in Northern Ireland
A good text to start with on Jesus the man I wanted to read Son of God because of the tie-in with the BBC televised programme of the same name. Surprisingly, the book was not to be found in my local BBC shops or bookshops at the time the programme aired. (Who to blame: BBC or … Continue reading Book review – Son of God (Angela TILBY)
