The last few days have been mesmerising. The Pope’s death through to his burial yesterday was covered so beautifully by television crews in Rome. I have re-watched The Two Popes and yesterday Conclave both brilliant films each giving an insight into what goes on in Vatican City at a time like this. One thing irked me though, commentators constantly implying only members of Pope Frances congregation were affected. That’s rubbish, men, women and children from other faiths and none have been saddened that such a gentle man of peace and purpose had died and we too mourned his passing. And as for introducing Martin O’Brien a ‘random’ member of the crowd for a chat as a Fermanagh Man and captioning him ‘commentator’ was a disgrace.
This is Martin’s CV for BBCs information.
Martin O’Brien is a multi-award winning Irish journalist, author, media/communications consultant and speech writer. A former Editor of The Irish News , he is the co-author of “In Good Time” – A Memoir by Harold Good with Martin O’Brien, which was published by Red Stripe Press (Dublin) in October 2024. He specializes in religious affairs and was Northern correspondent of The Irish Catholic until he started work on “In Good Time”. He covered the election of Pope Francis for BBC Northern Ireland. produced Sunday Sequence, BBC Radio Ulster’s weekly religious affairs and ethics programme, winning four Andrew Cross Awards in religious affairs broadcasting. He left the BBC on 31 March 2013, having been on the staff for 28 years, and has established his own business, Martin O’Brien Media, based in Belfast.
Not just any old face in the crowd, a man steeped in religious affairs.
And when it comes to advisors, who allowed Trump to appear in a blue suit? No brownie marks for him.
One Man And His Dog
Sunday morning, a day for most of us like to relax whether it’s lying in the sunshine or looking out at the rain, forget work for the day, unless you are a student on the brink of important exams. However, neither is the case for one man in Belfast, Sean Kelly will be hard at it in the Cathedral Quarter all this week putting the finishing touches to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival which has grown in size and strength over 25 years.
We talked in one of the busiest venues, the MAC theatre, where Frankie McCafferty presents his one man show, Lisdoon Nirvana, celebrating a trip on a Honda 50 to enjoy the music of the 80s and an unforgettable adventure. Just one show of many in the MAC.
Sean has been creating the festival since 2000 and in that time he has seen many ups and downs. I ask him the history and what were the worst times and the best times.
After the Good Friday Agreement there was a move to develop and brighten Northern Ireland, to open up Belfast to the public and at the invitation of Martin Lynch he was invited to put together a plan for a festival. “I liked the sound of it and compiled a wish list and as it was pre e-mail, wrote letters to artists all over the UK and Ireland asking them to come and take part. The success rate was great, Germaine Greer, Bernard McLaverty, comedian Jeremy Hardy were amongst the first.” So this was a very satisfying career move from teaching to programming literary events at the Verbal Arts Center in Derry and so to the Cathedral Quarter. But the down times were really down.
“Just before the 2004 festival North Street Arcade was burnt to the ground and we lost our office and every thing in it, in 2010 the volcanic ash drifting from Iceland across Europe grounded all flights in the UK so it was a scramble to get artists onto ferries and then, of course, the pandemic – that grounded us all! So I can’t feel complacent. I was working 80 hours a week in those early days,” he added, “but now I have a small team plus 25 casuals acting as event managers for almost 100 shows.”
Some shows are in conventional venues but Sean is adamant the arts of all sorts should be available to everyone, watch out for Castlecourt car park and churches where the acoustics are so good, St. Annes Cathedral will be the stage for soul singer Arooj Aftab, called the coolest rock star in the world. The basement at McHughs, the Albert Clock, circus and film shows are just some on the list of exciting events.
Since he set up the festival Sean has had his favourite artists one being American singer Patti Smith. “When her agent contacted me I nearly fell off my seat. She sang in the Arts College and it was the most mesmerising show, she was electric on stage and back stage I was overwhelmed by her! This year a stand out person will be 81 year old Andy Irvine who just sits down, plugs in and plays his guitar and sings for 90 minutes, another is activist Tariq Ali who will be discussing world events especially what’s happening in Isreal and Palestine.”
Key principles of the festival have always been to remove barriers, dispel stuffiness and pretension, take theatre out of libraries and academia and art out of white walled spaces and to use buildings lying empty in Belfast. We lament the condition of the Assembly Rooms in Donegall Street, a beautiful building, once a bank and before that famous for the 1792 harp festival. We agree it’s a disgrace being left to deteriorate until it becomes dangerous and has to be pulled down.
Money Matters
We also talk of the lack of funding. “It’s worse than I can ever remember, static since 2014. We rely on the City Council and the Arts Council but our ticket sales bring in most of all. Just think, Dublin’s Abbey Theatre gets more funding than the whole area of the arts in Northern Ireland. And Stormont is not interested, the whole thing is pathetic.” Apparently funding per person in the north of Ireland is £5 and what is it in the south? £25. In an constant effort to keep ticket prices as affordable as possible Sean has used bookies shops for art exhibitions and a boat for folk music, he’s always on the look out for quirky spots to entice the public.
“Know your audience, “ he says, “chart what people are doing, talk to the public, monitor other festivals and I listen to my 19 year old daughter and her friends!” And it certainly works.
Any regrets? “Yes. That I didn’t get to book Leonard Cohen while he was still alive!” I’m with him on that.
More about the festival at cqaf.com which runs from 1st to 11th May 2025.