You would wonder where to begin today – a tragic week including the death and television coverage of the death of John Hume. Like the 9/11 catastrophe, the massive explosion in Beirut was like something out of an Armageddon movie. It’s almost a throwaway line that half a million people are homeless and 150 people were killed and rising. What are those half million men, women and children doing right now as I type and as you read. Rehousing is out of the question, tented centres will only hold so many, the elderly sitting on the road, think of women about to have their babies, men with heart conditions or COPD having to breath in the dust and fumes. Every person has a life story stopped in its tracks and where does that story go from here? Money and practical help will pour in for a while but it will only scratch the surface, Lebanon was at crisis point before Tuesday and now disaster doesn’t even begin to describe their plight.
Here at home there have been three deaths this week which are personal, NUJ colleague Anne Moore and Roy Greer (UTV) although in the case of environment champion Brian Black a shock to many who only knew him through his work on screen with Ulster Television. Two days after his car rolled backwards into the harbour in Strangford and rescuers were unable to save his life, by chance the first house magazine of Ulster Television Sports and Social Club turned up at home. Dated October 1984 it is full of stories.
On page seven of the eight page magazine a reminiscence The Pleasures and Hazards of Holiday Cruising. So sad to read as the article is by my friend Brian looking back over his summer cruise with his family to France and the Scillies with his family, wife Les, son Kieron who was fourteen at the time and Sarah who was ten. What an adventure, crossing the busy shipping lanes in a thirty-six foot yacht dodging a 250,000 ton tanker.
“Another disadvantage in that this area is notorious for fog,” he wrote. “Sure enough by mid-afternoon of the first day visibility was down to a mile or so. That did not worry the ship with radar but it scared the hell out of us. Anyway we made it with one of the crew perched on the bows listening for the throb of heavy engines and a few rapid about turns if they came too near.
That night he recalled was fantastic. “I will never forget it. the phosphorescence – a green glow given off by millions of tiny marine organisms – was so intense that it illuminated the sales and bathed Mary Lynn in a weird unearthly light, occasional dolphins would cross our track coming right up to the boat and after a while heading off leaving a great torpedo train of dazzling green.”
Kieron and Sarah are grown up now and tragically they have lost both of their parents, Les last year and dear Brian just last week. Such vivid memories and many others will surely give them some comfort knowing that their father wanted them to share all that is best in life’s adventure.
THE FRONT PAGE HEADLINE
Major Award for Trauma, the medical series made for Channel 4 about the skills of surgeons at the Royal Victoria Hospital is voted ‘tops’ by Medical Journalist’s Association.
The series, the first of its kind on network tv – ten a penny these days – went on to sell all over the world and it was very personal in our house. The director producer was Alan Hailes and I got used to him getting a call in the middle of the night to round up the crew, who were on standby, and rush off to the causality unit to film some groundbreaking operation. It was traumatic for the boys David Scott, Jim McGirr, Ivan Hislop and Ray Newman and production assistant Liz Mann, as I knew only too well through the silences at the table, the tense phone calls throughout the day and the long absences when filming was taking place , sometimes it was the waiting game was played out in Havelock House, which was then home to Ulster Television. The award was a cut glass trophy and £1,000 which was immediately donated to the hospital to further specialised work in the treatment of trauma.
It was draining and rewarding to direct, produce and film and it was equally draining to watch. There was the man from Co. Monaghan who, when driving back from international airport, crashed head-on into a lorry near Glenavy and went through the windscreen of his car. The resulting operation was breath-taking and he survived. Another patient in the RVH again a head injury had a Richmond Screw inserted into his scull at 3.30 in the morning. The surgeon used an ordinary hand drill as sold in any hardware shop. These programmes were groundbreaking and still talked about in medical circles today. All the relations bravely gave their permission for the filming and transmission of these operations in the hope that it would help others and in celebration of the trauma work at the Royal.
And what can you say about the Corona 19 horror. It looks as if Ireland is slowly closing down two weeks at a time, in the South anyway but we in the North are probably not far behind. It’s inevitable at holiday time that people travel, go to beaches, eat out and drink in groups, hug friends before they remember it verboten but this is what has brought us to this stage. Where next? I dread to think.
A SONG WITH SUCH MEANING
Lock down, lock up, furlough, shielding – words that have become part of daily life and they all mean the same thing, life on hold. It has meant devastation for so many families, the sadness of deaths and the misery of illness. If you’re lucky it has meant having time on your hands with the occasional outing to alleviate the boredom. For many it has meant using their initiative to keep interested, others have renewed friendships after years of silence.
Here’s a story that warms the heart about a boy and a girl who met almost 40 years ago in the Crescent Arts Centre.
Helen Parker was working with the Belfast Community Circus and she’d just finished a drama course at Rupert Stanley College.
Brendan Morrison was studying art also at Rupert Stanley and the two hit it off as they had one thing in common, they had a passion for music and entertaining.
“I’d been singing and playing bass for a few years and as Brendan was writing songs and performing at parties our friendship began and we entertained many people across the political divide for around four years.” One song in particular proved to be a favourite. ‘The Camera’ was a song that Brendan wrote in 1983 and was popular at these gatherings. I’m originally from East Belfast and Brendan’s home was in Ardoyne but we realised that music was a great way for Catholics and Protestants in Ireland to put differences aside, forget about the Troubles and just get together to be creative.”
Helen sang for the cover band RSVP all over Ireland until the late 80s when she developed nodes on her vocal chords.
“So I took the decision to move to London in 1986. I lived there for three years and then moved to Canterbury in Kent where I live with my husband Tony Rico Richardson.”
Tony is a well known musician, played saxophone for Bad Manners also Amy Winehouse and from Pixie Lott to Bono with hundreds between! “We have two children, Dottie and Liam and I work as front of house manager at the Gulbenkian Theatre. In 1997 Brendan moved to live in Santiago, Chile where he works for Fair Working Conditions, the Irish company that audits and inspects factories in China, India, Vietnam and the Philippines on behalf of US retailers to ensure that human rights and employment standards comply with international laws. He lives with his five children; three born in Belfast and twins born in Santiago.”
The Camera
Unsurprisingly over time the two lost contact until two years ago when a familiar name popped up on Facebook and friendship was rekindled. They talked about old times, the gigs all over Ireland, the fun and satisfaction of bringing people together through music and especially singing Brendan’s song ‘The Camera’, a gentle soul searching song – “I’m looking through a camera at my own existence, this is where I dwell on moments missing ….” wistful reflection of a time gone leaving just a photograph on a wall.
“We thought it would be a nice surprise for our friend Ethna Roddy who introduced us at the Crescent so we intended recording the song for her, after all she was our biggest fan!”
But they were both busy so it was all talk and nothing was done, that is until coronavirus became a worldwide crises.
“Suddenly we had something positive for our confinement. We began by searching through suitcases and boxes of old family photographs sending us both on an emotional rollercoaster on our mission to compile a slide show to accompany the track.” Suddenly it was all systems go. Brendan asked his family and friends to look out old photos and Helen compiled them all and put them into some sort of order as Brendan worked on the music.
And the project began to take shape as Helen put it, with video files pinged back and forth from Santiago to Canterbury.
“I feel the Camera has more than a nostalgic feel for us, it reflects the times that we are in now, communicating with loved ones on screen whilst we are so restricted and looking forward to getting back to our lives as they were.”
On the track Brendan sings with Helen, he also plays guitar with Helen’s husband Tony Rico playing saxophone, flute and slide guitar. The result is simply beautiful and I hope radio stations all over the country will decide to play this record. Listen and hear for yourself.
Another Belfast Talent
Sculptor Tim Shaw, born in north Belfast, has the great honour of having one of his works selected to stand at the entrance of the Imperial War Museum in Manchester.
In his early 50s Tim is one of the youngest members of the Royal Academy of Arts and has exhibited all over the world with a number of major commissions including ‘The Minotaur’ for the Royal Opera House London, ‘The Rites of Dionysus ‘for the Eden Project Cornwall and the huge ‘Drummer’ for the central square of Truro Cornwall. Because of the coronavirus there have been holdups in the preparation of the final sculpture which will be cast into bronze in the autumn. ‘Man on Fire’ was originally conceived in response to the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Reports promise a larger than life exhibit in scale at 4m x 4m x 2.5 m, ‘It captures the horrific moments of a figure on fire, caught in conflict. The sculpture is a powerful image of contemporary conflict and compassionately relates to the human cost of war.’ More at Tim Shaw Sculptor
