Latest news with #EmmetMcDonoughBrown
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Belfast: City council set to bid to purchase Assembly Rooms
The historic Assembly Rooms in Belfast may soon be bought by the city council in a deal costing more than £2m.A committee at City Hall has agreed to make an offer to take the derelict 18th Century building out of private Assembly Rooms were the site of the famous Belfast Harp Festival in 1792, which led to the preservation of the ancient tradition of Irish of the proposed purchase are confidential but the cost is thought to be in the region of £2.7m. 'Full-circle moment' A council spokesperson told BBC News NI: "Elected members agreed that the council should purchase the Assembly Rooms and associated lands. The committee gave authority for the council to make an offer to the landowner."These lands include part of the North Street car park, 5-9 North Street and Braddell's Building, a grade B1 listed building at 11 North Street."This decision remains subject to ratification at the next full meeting of council."Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown welcomed the move and said it would be a "full-circle moment" if the Assembly Rooms returned to public has yet to be decided exactly how the Assembly Rooms would be utilised by the council. 'Huge moment' The historic building belongs to Castlebrooke Investments, which is behind the delayed Tribeca development in Belfast city in 1769, the Assembly Rooms are at the corner of North Street and Waring Street. In spite of the building's historical and cultural significance, it has fallen out of use in the past two Assembly Rooms have been placed on a list of global 'at risk' heritage sites by the World Monuments Green Party described news of the council's potential purchase as a "huge moment" for Belfast.A spokesperson said: "We are delighted at being able to secure the future of this historic building and are excited for what the next chapter of this culturally significant site will hold."The next full meeting of the city council is due to take place on 1 September, when a final decision is expected to be taken.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Anti-Irish language leaflets made us more determined to learn'
An Irish-language teacher whose class was targeted with leaflets saying "English is our mother tongue" has said the incident made people more determined to learn. Aoife Nic Giolla Cheara, 22, runs a free weekly Irish class at a pub in Belfast city centre. In December, her students discovered leaflets placed on their cars which said that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language". Police investigated the flyers as a "hate incident" but later said no offences were committed. Ms Nic Giolla Cheara, from west Belfast, grew up speaking Irish and said she felt "hurt" by what happened because the language is "all I've ever known". "When somebody says to me that there is no reasoning, there is no purpose, there is no need for it, it hurts," she said. The incident happened outside the bar on Dublin Road, where the Irish class was taking place. In a lengthy message, the flyers said the government "should respect the will of the Irish people not to speak Irish". At the time an Alliance Party councillor condemned the flyers, describing them as intimidating. "Irish belongs to our community who use and cherish it and people should be free to learn without this florid stupidity," Emmet McDonough-Brown said at the time. Ms Nic Giolla Cheara said she was "very concerned" about the impact on her students. "I don't want my class to feel unsafe or to feel that there's a disdain for them for just learning a language - it's ridiculous," she said. But the leaflets had the "opposite effect of what the person intended" and "if anything, they felt more motivated to learn". The Police Service of Northern Ireland it carried out a number of inquiries and determined that no offences had been committed. The development of policies in Northern Ireland on the Irish language has long been a focus of political disputes between unionists and Irish nationalists. Cross-border funding arrangements and proposals for bilingual signage at Belfast's Grand Central Station have been among the recent disagreements at Stormont. At local council level, there have also been disputes over the introduction of dual-language street signs in some neighbourhoods. You can see more on this story on Sunday Politics on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10:00 BST on Sunday and on BBC iPlayer. Irish street sign vandalism cost councils £60,000 NI language law could spell significant change
BBC News
14-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Belfast Irish teacher says leaflets made students more determined
An Irish-language teacher whose class was targeted with leaflets saying "English is our mother tongue" has said the incident made people more determined to Nic Giolla Cheara, 22, runs a free weekly Irish class at a pub in Belfast city December, her students discovered leaflets placed on their cars which said that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language".Police investigated the flyers as a "hate incident" but later said no offences were committed. Ms Nic Giolla Cheara, from west Belfast, grew up speaking Irish and said she felt "hurt" by what happened because the language is "all I've ever known"."When somebody says to me that there is no reasoning, there is no purpose, there is no need for it, it hurts," she incident happened outside the bar on Dublin Road, where the Irish class was taking a lengthy message, the flyers said the government "should respect the will of the Irish people not to speak Irish". At the time an Alliance Party councillor condemned the flyers, describing them as intimidating."Irish belongs to our community who use and cherish it and people should be free to learn without this florid stupidity," Emmet McDonough-Brown said at the Nic Giolla Cheara said she was "very concerned" about the impact on her students."I don't want my class to feel unsafe or to feel that there's a disdain for them for just learning a language - it's ridiculous," she the leaflets had the "opposite effect of what the person intended" and "if anything, they felt more motivated to learn". The Police Service of Northern Ireland it carried out a number of inquiries and determined that no offences had been development of policies in Northern Ireland on the Irish language has long been a focus of political disputes between unionists and Irish funding arrangements and proposals for bilingual signage at Belfast's Grand Central Station have been among the recent disagreements at local council level, there have also been disputes over the introduction of dual-language street signs in some can see more on this story on Sunday Politics on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10:00 BST on Sunday and on BBC iPlayer.
