The Downpatrick area is set to mark this year’s Community Relations and Cultural Awareness Week, with a number of events taking place in the local area.
Coordinated by the Community Relations Council (CRC), it is running from Monday, September 18 – Sunday, September 24, with more than 160 events taking place across Northern Ireland, and the Downpatrick event runs for the evening of Friday 8 September.
The initiative, which supports the Northern Ireland Executive’s Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC) strategy, sees government departments, community groups, local councils, charitable organisations and authorities among many other organisers, host a wide range of events from exhibitions, talks, discussions, concerts, workshops and more – all based this year around the theme of ‘Safe Space: Shared Place’.
There are six events are taking place in the Newry Mourne and Down District including events organised by Newry, Mource & Down District Council, Libraries NI, and Down County Museum.
Events include ‘The Cost of Reconciliation – not peace at any price, but love at all costs’, a talk by Reverend David Armstrong at Down County Museum based on recollections of his experiences as a Presbyterian Minister in the Parish of Limavady, serving the community there during some of the most turbulent days of the Troubles.
In addition, the ‘Healing Harmonies with Beyond Skin’ exhibition at Castlewellan Library will explore how music can be an effective platform for reconciliation following Journalist Josepth O’Connor and Videographer Paul Loughran’s trip to Sri Lanka to document how music has been used to unite divided communities in the area.
For more information on events happening in the area, visit:
where a copy of the programme is available for download.
Check out the video promo.
Jacqueline Irwin, Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council, said: “We have chosen the theme Safe Space: Shared Place to allow us to show how many safe and shared spaces we have here. Not just physical spaces, but space in how we think about each other”.
“We want to draw attention to the work that is going on all the time to broaden and deepen our sense of safety and to create even more spaces that are shared by all of us. The week is an opportunity to showcase the ways in which people are making room for each other and getting involved in helping people feel safe to share sport, drama, film, food, arts, culture, music, debate, talks, tours and everything that can make life good here.
“The number and variety of independently organised events that are part of Community Relations and Cultural Awareness Week 2017 is testament to the work undertaken by members of our local communities each and every day and the positive change it is making for all of us here,” she adds.
Community Relations and Cultural Awareness Week is coordinated by CRC with support from The Executive Office, the Department for Communities, the Department of Justice and other government agencies.
