iced coffee

He didn’t get a plate of wings at Ryan’s, nor did he join the queue at Boojum. Instead, he simply spoke to a select, invited audience of 2,000 mostly young people, at the Waterfront Hall then left the city again. He spoke of how far Northern Ireland has come in the peace process, how Northern Ireland is the blueprint for peace in other parts of the world currently faced with conflict, and that we have now have “ordinary”, but have a to work to keep at it:

None of that would have been imaginable a generation ago. And Belfast is a different city. Once-abandoned factories are rebuilt. Former industrial sites are reborn. Visitors come from all over to see an exhibit at the MAC, a play at the Lyric, a concert here at Waterfront Hall. Families crowd into pubs in the Cathedral Quarter to hear “trad.” Students lounge at cafés, asking each other, “What’s the craic?” So to paraphrase Seamus Heaney, it’s the manifestation of sheer, bloody genius. This island is now chic.

And these daily moments of life in a bustling city and a changing country, it may seem ordinary to many of you — and that’s what makes it so extraordinary. That’s what your parents and grandparents dreamt for all of you — to travel without the burden of checkpoints, or roadblocks, or seeing soldiers on patrol. To enjoy a sunny day free from the ever-present awareness that violence could blacken it at any moment. To befriend or fall in love with whomever you want. They hoped for a day when the world would think something different when they heard the word “Belfast.” Because of their effort, because of their courage that day has come. Because of their work, those dreams they had for you became the most incredible thing of all — they became a reality.

As I’ve aways said: I’d much rather there was crime here for any reason other than religious, political or tribal divisions.

Barack Obama almost pleaded with the audience, the youth — the people — to remain in peace. Please.

“You need to get this right. You set the example for those who are seeking peace to end conflicts of their own. You are their blueprint to follow. You are the proof of what is possible. Hope is contagious. They are watching to see what you do next.”

The emphasis was certainly on today’s youth, as it generally is, though it is the next generation which will cement the civil liberties being fought across the world today, and for Northern Ireland to remain in peace it will take harnessing of the current youth, to break down the walls and further the idea of a “shared future”.

I don’t just see a bunch of teenagers. I see the people who will be moving our world forward in the years ahead. — Michelle Obama

But they aren’t wrong: there is still a lot to be done!

So while there was a low turn-out for the anti-G8 rally at the weekend, the internet was alight over Obama’s visit and his words, wit and inspiration. It’s evident that as a nation we do care deeply about bettering ourselves and our little backwater and want to bring peace here.

Or maybe we need some perspective…

In 10 years time, we’ll ALL be able to look back at today as the point when nothing changed in NI, at all. That’s unity.

— RON SNOW (@theronster) June 17, 2013

Man says ‘what’s the craic’. People lose all sense of reason. Imagine if he’d said ‘bout ye’. We’d probably demand he become our king.

— RON SNOW (@theronster) June 17, 2013

I’ve even spouting all this shared future nonsense for years. Do I get a fancy plane? Do I fuck.

— RON SNOW (@theronster) June 17, 2013

Read the full transcript and watch the speeches.

The Waterfront Hall © Phil O’Kane

Photo of the day: Sammy Wilson and Gerry Adams © Press Eye

Long-exposure over the River Lagan from the Governor’s Bridge towards the King’s Bridge, South Belfast.

Around 1,500 people attended a peaceful protest against the G8 summit today in Belfast — perhaps in part due to the number of extra police brought in from England — much less than the 5,000 expected. Apparently a bit of rain makes people less devoted to a cause. In short, it was a very boring parade. A small group of shouty #fleg protesters gathered at the city hall, though they just caused annoyance.

#flegs

St George’s Market is one of those few things that really brightens up Belfast.

The atmosphere, the mix of people doing things early on the weekend. Not to mention the locally produced food and crafty stuff: the dedication and love put into the cheeses, cupcakes and spices. Not to mention the ranges of coffees. And local teas, if that’s your thing. But I don’t like tea.

Cheesy? Fuck yeah! But what can I say, I like variety markets.

It’s open Friday, Saturday on Sunday mornings; that’s all well and good, but what about Thursday mornings, when the smell of fresh fish lingers around the block and fruit-sellers set up shop for the next morning.

Around Belfast city centre and waterfront.

Titanic Quarter in the sun.
Isn’t Belfast pretty in the sun!

Dublin City Centre was surprisingly busy on Christmas Day. The Chinese and Asian restaurants were open, the odd local shop was serving customers and lots of tourists and people who don’t celebrate the holiday were milling about the streets, perhaps to simply enjoy the city in day light mostly devoid of people. It was fascinating to see. Though I imagine as the years go on, more and more shops will be open on 25th December.

O’Connell Street Christmas Tree

O’Connell Street

Darren on Henry Street

Spending Christmas in Dublin I took in the seasonal spirit and general atmosphere in the city centre on the eve of the day of Christmas: Monday 24th December 2012. Grafton Street was crazy, the shopping centres were terribly busy, Henry Street was filled with shoppers. Generally, it was brilliant. Having all the time in the world and all we had to purchase were champagne flutes, strawberries, vegetables, tortilla crisps, beer and wine.

I had a fantastic Christmas Eve. Dublin Does it well. The weather was a little weird though. Blue skies and just a little chilly. This time two years ago it was 26°C colder than this year!

Christmas Tree at Smithfield

Powerscourt Shopping Centre

Powerscourt Shopping Centre

Darren in Powerscourt Shopping Centre

Grafton Street

Grafton Street

Darren on Grafton Street

Sexy Sax Guy, he is not

It’s been revealed that Facebook wants to be able to make money from the photos shared on Instagram, the company it paid almost $700m for in September (after a bid of $1bn in April 2012). Naturally, in order to do that all they have to do is add a few lines to the Terms of Service, which no one reads, stating that they can now sell your images with advertisers:

“We may share User Content and your information (including but not limited to, information from cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data, and usage data) with businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of that group (“Affiliates”). Affiliates may use this information to help provide, understand, and improve the Service (including by providing analytics) and Affiliates’ own services (including by providing you with better and more relevant experiences). But these Affiliates will honor the choices you make about who can see your photos.”

There are a number of points to be made about this, some cynical, and some to be taken seriously.

Really? Tell me you didnt suspect that all those free sites with limited revenue ideas weren’t going to steal something from you.

— jon levy – Foto8 (@foto8) December 18, 2012

On the cynical, half-truth, note: we all (100 million of us) signed up to a free service and willingly gave them our content. Our content. Our content And what did we expect them to do with the content? After all, they are in the business of making money, and believe it or not, the internet is becoming less “free” every day. That which is “free” is paid for by reams of advertisements, or indeed by you. If you want something, you must pay for it. You are the product etc.

Too many people are “scared” of the internet; the big social networks, search engines, services etc. But it’s really very simple: if you don’t want someone to know something, don’t put it on the internet. Or, find an alternative. Want a search engine without personalised search and tracking? Try DuckDuckGo. Fed up with Facebook? Why not migrate to Diaspora? Or maybe the revamped Myspace? But you don’t jump ship, you stay where your friends are, and you learn to accept that it isn’t a free for all, it isn’t a democracy, and if you want something to be private don’t put it on the Internet. Sure you can lock down your account — go private. But how “private” do you really believe that is? And what value do you get from it? Operate a covert operation of mouthing off to a select few people of whom you don’t know and will never have a real connection with. But then you could get a pen and paper and begin with “Dear Diary…”

For those truly interested Terms of Service; Didn’t read has rated a number of free online web services by the way in which they handle the terms and privacy policies. As is stated, before the recent update, Instagram’s terms included the right for Instagram to distribute through any media, whereas now this right is also transferred to Facebook.

Sure it’s not very nice of Instagram/Facebook to sell your pictures to advertisers, however this is nothing new. Twitpic made a similar move in May 2011 to prevent users from selling or distributing their own images which had been uploaded to the service. This was then changed and everyone was happy. But few are aware that most photo sharing service have similar clauses: they own your data. While it is often in the best interests of the company to ask for and get the rights they can in order to display and reproduce content, many will abuse this right.

I will, however, leave Instagram unless they alter these terms before they come into effect on January 16 2013. I was reluctant to join to begin with and it was fun while it lasted. I care about my public image and my data and I’m willing to pay for a service which will not claim my work as theirs, without comment or credit. As I do, and will continue to. While I understand that in order to be a part of the social web today some sacrifices must be made, but this crosses the line. My images are not “throwaway”, each one tells a story. Part of my story. And I don’t give them away for free. Believe it or not, there are a lot more interesting and useful images than pictures of lattes, cats and sunsets for Facebook to make money from.

Here are just a few of my own favourite images taken with Instagram:

I think I aptly covered all relevant clichés.

Canoeist

Oh Autumn

Untitled — Sunset
(more…)

I heard the name “PA” long before I ever met the man.
I had seen his various costumes at Pride Parades through the years before I ever heard his name.
PA died yesterday having been treated in hospital for long-term illness.

PA Mag Lochlainn, was an LGBT rights activist and campaigner in Northern Ireland, president of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (NIGRA), a member of the SDLP and generally very outspoken and a favourite of the media.

PA was a very vocal, opinionated and good humoured member of the LGBT community in Northern Ireland, originally from Derry, he lived much of his life in Belfast. The first time I talked to him was as we were both walking through security of Stormont, of all places. I walked at his pace as we made our way to the Great Hall for the 2011 ‘Pride on the Hill‘ debate. I remember on that first occasion he said he remembered spotting me at some recent events with my camera, and I told him I’d been photographing most of the Pride events.

On one occasion later in the Summer of 2011 I was in the LGBT Centre kitchen making a coffee while PA was floating about. He joined me in the kitchen and we chatted for over an hour about everything and anything. While some of the details are hazy now, it was one of the most interesting and educational conversations I’ve had with someone; about his time as a teacher, LGBT rights, technology, Pride, religion etc. He was a brilliant and interesting man, always prepared to listen, to meet new people and to hear their views. Each time I met him and got talking he had something to say. Always upbeat.

No longer will he be there to stand up during debates and talks. To make his voice heard — often without the need for a mic. No longer will he fly around the Pride Parade on his mobility scooter in fancy dress. And no longer will he be there for someone to talk to or to offer support.
He will be truly missed.

In 2011 he was given an award by Pride for Special Services to Pride, something he will always be remembered for.

PA Receiving his award at the 2011 Pride Ball

Pride Parade 2012

Pride Parade 2011

Talking in the Queens University Quad during the QueerSpace Historic Bus Tour in 2010

Pride Parade 2009

Pride Parade 2008

Respects can be paid to P A at O’Kane’s funeral parlour in Donegall St today, Thursday, between 4pm and 6pm. People may want to gather to remember and celebrate PA’s life. Union Street have arranged the upstairs, Green Room, to be available and open for any of the mourners who wish to meet and have a wee drink, from 4 until whenever. A formal memorial meeting will be organised for a later date. Funeral Mass in Dungiven at 10am on Saturday.