Maiden City Festival

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The Maiden City Festival (Ulster-Scots: tha Maiden Citie Blythe-Tid) [1] takes place in Derry, Northern Ireland in the second week in August each year. In 2008 the Festival was described as a "diverse, varied programme of events that underscores the organisers' desire to provide something for everyone", as well as a "showcase for Protestant tolerance and openness". Events included Bluegrass on the Walls, Children's Heritage Visual Art Workshops, drumming events, including some with members of the north west's African community, music of all kinds at the Verbal Arts Centre, Foyle Ulster Scots Highland Gathering, firework display, the fifth Annual Scottish Dance Competition, historical walks and talks, with the finale being the Relief of Derry Pageant (the Apprentice Boys of Derry 319th Relief of Derry Celebrations) on 9 August 2008. [2] The Festival commemorates the actions of Protestant Apprentice Boys who shut the city gates against the forces of the Catholic King James in December 1688. King James laid siege to the city from December to August 1689 until the Protestant forces of William of Orange relieved the city. [3]

Ulster Scots dialects dialect

Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots, also known as Ulster Scotch, Scots-Irish and Ullans, is the Scots language as spoken in parts of Ulster in Ireland. It is generally considered a dialect or group of dialects of Scots, although groups such as the Ulster-Scots Language Society and Ulster-Scots Academy consider it a language in its own right, and the Ulster-Scots Agency and former Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure have used the terminology Ulster-Scots language.

Derry City in Northern Ireland

Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning "oak grove". In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the "London" prefix to reflect the funding of its construction by the London guilds. While the city is more usually known colloquially as Derry, Londonderry is also commonly used and remains the legal name.

Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom lying in the north-east of the island of Ireland, created 1921

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas, and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments".

Contents

Festival co-ordinator Billy Moore described the Festival (in 2008) as "the way in which the Protestant community of Derry, a minority community, is able to make a contribution to the life of the city and to the diversity of expression of culture. From the outset we have themed the Maiden City Festival as a showcase for the Protestant culture of tolerance and openness, and a means of showcasing the heritage that is entrusted to the Apprentice Boys of Derry". [2]

Protestant culture

Although the Reformation was a religious movement, it also had a strong impact on all other aspects of life: marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy, and the arts.

Funding

The festival had begun in a small way in 1998 but had been interrupted in 2006 and 2007, due to funding and organisational issues. [3] Billy Moore, of the Apprentice Boys, was able to confirm the return of the Festival in 2008 thanks to funding from the Irish Government's Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as from Derry City Council and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. [4] The Department of Foreign Affairs was the largest sponsor of the event, which costs approximately £50,000 to run, paying £27,000 towards the costs. Brochures for the festival, featured the logo of sponsors, including “Department of Foreign Affairs, An Roinn Gothic Eachtracha”. [5]

Government of Ireland Ministerial cabinet exercising executive authority in the country of Ireland

The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland) Runs the diplomatic and trade relations of Ireland with other states

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFA/DFAT) is a department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for promoting the interests of Ireland in the European Union and the wider world. The head of the Department is the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade who is assisted by two Ministers of State.

Derry City Council administrative territorial entity of the United Kingdom

Derry City Council was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Derry and Strabane District Council.

Northern Ireland Government Departments funded the Festival to the tune of £100,000 in 2001–02, £155,000 in 2002–03 and £100,800 in 2003–04. [6] This included funding in 2003-04 offered by Londonderry Regeneration Initiative for the post of a Development Worker and associated advertising and recruitment costs. In addition, the Ulster-Scots Agency made available £30,000 in 2001–02, £30,000 in 2002–03, £30,000 in 2003–04 and £30,000 in 2004–05, and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland provided £50,000 of National Lottery funding in 2002–03. [7]

The Ulster-Scots Agency is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its attendant culture, and to promote an understanding of the history of the Ulster-Scots [people]."

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland.

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The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom.

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Apprentice Boys of Derry

The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 10,000, founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. There are clubs and branches in Ulster and elsewhere in Ireland, Scotland, England, Australia and Toronto, Canada. The society aims to commemorate the 1689 Siege of Derry when Catholic James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland laid siege to the walled city, which was at the time a Protestant stronghold. Apprentice Boys parades once regularly led to virulent opposition from the city's Irish nationalist majority, but recently a more conciliatory approach has taken place and now the parades are virtually trouble-free. The 2014 'Shutting of the Gates' parade was described as "the biggest in years" and was violence-free.

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Bogside neighbourhood

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The city of Derry, Northern Ireland, Derry is a majority catholic city. It was severely affected by the Troubles. The conflict is widely considered to have begun in the city, with many regarding the Battle of the Bogside as the beginning of the Troubles. The 'Bloody Sunday' incident of 1972 occurred in Derry, in the bogside area.

Ulster Protestants are a ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43% of the population. Many Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived in the early 17th century Ulster Plantation. This was the colonisation of the Gaelic, Catholic province of Ulster by English-speaking Protestants from Great Britain, mostly from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England. Many more Scottish Protestant migrants arrived in Ulster in the late 17th century. Those who came from Scotland were mostly Presbyterians, while those from England were mostly Anglicans. There is also a small Methodist community and the Methodist Church in Ireland dates to John Wesley's first visit to Ulster in 1752. Since the 17th century, sectarian and political divisions between Ulster Protestants and Catholics have played a major role in the history of Ulster, and of Ireland as a whole. Ulster Protestants descend from a variety of lineages, including Lowland Scots, English, Irish, and Huguenots.

References

  1. 2001 annual report in Ulster-Scots Archived 2011-08-29 at the Wayback Machine North/South Ministerial Council.
  2. 1 2 Murphy, Laura (5 August 2008). "Maiden City festival gets into full swing". The News Letter .
  3. 1 2 "Maiden City Festival called off". BBC News Northern Ireland. 18 July 2006.
  4. "Maiden City Festival to return this summer". Derry Journal . 26 March 2008.
  5. "26-County Administration Funds Loyalist Festival". Saoirse32. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
  6. "Maiden City Festival". House of Commons Hansard. 7 June 2004.
  7. "Maiden City Festival". House of Commons Hansard. 30 June 2004. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.