Friday, 30 December 2022

#BBC more academic evidence - BBC dramas ‘warping modern Britain’ by ‘allowing Left-wing bias’

Yesterday I posted a Telegraph report written by their Associate Editor Gordon Rayner which summarised the findings of an academic report which clearly conclude the BBC is guilty of "rewriting British history" to promote a woke agenda in "biased documentaries.

Today I am posting a report again written by Gordon Rayner (taken from todays Telegraph) covering the findings of another academic report by The Campaign for Common Sense. It has looked into left- wing bias in the BBC's drama output.

This is all very worrying stuff. I am campaigning to defund the BBC because they are abusing their position as a public service broadcaster. I believe their output is social engineering based on a left wing woke liberal elite agenda which is as the report concludes "warping modern Britain".

Here is the report :-

BBC dramas ‘warping modern Britain’ by ‘allowing Left-wing bias’

Some shows such as EastEnders and Vigil described as being close to propaganda due to criticisms of Brexit and government agencies

ByGordon Rayner, ASSOCIATE EDITOR29 December 2022 •

The BBC is “warping modern Britain” by allowing a Left-wing, politically correct bias to infuse the storylines of drama series, a new report has said.

Some shows are described as being close to outright propaganda because of their criticisms of Brexit, the police, capitalism, the nuclear deterrent and government agencies.

The Campaign for Common Sense reviewed more than a year’s output of BBC drama and found that the corporation was presenting a version of the UK that few viewers would recognise.

As well as lecturing viewers on topics including climate change, the BBC indulges in its own form of social engineering by over-representing minorities, the report suggested.

One former culture secretary said the corporation was at risk of alienating viewers by “retreating into some minute view of the world” that bore no relation to the experience of licence fee payers.

It comes after a separate report accused the broadcaster of “rewriting history” by using documentaries to promote a woke agenda.

'More insidious' than biased news coverage

The BBC is currently the subject of a mid-term review of its royal charter, ordered by former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who warned that reforms might be needed to help it achieve greater impartiality.

In October last year Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, launched a 10-point plan to improve impartiality, promising that the BBC would regularly review its output to make sure shows are reflecting a range of viewpoints.

The report by the Campaign for Common Sense argued that Mr Davie still has a long way to go to make good on his promise.

Among the series examined in the report is Vigil, a detective drama set on board a Trident-armed submarine in which a Russian spy infiltrates the crew.

The Government and the security services cover up major incidents, and one anti-nuclear campaigner declares: “There’s no way our Government can claim that these weapons are safe and secure. It’s time to get the nukes out of Scotland.”

Feargal Dalton - a councillor for the SNP who is a supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, despite serving on a Trident submarine during a career in the Royal Navy - acted as the drama’s senior script consultant. He has in the past described nuclear weapons as “despicable”.

In an episode of EastEnders, Brexit is likened to Covid by the character Sharon Watts, who throws a glass of water in someone’s face and says: “We’ve had Brexit and Covid, we don’t need you here.”

Conspiracy thriller The Trick pits heroic climate change scientists against climate sceptics, oil producers and the centre-Right. It features a monologue warning that humanity has “around 10” years to prevent climate collapse and endorsing the efforts of climate activists who “understand what needs to be done”.

Meanwhile Liverpool-based police drama The Responder, starring Martin Freeman, features a cast in which almost half of the police characters are black or Asian - despite the fact that Merseyside Police has just 0.5 per cent black officers and 0.4 per cent Asian officers.

Other dramas highlighted in the report include Rules of the Game, The Capture, Industry and Sherwood.

John Whittingdale, the former culture secretary, said: “There is a widespread problem, which includes drama, of highly political statements being made on BBC programmes which would be instantly regarded as unacceptable if they were made in news or current affairs programmes.

“Day after day it is a drip-drip, and in some ways it is more insidious than the effect that biased news coverage would have, because it is never questioned, people just accept it.

“The consolation for viewers is that there is now a large variety of drama available from other sources such as streaming services, but the BBC needs to be careful to maintain its broad appeal, because the more it retreats into some minute view of the world, the less relevant it will be to viewers.”

The Campaign for Common Sense, which champions free speech and tolerance, was founded by Mark Lehain, who went on to become an adviser to Nadhim Zahawi when he was education secretary.

A spokesman for the Campaign for Common Sense said: “Too often in BBC dramas you can see only one side of an argument presented. And it’s usually the side of a liberal, Left-wing, woke viewpoint that has more in common with the echo chambers of Twitter than the majority of licence fee payers who are forced to fund the BBC’s output.

“The BBC needs to understand that not everyone signs up to a world view where the bad guys are the police, Brexit, and Conservatives.”

A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC’s world-class, critically-acclaimed dramas are enjoyed by huge audiences, year in year out. We work with the very best creative talent who represent all corners of the UK and reflect different views and perspectives, while also providing brilliant entertainment and escapism.

“Cherry-picking a handful of examples in thousands of hours of output does not constitute analysis and is not a true representation of BBC content.”

Commentary: BBC must rise above the banal, dreary politics of woke

By Gareth Roberts, former BBC scriptwriter

The Campaign for Common Sense report on BBC drama makes for grim reading - just as the grindingly miserable shows it reports on made even grimmer viewing.

It provides receipts to prove that the BBC has transformed from broadcaster to an HR department that happens to have some channels attached - less an auntie, more of a scolding polytechnic lecturer.

It is amusing to see the sheer volume of this stuff catalogued so meticulously - every sneery reference to Brexit, every cliched denunciation of British tradition, every painful shoehorning-in of the banal, dreary politics of woke. I know woke as a word to describe this has become low-status and déclassé, but we have as yet no alternative for the ideology that ate liberalism.

There is no fragility or sensitivity in these shows, which are aggressive and full-throated. The section on EastEnders comes as light relief, and that should tell us all something.

The modern world is often terrible, and police (The Responder) and clergymen (Inside Man) are often awful in real life, so depicting them as such in those shows can hardly be considered misleading. If you squinted very hard you might even think those two shows, both much smarter and better than the rest covered here, could be seen as a conservative critique of institutional decay.

What is really the point here is sins of omission. We see fictional bent coppers and dodgy vicars and nasty Tory MPs in BBC drama, but we never meet bent charity CEOs or dodgy environmentalists or nasty human rights lawyers. Upper middle-class people like us are good, the suffering helpless poor are victims - except when they answer back and become fascists - pre-Blair Britain was a grey cultural wasteland teetering on the verge of Nazism.

The report also highlights unrealistically high levels of ethnic casting, but this strikes me as an issue only because viewers are expected to believe simultaneously that ethnicity doesn’t really matter at all, and that it’s the most incredibly significant thing about a person.

It’s easy to castigate the BBC for its narrow output, and they do deserve it, but the big problem is much wider. The other broadcasters and the streamers all have exactly the same issue. I think this is partly down to a temperamental difference.

The very few Right of centre TV creatives I know are, like me, not interested in writing about things we are sure about, or dishing up stick people rather than characters.

The problem isn’t that writers express their opinions. There is nothing wrong with socially concerned drama written by blinkered progressives. There is something very wrong when socially concerned drama written by blinkered progressives is all that there is.

I can attest most of these people are amenable, think that woke just means being liberal and “nice”, that what they are saying is obvious, and that they have no familiarity with, or often even the sketchiest knowledge of opposing arguments.

It has become a cliché, but all this diversity leads to everyone becoming exactly the same.

The BBC has merely followed the herd of all the other Western elite institutions - it’s not their fault that the upper middle-class creative sector has gone globally barmy. However, the entire point of the BBC is that it is constituted to avoid such ovine behaviour. It should be aware of it and above it, and strive actively to widen the palate, provide for every view, not doing what everybody else is.

Reading through the report, my main takeaway is how this stuff fails on its own terms. To change the world, you have to change people’s minds - and that certainly isn’t happening with BBC drama, which is merely continual repetition of acceptable, high-status conformist opinions. To hammer in what must always be said and what must never be said, again and again.

Thursday, 29 December 2022

#BBC Broadcaster failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing 'politically motivated campaigners' to present shows, say leading academics.

Anyone who has read my postings will know I have been protesting about BBC bias for a number of years now. This is in the face of the "claim" from the BBC that their journalists form the "most trusted news organisation in the world". (a laughable claim).

My broad claim is the BBC has been highjacked by a left leaning woke liberal elite. They have been able to abuse their position as public service broadcasters to act as a de facto political party with their own manifesto - attempting to socially engineer us to be what they think we should be and think what they think we should think. This is a abuse of their position and must be stopped. Like thousands of others I have been campaigning to defund the BBC of their licence fee privilege and leave them to raise funds from the people that support them and their programme making. That is not me.

Today's Telegraph carries a report written by Gordon Rayner of the Telegraph covering a report issued by a group of academics called History Reclaimed. It is a hard hitting and disturbing report and confirms the observations of myself and thousands like me. In my opinion the BBC is a public disservice organisation.

I have copied and pasted Mr Rayner's report below :

BBC guilty of ‘rewriting British history’ to promote woke agenda in ‘biased’ documentaries

Broadcaster failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing 'politically motivated campaigners' to present shows, say leading academics.

ByGordon Rayner, ASSOCIATE EDITOR28 December 2022

The BBC is “rewriting British history to promote a woke agenda”, a group of the country’s leading academics has warned, as they cited multiple examples of “bias” in its documentaries.

A report said the BBC was failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing “politically motivated campaigners” to present “tendentious” views of British history as fact.

Lord Roberts, the author and broadcaster, accused the BBC of pursuing a “fatwa” against Sir Winston Churchill. The dossier said documentaries on subjects including slavery, colonialism and the Irish famine distort the truth about Britain’s past through inaccuracy or omitting important facts.

Marie Kawthar Daouda, a lecturer at Oxford University, said the BBC needs to “stop apologising” for Britain’s history. Jeremy Black, the former professor of history at Exeter University, said the BBC was guilty of “systemic failure” through an inability to present a rounded picture of the past.

The report was compiled by History Reclaimed, whose co-editors are David Abulafia and Robert Tombs - both of whom are professors emeritus at Cambridge University. Supporters of the organisation include Lord Chartres, the former bishop of London; Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King’s College, London; Niall Ferguson, the broadcaster and fellow of Stanford University, and Lawrence Goldman, emeritus fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford.

A midterm review of the BBC’s royal charter, launched by the then culture secretary Nadine Dorries earlier this year, is currently examining whether the corporation needs to be reformed to help it achieve greater impartiality.

The authors of the report, titled Can We Trust The BBC With Our History?, called on the BBC to tighten its editorial guidelines and set up an advisory panel of historians to reduce “groupthink” among programme makers.

Programmes highlighted in the dossier include The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, in which the comedian visits Freetown in Sierra Leone and discusses Britain’s role in the slave trade, without mentioning that the city - so-called because it was the destination of freed slaves - was set up by the British.

A current affairs programme suggested the Bengal famine of 1943 was a consequence of racism on the part of Churchill, despite the fact that Britain sent large shipments of food to the Indian region in the face of wartime food shortages.

Lord Roberts described it as an example of a “fatwa” he says the BBC has been conducting against Churchill for years, while Zareer Masani, a historian of Indian heritage, said he was “appalled” by the BBC’s claims.

Meanwhile, an episode of the archaeology series Digging for Britain aired a claim that British policy during the 19th century Irish potato famine amounted to the “extermination” of a people and that aid was refused - even though prime minister Robert Peel ordered the purchase of American maize to feed 500,000 people in Ireland and ruined his career by suspending the Corn Laws to allow untaxed imports.

The report also criticised Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson as well as a BBC Radio 4 documentary about Sarah Forbes Benetta, one of the only black women in Victorian high society.

A spokesman for History Reclaimed said: “Abuse of history for political purposes is as old as history itself. In recent years, we have seen politically motivated campaigns to rewrite British history in a way that undermines the solidarity of our communities, our sense of achievement, even our very legitimacy.

“The BBC, of all institutions, should never accept as fact arguments put forward by politically motivated campaigners. Sadly, it appears that tendentious and provocative arguments seem to be given preference, and they have often been relayed without proper concern for accuracy.

“At their best, the BBC’s programmes are of high quality and are widely praised. But regrettably, it seems that the BBC, for all its merits, does not always respect the objectives set out in its charter and its claim to be strictly impartial.”

Prof Tombs, co-editor of History Reclaimed, said: “The report identifies a pattern of failure by the BBC that points unmistakably to conscious or unconscious bias.”

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, director of the anti-racism group Don’t Divide Us, said: “When a public institution such as the BBC helps normalise a radically critical, minoritarian view of Britain’s history, it makes the possibility of a culture-in-common for a nation’s citizens - old, new, and yet to be - more difficult. This is not a public service.”

A BBC spokesman said: “We place the greatest importance on accuracy and bring audiences a breadth of viewpoints, perspectives and analysis across thousands of hours of news, current affairs and factual programming, covering a range of historical topics.

“Across the entirety of our output there will, of course, be occasions when people disagree with or want to challenge what they have watched or heard and we have well publicised routes for them to do that.

“Cherry-picking a handful of examples or highlighting genuine mistakes in thousands of hours of output on TV and radio does not constitute analysis and is not a true representation of BBC content.”

Commentary: BBC should build unity around British history, not slander it

By Marie Kawthar Daouda

The BBC has a glorious past. For French or American audiences, BBC adaptations of Shakespeare and Dickens are canonical. But why should a national broadcasting corporation be ashamed of being British?

We hear so much about the evil deeds of the British Empire, but an episode of History of Africa dedicated to the British involvement in the ending of slave trade is yet to be seen. In the meantime, The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan fails to mention that between 1808 and 1860 alone, The West African Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed over 150,000 African slaves.

We have heard a lot recently about the Benin Bronzes and their restitution but, in its coverage of the question, the BBC systematically failed to mention that these objects, work of enslaved hands, were seized in 1897 as an act of retaliation after the massacre of an unarmed party of British envoys and a large number of their African bearers, and that the following British expedition put an end to slave trading in Benin.

The way the BBC depicts British history might be the only way many people ever will access this past, and this inaccurate, biased and divisive slandering of the Empire will not do much good.

The BBC claims to be committed to reflecting the diversity of Britain. Promoting diversity of skin tone is a rather cheap substitute for diversity of opinion. In 2020, quotas were announced as targets for 2023 - 50 per cent women; at least 20 per cent black, Asian, or minority ethnic; and 12 per cent disabled.

As for ethnicity targets, are potential employees supposed to take a genetic test to qualify for one of the first categories? Britain is diverse, and so far, it has become inclusive by allowing skilled people, regardless of sex or skin tone, to make use of their talents in all sectors. The quota policy is inherently divisive and nurtures a victimhood mentality, while obfuscating hard work, personal achievements, and merit.

There is no shame in promoting a shared British identity. In its early years, BBC radio was shaped as a polite, slightly high-brow, family-friendly universe, more keen on creating a national British cohesion than on reflecting regional particularities.

During the Second World War, this national dimension took on much greater importance. Addresses from Winston Churchill or George Orwell kept people informed of the situation but, more importantly, gave the audience something to look forward to, and thus created a sense of togetherness.

For the French, “L’appel du 18 Juin 1940”, when Charles de Gaulle stood as the leader of the Free French, was a beacon of hope. And in October that year, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret spoke during the Children’s Hour, telling them that “all shall be well in the end”.

Family, faith, and tradition are realities shared by many Britons of various skin tones, and understood by the vast majority of humanity. Many, in Britain and abroad, regardless of faith or ethnicity, will join in to watch the Carol Service and for the King’s Speech.

If Britain’s national broadcasting institution does not respect British identity, why would other countries? Building unity around British history and tradition is sorely needed - and the BBC could and should help to create it.

Marie Kawthar Daouda is stipendiary lecturer in French at Oriel College, University of Oxford

Thursday, 22 December 2022

#Belfast a short but fun visit.

Two of my sons had winter holiday time to use and we came up with the idea of visiting Belfast - Northern Ireland - a place we had never been before. Belfast was a convenient (and cheap) flight from our local regional airport.

What did we want out of the trip. Primarily fun. Good for James and Rich to spend quality time together as Rich is the most likely of us to accommodate James's party mode. Rich wanted to visit the Giant's Causeway too and like me Rich loves to sample the local culture - not just in terms of food and pubs but mainly ha ! - so a full few days was in the offing.

It is so much different using small regional airports - a 90 minute flight - no frills but does what it says on the tin! In less the 2 hours we are exiting Belfast City Airport (not Belfast International) - otherwise known as George Best Airport - and just a short journey to Belfast Centre.

Rich is mustard on google research and I too had a bit of a plan in mind. Belfast is a capital city of course but its scale is not overwhelming like some cities. We are centrally based and in the heart of the main streets. Christmas is definitely in the air. Everything is xmas lit - shops are playing xmas music - the weather is seasonal. We immediately like where we are and find our way quickly and easily to the "cathedral" area.

The cathedral area is narrower streets and alleys. It is thriving and atmospheric - bars, cafes and restaurants. We find the Duke of York. Such a friendly atmospheric bar. What is so unusual as we subsequently found out is unlike in most cities the go to old pubs and bars in Belfast have not been bought up by corporates (and therefore have a managed feel.) The bars are individual and genuine and so much better for it. James unbelievably likes Guinness - ha. We dine at Yardbirds above The Dirty Onion. A "xmas " burger - not very healthy but gorgeous after a few pints - ha!

Footnote :- Normally I am a real ale drinker and I really like stout - the only beer to have here of course - but to be honest I can't tell the difference between Guinness, Beamish and Murphy's - there I have said it - ha!

Next day is a sightseeing day. We walk along and across the River Lagan planning to go to the Titanic museum. We get to it and assess what is on offer. For some reason - and no doubt unjustly - we decided to pass it up - it seemed too slick and commercial and was expensive. We Uber ride to Crumlin Road Gaol. What an excellent decision. The old prison has been turned into an atmospheric interactive museum - they use a lot of video and sound effects. The name resonates big time with me of course as I was brought up through the "troubles" which at various times threatened us all. Of course it would have been unthinkable - madness - to visit NI in that terrible era - particularly around xmas. Bombings, murders, beatings, protest, riots and of course virulent sectarianism was the norm. Incredible really given it was on our shores and we are one of the oldest and most enduring democracies. Crumlin Road Gaol is old - Victorian and before - but the last man was hanged there in 1961 and many prisoners - (to eventually be acknowledged as freedom fighters rather than terrorists) were incarcerated there. We got a lot out of the visit.

Eventually we walk back into the city centre. James gets a much needed haircut on the way. A Turkish Barbers. For some reason there are a number of Turkish barbers in Belfast! We head for Kelly's Cellar for a late lunch. As recommended it is a top pub - one of the most famous in Belfast. We have Irish Stew. By chance we chat to the landlady - she has had the pub for 25 years so she has seen a lot. The Irish stew recipe - cook the beef first then put in the potatoes, onions and carrots and cook down. It is served with bread and butter and the recommended brown sauce. Cheap, filling and maybe nutritious ? Washed down with Guinness of course. Kelly's Cellar turns out be our evening venue too because they have live Irish music on. Recommended and genuine and such a friendly place despite our accents.

Next day we hired a car to get out and about and see some of the countryside. Our main objective was to visit the Giants Causeway on the north Antrim coast. About 30 minutes out of Belfast we stopped for breakfast in the lovely small town of Antrim on the banks of Lough Neagh. Maybe it is just our choices but NI food is not what you would call healthy. Their breakfasts are heart attack stuff - but irresistible. A large sourdough bap - divided and lightly fried - filled with sausage, black pudding, bacon and fried egg. That was enough for me but the boys had a large of course - so doubled up on all :

We head down to the shore of Lough Neagh to walk off our breakfast. It is cold, frosty, quiet, beautiful and huge - like a sea. It is the largest freshwater lake in the UK after all. Here is so more information from Wikipaedia :

Lough Neagh is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of 151 square miles (392 square kilometres) and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come from the Upper River Bann and River Blackwater, and its main outflow is the Lower River Bann. Its name comes from Irish Loch nEachach, meaning "Eachaidh's lake". The lough is owned by the Earl of Shaftesbury and managed by Lough Neagh Partnership Ltd.

Geography

With an area of 151 square miles (392 km²), it is the British Isles' largest lake by area and is ranked 33rd in the list of largest lakes of Europe. Located 20 miles (32 km) west of Belfast, it is about 20 miles (32 km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide. It is very shallow around the margins and the average depth in the main body of the lake is about 30 feet (9 m), although at its deepest the lough is about 80 feet (24 m) deep.

Geology

Geologically the Lough Neagh Basin is a depression, built from many tectonic events dating back as far as 400 million years ago. These tectonic events are responsible for a NE-SW bedrock structure which has controlled many subsequent events. During the Paleozoic era, the Lough Neagh Basin was a depositional graben.

Hydrology

Of the 1,760-square-mile (4,550 km²) catchment area, around 9% lies in the Republic of Ireland and 91% in Northern Ireland; altogether 43% of the land area of Northern Ireland is drained into the lough, which itself flows out northwards to the sea via the River Bann. As one of its sources is the Upper Bann, the Lough can itself be considered as part of the Bann. Lough Neagh is fed by many tributaries including the rivers Main (34 mi, 55 km), Six Mile Water (21 mi, 34 km), Upper Bann (40 mi, 64 km), Blackwater (57 mi, 92 km), Ballinderry (29 mi, 47 km) and Moyola (31 mi, 50 km)

Fishing

Eel fishing has been a major industry in Lough Neagh for centuries. These European eels make their way from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, some 4,000 miles (6,000 km) along the Gulf Stream to the mouth of the River Bann, and then make their way into the lough. They remain there for some 10 to 15 years, maturing, before returning to the Sargasso to spawn. Today Lough Neagh eel fisheries export their eels to restaurants all over the world, and the Lough Neagh Eel has been granted Protected Geographical Status under European Union law.

Next stop - the Giants Causeway. The Giants Causeway is run by the National Trust. It is evidently a major tourist attraction with a massive visitors centre. We managed to avoid the commercialism (and the cost) and walked through the tunnel that gives access down a fair walk to the the shoreline. Given it was December and inclement weather we were surprised that there were quite a number of people there. On this basis I would imagine high season would be mega busy and detract massively from what it both a lovely and fascinating place especially if you are into geology. I have copied and pasted some information below : We enjoyed the couple of hours we spent around the Causeway. It is a spectacular bit of coastline and we are glad to have had the opportunity to have seen it.

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.

It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and a national nature reserve by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in 1987. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named the fourth-greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.

The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places.

Much of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland, receiving over 998,000 visitors in 2019. Access to the Giant's Causeway is free of charge: it is not necessary to go via the visitor centre, which charges a fee. The remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and several private landowners.

Geology

Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene Epoch, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive volcanic plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillarlike structures, which also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases, the horizontal fracture resulted in a bottom face that is convex, while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns was primarily determined by the speed at which lava cooled. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau, which formed during the Paleocene.

LEGEND

According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn's wife, Sadhbh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the "baby", he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.

Overall in Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill is not a giant but a hero with supernatural abilities, contrary to what this particular legend may suggest. In Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888), it is noted that, over time, "the pagan gods of Ireland [...] grew smaller and smaller in the popular imagination until they turned into the fairies; the pagan heroes grew bigger and bigger until they turned into the giants".^[16] There are no surviving pre-Christian stories about the Giant's Causeway, but it may have originally been associated with the Fomorians (Fomhóraigh); the Irish name Clochán na bhFomhóraigh or Clochán na bhFomhórach means "stepping stones of the Fomhóraigh". The Fomhóraigh are a race of mythological beings in Irish mythology who were sometimes described as giants and who may have originally been part of a pre-Christian pantheon.

Stormont is the Northern Ireland Parliament building. It is a most impressive building greatly enhanced by the long upward vista from the park gates (a straight road which must be at least a mile long). Richard was keen to walk up to the house and we were glad we did. There was no one much around and as you might know the Assembly is currently and problematically not sitting. ( a dispute between the two biggest Nationalist and Unionist parties complicated by border issues raised by Brexit). Therefore NI has no functioning government. It was late afternoon. Amazing to be where I was - so often seen on gloomy or toxic news bulletins - but now for real with James and Rich.

We have the time to get back to The Falls Road. The name is enough to send a shiver down your spine.

Here is some info about Catholic dominated Falls Road which is close to the Protestant dominated Shankhill Road.

As is the case with the Shankill Road, the Falls Road has played a significant part in Belfast’s modern history.

From the Bobby Sands mural to the Solidarity Wall, some of Belfast’s most iconic images are found in and around the Falls Road.

But the story behind those images is one of pride, identity and conflict. The feeling of community on the Falls Road runs deep and below, you’ll discover how it all started.

Some quick need-to-knows about the Falls Road in Belfast

1. Location
Heading west out of Belfast city centre along Divis Street before swinging southwest, the Falls Road meanders two miles (3.2km) through the large Catholic part of West Belfast and goes as far as Andersontown.
2. The Troubles
With its proximity to the nearby Loyalist Shankill Road, violence and tensions were never far away from the Falls Road during The Troubles. The notorious Falls Curfew in 1970 was one of its most famous flashpoints.
3. The Peace Wall
Due to the violence of August 1969, the British Army built a Peace Wall along Cupar Way to separate the Shankill and Falls roads, thus keeping the two communities apart. 50 years later, the wall is still in place.
4. How to visit/safety
The Falls Road is easy enough to reach on foot from Belfast city centre though we’d recommend taking a walking tour or a Black Cab tour for the most illuminating experience. Also, we wouldn’t recommend visiting the area late in the evening.
The early days on the Falls Road
Once a country lane leading out from the town of Belfast, the Falls Road takes its name from the Irish túath na bhFál (territory of the enclosures) which survives in its modern-day form as the Falls.
The original extent of the territory was roughly equal to the civil parish of Shankill and it comprised the greater part of the Co. Antrim portion of the modern city of Belfast.
Industrialisation comes to Belfast
By the time of the 19th century, the Falls Road’s time as a country lane was swiftly coming to an end as the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and large linen mills began popping up all over west Belfast.
With the linen industry booming, it became the main source of employment in the area and began attracting people to live nearby.
Housing around the Falls Road also therefore began to expand into a network of closely-knit narrow streets of small terraced houses. Following the Irish Potato Famine, Belfast’s Catholic population grew and began forming a significant community around the Falls Road.
The Falls Road and the start of The Troubles
The infamous riots of August 1969 saw 6 Catholics killed and several streets burnt out near the Falls Road. Though the British Army came in to protect Catholics from further attacks, their heavy-handed tactics alienated many of the residents in the area.

The following year in 1970 saw the notorious Falls Curfew, a 2-day search for weapons in the Catholic neighbourhood where the British Army sealed off the area of 3000 houses and imposed a 36-hour curfew. The incident turned into an ugly battle between the Army and residents involving CS gas that devolved into a gun battle with Provisional IRA members.
During the operation, four civilians were killed by the British Army and at least 78 people were wounded and 337 arrested. The incident turned the Catholic community against the British Army and increased support for the IRA.
30 years of violence
Despite the presence of the ‘Peace Wall’ on Cupar way, there was still plenty of violence in the years that followed and the Falls Road saw some of the worst of it.
Not only were Loyalist paramilitaries a constant menace, the British Army also maintained a significant presence on the Falls Road, with a base on top of Divis Tower.
The last British soldier to be killed on the Falls Road was Private Nicholas Peacock in 1989, the result of a booby trap bomb left outside of the Rock Bar pub. A cycle of tit-for-tat killings between the IRA and Loyalists continued in Belfast until 1994, when the IRA called a unilateral ceasefire.
Peace, modern-day life and Falls Road tours
That ceasefire followed by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 meant the violence in West Belfast eased greatly. While the two communities still have their distinct identities and tensions flare occasionally, there is nowhere near the degree of conflict that the city saw during The Troubles.
In fact, those differences between the two communities have become something of a curiosity for visitors and have turned a turbulent street into one of the more popular places to visit in Belfast.
Attracted by its fiery recent history and the colourful murals showing off the pride of the community, you can take a Black Cab Tour of the Falls and hear from locals all about what life was like during the tempestuous Troubles.

Falls Road and being up against the massive Peace wall was unsettling. Despite the Good Friday agreement - ground breaking political progress - and the huge up turn in the economic fortunes of NI and particularly Belfast, this still felt like a grim area. It is clearly a working class area - densely populated - claustrophobic. For Catholics and Protestants alike straying into the wrong neighbourhood - despite their very close proximity could have been a matter of life and death.

The NI troubles were played out as a battle between Catholics and Protestants. A battle between Nationalists and Unionists. A battle for fairness over prejudice.

For those not sure about the issues that fuelled the "troubles" I will quickly offer my summary.

The island of Ireland was ruled by the British from at least the 16th century and in effect much before.
Many people in Ireland wanted independence (predominantly the Catholics) - Home rule - and fought and often bloody campaign against the British. This started in about 1800 but really only got hold as Irish Nationalism in the 19th century.
Finally - in December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was concluded between the British government and representatives of the Second Dáil. It gave Ireland complete independence in its home affairs and practical independence for foreign policy, but an opt-out clause allowed Northern Ireland (mainly a Protestant area) to remain within the United Kingdom, which it immediately exercised.
Northern Ireland resulted from the division of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and until 1972 was a self-governing jurisdiction within the United Kingdom with its own parliament and prime minister. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom.
In the decades that followed partition there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence. Nationalists, mainly Roman Catholic, wanted to unite Ireland as an independent republic, whereas unionists, mainly Protestant, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. The Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland voted largely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first-past-the-post" from 1929) was controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated with further disaffection fuelled by practices such as gerrymandering and discrimination in housing and employment.
In the late 1960s, nationalist grievances were aired publicly in mass civil rights protests, which were often confronted by loyalist counter-protests. The government's reaction to confrontations was seen to be one-sided and heavy-handed in favour of unionists. Law and order broke down as unrest and inter-communal violence increased. The Northern Ireland government requested the British Army to aid the police and protect the Irish Nationalist population. In 1969, the paramilitary Provisional IRA, which favoured the creation of a united Ireland, emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army and began a campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties".
Other groups, both the unionist and nationalist participated in violence, and a period known as "the Troubles" began. Over 3,600 deaths resulted over the subsequent three decades of conflict. Owing to the civil unrest during the Troubles, the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule. There were several unsuccessful attempts to end the Troubles politically, such as the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973. In 1998, following a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA and multi-party talks, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded as a treaty between the British and Irish governments, annexing the text agreed in the multi-party talks.
The substance of the Agreement (formally referred to as the Belfast Agreement) was later endorsed by referendums in both parts of Ireland. The Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing in a regional Executive drawn from the major parties in a new Northern Ireland Assembly, with entrenched protections for the two main communities. The Executive is jointly headed by a First Minister and deputy First Minister drawn from the unionist and nationalist parties. Violence had decreased greatly after the Provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994 and in 2005 the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and an independent commission supervised its disarmament and that of other nationalist and unionist paramilitary organisations.
The Assembly and power-sharing Executive were suspended several times but were restored again in 2007. In that year the British government officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland (Operation Banner) and began withdrawing troops. On 27 June 2012, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister and former IRA commander, Martin McGuinness, shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast, symbolising reconciliation between the two sides.
In essence the agreement allows Ireland and N Ireland to act in many ways as one country - ie no effective border separating the two countries. However this has been contradicted by the Brexit agreement and is now the reason Stormont once again is not functioning. A solution to the NI border issue will have to be found.

We needed to get petrol to return the hire car and Rich pointed to a garage on The Falls Road - but I didn't feel comfortable. Our English accents stand out a mile. No doubt it would have been fine - but even the guide books advise not going onto The Falls Road after dark. The Peace Wall is still there after all.

Back to our base and our last night in Belfast. James is keen on a big night out. We have been recommended two pubs to try. The Crown Liquor Saloon is a Grade A building restored by The National Trust. (near The Europa Hotel the most bombed hotel in the world - bombed 36 times in the troubles) It has an amazing interior with mahogany carved booths that provide total privacy. (favoured by Victorian drinkers). We had dinner in a booth - just the three of us. It was a fun and slightly mad experience in this ancient and beautiful (and very busy) pub.

We move onto to The Spaniard in the cathedral area. It was described to us as quirky. It was. It is small but very atmospheric. We had great table at the back. Excellent music. Guinness. I loved it there.

The boys want more life. Back to The Dirty Onion. We came across several bars like it - they are enclosed but the doors wide open - like a covered beer garden. People sit and dance in their coats. The place was heaving. Brilliant live music and office xmas parties everywhere. It is not long before the boys are dancing in the crowd - it was so good natured. I am cameraman! Eventually between bands I feel weary. The boys are up for more of the party stuff so I head around the corner to the Duke of York. It is busy - Irish folk music - a brilliant atmosphere. I thought do as the Irish do. A pint of Guinness and as we had passed The Bushmills Distillery earlier today - a Bushmills Irish whisky chaser!

I reflect on our visit. Great to be here. Great to be here with the boys. We have seen a lot. Most significantly perhaps we have met the NI people. Belfast is an exceptionally friendly place. We were made to feel so welcome literally by everyone. It was most unusual. In the period of the troubles NI and Belfast were no go areas. The hatred and bile was evident in almost every news bulletin in the 70's 80's and 90's. What a transformation. Lets hope in can hold - the ingredients are still there for conflict - but what a tragedy it would be if the troubles ever emerged again.

Here are a few mob photos :