Event Year: 2020

Celebrating Good Relations in MEA: Rwandan Dream Project 2017

Project worked with young people between 15-18 – youth leaders and leaders in communities. Project looked at differences, embraced diversity, and drew on the comparisons of Rwanda and NI. It looked at developing initiatives for peace and reconciliation though the good practice of Genocide and Holocaust education, through intercultural arts.

It sought to address the dangers of prejudice and division in NI and Rwanda. The Project worked with young people to develop a song to unite Rwanda and NI through peace and reconciliation in learning that division is a legacy of the past and that with respect and mutual understanding of shared space, safety and a society free from hate – much can be achieved. The finished complications ‘Brand New Day’ was performed in the Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena by young people from the Waveney Youth Centre and the Inter Ethnic Forum (MEA). This performance took place in front of friends, family and special guests from Council, including the Deputy Mayor. In preparation for this, these young people worked with local musicians, as well as genocide survivors Jean-Paul Samputu and Pelagie Buchanan.

Celebrating Good Relations in MEA: Holocaust Memorial Day Remembered

This video is a selection of photographs from Holocaust Memorial Day events which have been delivered by Council in the Mid and East Antrim area over the years.  Mid and East Antrim Borough Council wants everyone who lives in this Borough to feel welcome, safe, respected and celebrated, therefore these Holocaust Memorial Day events are important and significant to Council as we continue to Work Together to Create a Better Future for All.

HMD takes place on 27 January each year. It’s a time for everyone to pause and remember the millions of people who have been murdered, or whose lives have been changed beyond recognition during the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides. On HMD we can honour the survivors of these regimes, and challenge ourselves to use the lessons of the their experience to inform our lives today.

Celebrating Good Relations in MEA: P7 Schools Engagement Programme

This programme has been running in Mid and East Antrim since 2016 and engaged with approximately 1000 Year 7 pupils from across the Borough. Learn more about the project and hear some feedback from teachers. Also included in our showcase is a short film about “What is Good Relations?” made for the Year 7s. We also have some photographs from a range of events delivered across the years to share.

As part of our P7 Schools Engagement Programme, we developed a short video explaining the Good Relations programme and what it is trying to achieve for the Borough. This short film is included in the virtual package being developed for 2020/21.

Celebrating Good Relations in MEA: #embRACE Week 2019

#embRACE Week celebrates the diversity and culture of the Borough. It takes place in February every year as a bespoke MEA celebrating diversity programme which promotes the rich heritage, culture and traditions of MEA. The programme is in collaboration with other departments within Council, as well as community and statutory organisations external to council.

The District Council Good Relations Programme in MEA works in partnership with other departments such as Parks & Leisure, Arts & Museums, as well as external agencies including: Libraries NI, Inter Ethnic Forum (MEA), Ballymena Carrickfergus and Larne Parkruns.

Events have included Race to #embRACE with local park runs, diversity in age projects, storytelling projects, international cafes and small world cafes, diversity through music, Chinese New Year celebrations, cultural museums events. This festival of events were aimed at making everyone in Mid and East Antrim feel welcome, safe, respected and celebrated!

Celebrating Good Relations in MEA: #embRACE Week 2018

#embRACE Week celebrates the diversity and culture of the Borough. It takes places in February every year as a bespoke MEA celebrating diversity programme which promotes the rich heritage, culture and traditions of MEA.

The programme is in collaboration with other departments within Council, as well as community and statutory organisations external to council. The District Council Good Relations Programme in MEA works in partnership with other departments such as Parks & Leisure, Arts & Museums, as well as external agencies including: Libraries NI, Inter Ethnic Forum (MEA), Ballymena Carrickfergus and Larne Parkruns.

Events have included Race to #embRACE with local park runs, diversity in age projects, storytelling projects, international cafes and small world cafes, diversity through music, Chinese New Year celebrations, cultural museums events. This festival of events were aimed at making everyone in Mid and East Antrim feel welcome, safe, respected and celebrated!

Real Eyes | Realise | Real Lies : A Photographic Exhibition

In March 2019, Larne Museum & Arts Centre hosted a photographic exhibition by Millbrook Youth Group entitled ‘Real Eyes | Realise | Real Lies’. Supported by the Education Authority, a group of young men aged 17-19 from Millbrook, Larne, completed an OCN in Good Relations and Cultural Diversity. Some went on to participate in a Northern Ireland/Finland exchange, while others completed an OCN in Youth Leadership. To end the project, the young men took photographs of various locations around Northern Ireland, and researched some of the historical events in our recent history. The subsequent exhibition consisted of a selection of images, inspired by Banksy, which highlighted the absurdity of our language in a political and contemporary context.

Millbrook Youth Group: A Photographic Exhibition

In March 2016, Larne Museum & Arts Centre hosted a photographic exhibition by Millbrook Youth Group. Supported by the Education Authority, young people from Millbrook, Larne, completed a Good Relations course in August 2014. From December 2014, these young people visited many sites around Larne and further afield, and documented their learning. The end result was a series of pictures that reflected their experiences of seeing some of Northern Ireland’s cultural, political & historical landmarks.

Richard Hayward’s East Antrim Pt3: In Praise of Ulster (Back Home in Ireland)

As part of Good Relations Week, we continue to explore the life and work of Richard Hayward. Hayward made a considerable number of cultural history and travel documentaries. Parts of Co Antrim, including Larne, Boneybefore near Carrickfergus and Broughshane, feature in this film made in 1946 by Richard Hayward called ‘Back Home in Ireland’. This is a travel documentary which tells the story of American troops stationed in Northern Ireland during the Second World War who were part of the build-up of soldiers prior to the invasion of Europe. Hayward narrated the film with a fictional American sergeant. The film includes some wonderful traditional music with songs and dances being performed by Ellie Mulligan and the Johnston School of Dancing, while in one sequence Hayward plays the harp.