Paralympic gold medal winner Kelly Gallagher visited The MAC today to participate in a special arts workshop with almost 100 local schoolchildren. The workshop explored how young people view their identity as a part of ‘ID 2014’ (Identity Day), organised by The MAC in partnership with Belfast Education and Library Board Youth Service’s inclusion and diversity unit.
Through a series of music, drama and arts workshops, The MAC symposium focused on how identity in Northern Ireland is evolving beyond traditional boundaries and was led by Kelly, singer Brian Kennedy, T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Sinead Morrissey, journalist Tim Brannigan, MP Naomi Long, Sam Crothers who plays for the Irish wheelchair table tennis development squad and Antonia O’Neill, a member of The MAC’s Den and visual artist at University of Ulster.
Anne McReynolds, CEO of The MAC, commented:
“The MAC is very much a space for young people and it was fantastic to see almost 100 pupils from eight different schools across the city coming together for this special symposium.
“ID 2014 provided young people with a platform to discuss culture, language, ethnicity, education, religion and gender as some of the factors influencing feelings of identity and belonging in Northern Ireland. Our panel was very carefully selected in order to include local people with interesting experiences who are invested in exploring young people’s values and opinions. I’d like to thank each member of the panel for taking part and thank BELB for helping to organise the event.”
Local singer Conor Scott, who appeared on ‘The Voice’ was also on hand to perform and there was a Q&A session hosted by broadcaster William Crawley. The Belfast schools taking part in the event were St Joseph’s College, St Dominic’s, Wellington College, Our Lady of Mercy, Malone College, Ashfield Boys, Girls Model and Colaiste Feirste.
