The Gary Mitchell Tragedy
The Gary Mitchell Tragedy
This is a story that I first read about in several blogs early December and was then covered by the Guardian just before Christmas.
Despite being ,or probably because he is, one of the most “talked about voices in European theatre” Gary Mitchell and his family were forced to leave the Rathcoole Estate in Newtownabbey, after a campaign of intimidation by loyalist paramilitaries. The final threat that every Mitchell had to “get out or be killed in four hours” convinced him that for his own and family’s safety it was the time to leave the estate where he’d taken so much of his inspiration from.
Obviously at a personal level this is a tragedy for the Mitchell family, some of whom have lived in the area for over 50 years, but it’s also sad to think of the effect of his plight will have in stifling the emergence of similar talents in other loyalist areas. Seeing the treatment that both Mitchell and the journalist David Adams have received from the UDA/UVF, will potential articulate writers, playwrights, artists or even bloggers still be prepared to raise their head above the parapet and seek wider audiences for their work?
The loyalist communities of Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland are facing a time of great change, uncertainty and even turmoil. It’s in that kind of environment that truly innovative literature and drama can thrive, but only if it gets the chance. For the next generation of budding Gary Mitchells though, the reaction of the local hoods is only one barrier that they’ve got to face.
Loyalist areas like the Shankill and Sandy Row are areas of great educational deprivation. The benefits that 20% of the wider school population derives from the Grammar School system have passed the Protestant working-class by. From an early age, the school system writes them off as failures and to achieve the level of literacy needed for everyday life in a modern service economy, never mind to be able to write a book or a play, is a struggle for many of the children.
Unlike in the equivalent Republican neighbourhoods, there is a also a lack of suitable role models, people who’re writing or performing and at the same time having their work appreciated by the community that they’re living in and operating from. For example, there’s no equivalent of the West Belfast Festival on the Loyalist/Unionist side and to be honest, there is no pressure or perhaps self-confidence for such an operation to be set up. Too often the prevailing attitude is that culture is for the “taigs and faggots”, not the loyalist “lumpen-proletariat” as it ‘s sometimes disparagingly referred to.
The arts establishment in Northern Ireland is primarily a middle-class one, operating with middle-class prejudices. As I mentioned before working-class nationalists and republicans basically bypassed the formal structures of this establishment and set up their own arrangements, using their own rules. Due to the suspicion of “culture” that I referred to and the weaker community links, this hasn’t happened on the working-class Loyalist/Unionist side. A playwright like Mitchell, when trying to promote his work within Northern Ireland is faced with dealing with people who are from a different and maybe even hostile background to his own.
There will be not many writers, playwrights or artists who will have not only the talent, but also perseverance, stamina and courage to overcome these four barriers. That makes the very few that do precious, as they can provide the impetus for similar talents who just need the confidence of seeing someone from their own background succeeding before they too give it a go. As long as the intimidation of people like Gary Mitchell continues that’s unfortunately rather wishful thinking.
This is a story that I first read about in several blogs early December and was then covered by the Guardian just before Christmas.
Despite being ,or probably because he is, one of the most “talked about voices in European theatre” Gary Mitchell and his family were forced to leave the Rathcoole Estate in Newtownabbey, after a campaign of intimidation by loyalist paramilitaries. The final threat that every Mitchell had to “get out or be killed in four hours” convinced him that for his own and family’s safety it was the time to leave the estate where he’d taken so much of his inspiration from.
Obviously at a personal level this is a tragedy for the Mitchell family, some of whom have lived in the area for over 50 years, but it’s also sad to think of the effect of his plight will have in stifling the emergence of similar talents in other loyalist areas. Seeing the treatment that both Mitchell and the journalist David Adams have received from the UDA/UVF, will potential articulate writers, playwrights, artists or even bloggers still be prepared to raise their head above the parapet and seek wider audiences for their work?
The loyalist communities of Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland are facing a time of great change, uncertainty and even turmoil. It’s in that kind of environment that truly innovative literature and drama can thrive, but only if it gets the chance. For the next generation of budding Gary Mitchells though, the reaction of the local hoods is only one barrier that they’ve got to face.
Loyalist areas like the Shankill and Sandy Row are areas of great educational deprivation. The benefits that 20% of the wider school population derives from the Grammar School system have passed the Protestant working-class by. From an early age, the school system writes them off as failures and to achieve the level of literacy needed for everyday life in a modern service economy, never mind to be able to write a book or a play, is a struggle for many of the children.
Unlike in the equivalent Republican neighbourhoods, there is a also a lack of suitable role models, people who’re writing or performing and at the same time having their work appreciated by the community that they’re living in and operating from. For example, there’s no equivalent of the West Belfast Festival on the Loyalist/Unionist side and to be honest, there is no pressure or perhaps self-confidence for such an operation to be set up. Too often the prevailing attitude is that culture is for the “taigs and faggots”, not the loyalist “lumpen-proletariat” as it ‘s sometimes disparagingly referred to.
The arts establishment in Northern Ireland is primarily a middle-class one, operating with middle-class prejudices. As I mentioned before working-class nationalists and republicans basically bypassed the formal structures of this establishment and set up their own arrangements, using their own rules. Due to the suspicion of “culture” that I referred to and the weaker community links, this hasn’t happened on the working-class Loyalist/Unionist side. A playwright like Mitchell, when trying to promote his work within Northern Ireland is faced with dealing with people who are from a different and maybe even hostile background to his own.
There will be not many writers, playwrights or artists who will have not only the talent, but also perseverance, stamina and courage to overcome these four barriers. That makes the very few that do precious, as they can provide the impetus for similar talents who just need the confidence of seeing someone from their own background succeeding before they too give it a go. As long as the intimidation of people like Gary Mitchell continues that’s unfortunately rather wishful thinking.
