Ulster Rambles

BY DAVID MACCONNELL

I was reading the newspaper yesterday and after my useless search for any good news, I looked at what exciting program might be on the tele, and to my surprise there was one new serial on SBS which had been filmed in Ulster, County Down, or to be more precise, the area around Strangford Lough, which at one time I knew so well. When an expensive car is pulled from Strangford Lough, veteran Northern Ireland police detective Tom Brannick (James Nesbitt) instantly sees the connection to a notorious and long-buried series of mysterious disappearances. He recognises the calling card (an image of the Harland and Wolf crane) of a legendary assassin known as Goliath. It’s a case that comes from Tom’s - and his country’s - dark past. The series is called Bloodlands. Apparently it has already been viewed in the U.S. and in Canada and it stirred up quite a few memories of the Province for me. Now that I have resided in Australia for the last forty years, I know that Ulster and even Ireland are not large areas but I was very familiar with the area shown above on the map. Well I was born in Downpatrick, lived in Shrigley, went to school in Killyleagh, was a teenager in Newtownards, sold the family home in Bangor, cycled and drove all around that area during the late sixties and lastly my parents are both buried overlooking the Lough. Because of the very narrow inlet, the tide had a significant effect on Strangford Lough which consequently had many treacherous currents. Of course all these small towns were very close to the capital so very few inhabitants from the area actual spent much time in the Belfast hotels. I probably do not know anyone who spent a night in one of these hotels. There was another reason as well! The most famous one of course is the Europa Hotel. Built on the site of the Great Northern Railway Station, it dates back to 1971. During the next twenty years, it became the hang-out for journalists from all over the world, with the hotel itself often making the headlines. It officially joined Hastings Hotels in August 1993 and after a major refurbishment, reopened its doors in February 1994. It is classed as a four star hotel and is best known as the “most bombed hotel in Europe” and the “most bombed hotel in the world” after having suffered 36 bomb attacks during the time of conflict between certain factions. It thus earned the name “the Hardboard Hotel” due to the fact that there was a standing order with a warehouse that had every pane of glass duplicated or triplicated, so they could be immediately replaced, as the windows got blown numerous times, the steel frames got warped, so they had to cover them up with hardboard instead. Grand Met bought the Inter-Continental Hotels chain in 1981 and placed the Europa in their Forum hotels division. They renamed the hotel

Left: James Nesbitt plays an Irish police detective whose investigation into an apparent suicide opens up historical wounds in Bloodlands, set in Northern Ireland. Image: Steffan Hill/HTM Television Right: Hotel Europa in Belfast, the “most bombed hotel in the world”

the Forum Hotel Belfast in February 1983. When the hotel was sold to The Emerald Group in October 1986, it regained its original name. After a bomb placed by the Provisional IRA at the hotel badly damaged the building, it was sold for £4.4m, a price well below its value. Well it was probably the best offer they had. It may well have been the only offer! The Europa Hotel became part of the Hastings Hotels group on 3 August 1993, whereupon it was announced that it would close for refurbishments. Following an £8m investment, the hotel reopened in February 1994. Its first event after reopening was the Flax Trust Ball, attended by 500 local and international dignitaries. Sorry no one I knew made the grade. The next year U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton stayed in the hotel. This visit boosted confidence in Belfast’s flagship hotel and launched the profile of the Europa Hotel worldwide. In fact, the suite the famous couple stayed in was renamed the Clinton Suite. The presidential entourage booked 110 rooms. Quite an entourage you might say. In early 2008, an extension to the hotel increased the height of a rear wing to twelve floors and increased bedrooms from 240 to 272. I wonder if it was ever near full capacity. VIPs aplenty still make it their choice as they arrive in peacetime Belfast to attend political meetings, do business, appear on television programmes or perform at the Opera House. It has great transport links, with it being right beside the Europa Bus Terminal and Great Victoria Street train station. It is possible to get a bus or train to any major destination within Ulster and even Ireland itself. There are also buses to both of the Belfast airports. If you visit Belfast in the near future and stay in the hotel, although I confess that in the current situation (thinking of Covid here) both these events seem more than unlikely, you might be impressed by its rooms, food and service, but you also might just be impressed with the fact it’s still standing. Today, the four-star hotel is central, modern, distinctive – and perfectly safe or so I am unreliably informed. Rooms are plush and comfortable, and the Piano Bar provides views of the historic Crown Bar across the street (a bar I only visited once before boarding a train to Dublin). A recent refurbishment effort has added seven new floors to the back wing of the building, so it’s clear that the hotel isn’t going to fall into disrepair any time soon. If with the number of guests coming in and out of the hotel is any indication, The Europa is going to stay open and bustling for the foreseeable future. Now I have a confession to make here. When my good wife (from Dublin 4) visited Belfast with me a few years back, I am sorry to say that she booked us into the Jury’s Inn which of course was situated about one hundred metres from its more famous neighbour. She also booked me on the ‘hap on’ bus tour which took me places where I used to avoid!

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Eventually, she persuaded me to venture down a street from which I could see no exit. A real “no-no” when I lived there. I was more than nervous. We even ventured into various pubs in that area. One of them was called the Northern Whig (right). This bar is housed in an old newspaper office building and has a rather unremarkable exterior. However the interior is quite impressive and has a Soviet theme in the form of 3 two-ton sandstone statues commissioned to celebrate the October 1917 Russian revolution and hailing from the Prague Communist party headquarters. You might well ask (as I did) why go to all the trouble to import these huge Russian statues? Let me know if you find out because no one I spoke to could give me a satisfactory answer. Typical of Ulster folk though... they all did have an answer! Besides a mesmerizing fish tank built into one wall, the Whig offered everything from morning coffee and pastries, to lunch, dinner, classic black and white movies and a four page long cocktail menu. I bought a pint of the black stuff. On a saner note I discovered various famous Harland & Wolff Star Line ship Icons situated on narrow monoliths in Donegal Place near the City Hall. When I left the Province over forty years ago, I remember we were almost embarassed by the unsinkable ship that sank on her maiden voyage. Nowadays, of course we embrase the whole story and the Titanic museum is well worth the visit. Yes of course I went there. Isn’t it great to reminisce at times like these. Yes, watching ‘Bloodlands’ certainly did that for me. I do hope the next few episodes will be worth watching.

Best wishes for the upcoming winter and as always may your God go with you.