PRINCIPAL FUNDER
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WITH THANKS TO
The Gown Team 2014/15 Events Manager Orry Robinson orryrob@gmail.com
Lifestyle editor Chantelle Frampton gownlifestyle@outlook.com
Editor Kylie Noble editor@thegown.net
Opinions editor Kaity Hall gownopinion@outlook.com
News editors Liam Cassidy Pete Hodson Niamh Mc Govern gownnews@outlook.com
Sports editor Ryan McDowell gownsports@outlook.com
Features editors Amy Slack Niall Coleman gownfeatures@outlook. com Arts editor Laura Shields gownarts@outlook.com
Business manager Philip Barr gownbusiness@outlook. com Design editor Amy-Leigh Shaw hivegraphicdesign@gmail. com
The Gown would like to express its gratitude for the significant contributions of John Trew, Brian Garrett, and Conor O’Clery. Their continued support and commitment to The Gown ensured our 60th anniversary plans were realised. Thank you, Gentlemen!
Editorial
By Kylie Noble I spend the vast majority of my time dedicated to The Gown to the detriment of my degree, an affliction that has intensified every year. Yet the warning signs came early. When researching universities to apply to in my A level year, I struck Ulster off the list because there was no student newspaper on campus. I attended the open day for the School of English in March 2012 and asked my guide for a copy of The Gown. From that day I resolved, that I would become editor. I went
from being an intimidated first year keenly volunteering myself for any story, no matter how dry, to becoming a news editor in second year and eventually from May 2014, editor. Editing The Gown has become a much more all encompassing role across the decades. For most of the paper’s history the internet didn’t exist. In the current age news must frequently be broken via social media. There are many times this year when we have been the first media outlet to report on stories such as QUB Sinn Fein’s intentions to hold a referendum of the student body on Irish unity. News leads the paper’s primary purpose; that being to hold the SU and University to account. Yet we also have features, arts, lifestyle, opinion and sports section
to inform students about all aspects of student life and living in Belfast. Going to print wouldn’t be possible without the work of a business manager and designer. All this is done by an enitirely voluntary team who receive no funding from Queen’s and must rely on sourcing advertising; we remain the only source of independent news for students in Northern Ireland. I can’t deny that it hasn’t been stressful (and would be impossible without my team) but it has been worth it. I am honoured to have edited this newspaper in its 60th year and hope that like many Gownies before me, I can join them in reporting beyond the gates of the Lanyon. I can only hope there’s many more generations of students to come, who will also get caught with the journalism bug at Queen’s via this newspaper.
Headline Highlights By Pete Hodson Throughout its sixty years, the Gown has been at the fore of student newsgathering in Belfast and beyond. Under the stewardship of dozens of editors, the Gown has disseminated and exposed (with resolute impartiality) a broad range of social and political issues affecting the QUB student body. With several hundred issues to choose from, narrowing down a mere four issues proved an unenviable task. Here are a few eye-catching Gown headlines from the archives.
“Religious ‘apartheid at Queen’s” (December 1986) The Gown reported the provocative conclusions of a two-year study
by South African sociologist Dr Rupert Taylor, who alleged the existence of “religious apartheid” at QUB. University authorities reacted angrily to Dr Taylor’s report, rebuffing the notion that the student body was fundamentally divided on religious, cultural or political grounds as “absolute nonsense”. The QUB spokesperson did admit no administrative staff had actually taken the time to read the report, except a few snippets provided by the Gown for the purpose of the interview. Dr Taylor identified the existence of “unwritten rules” which militated against “cross-sectarian interaction” and “student solidarity”. Dr Taylor was of the opinion that social mixing was predicated almost
entirely on religious affiliation. Protestants viewed the Students’ Union as “Catholic territory” and frequented different venues to their Catholic counterparts. Dr Taylor also noted drinking habits diverged between Catholic and Protestant students; the latter preferring “orange juice” and the former “Guinness”. More controversially, Dr Taylor described SU elections as “little more than sectarian headcounts” which elicited a strong reaction from both QUB and the SU.
“Queen’s Academics in Nuclear War Strategy?” (March 1987) The Gown leaked Northern Ireland Office documents in
March 1987 which discussed the recruitment of QUB science academics for a top-secret “emergency planning branch”. In the event of nuclear, biological or chemical attack, these experts would form part of a privy council advising NIO authorities on short-term strategy. Successful candidates were required to attend the Emergency Planning College in Yorkshire for a week of intense training. The 1980s witnessed an increase in Cold War tensions and NATO civil defence spending. CND and other anti-war pressure groups also revived in strength and numbers following the decision to install new American nuclear warheads on British soil. In the editorial column, Henry McDonald (now
the Observer’s Irish correspondent) noted “it is ironic to say the least, that, those who are today involved in preparing future generations for a full and rewarding life, may be the same ones to decide, through the calculation of deaths and effects of radiation,
“Student Prostitution?” (October 1993) who lives or die”. The 1993 Fresher’s edition saw the Gown lead with an article about students turning to sex work in order to “supplement their grant”. The Gown has previously received anonymous information indicating “at least one student is possibly engaged in such activity”. The Gown interviewed VP Welfare Joanne Richards
who declared she “would not be at all surprised if students were involved in prostitution at Queen’s”; adding those in financial difficulty should contact the Welfare Office for confidential advice. The Gown dispatched reporters to speak to Belfast sex workers to ascertain the extent of student involvement. An interview with one individual was printed inside the paper, who revealed that although she did not know of any student sex workers, students formed part of her clientele. The Gown took a strong line, ascribing blame to “the present [John Major] government enforced poverty” and derided the “smug views” of those who argued Northern Ireland had “higher moral standards” vis-à-vis
Britain.
“Clinton Visits Queen’s” (November 1995)
November 1995 marked the occasion of the first visit by a serving US President to Northern Ireland. Bill Clinton spent the day in the province, pledging the USA’s support (most significantly in the form of George Mitchell who brokered the Good Friday Agreement) as Northern Ireland moved tentatively towards lasting peace in the wake of the 1994 ceasefires. Editor Colin Blackstock (currently night news editor for The Guardian) echoed a popularly-held conviction that Clinton’s personal intervention “had the potential to break the logjam in
the peace process”. The Gown advised students that QUB and QUBSU would effectively close at 3pm in advance of President Clinton’s reception in the Great Hall at 8pm. Exact details were difficult to procure, but the Gown learned that “the RUC will be liaising closely with the [US] secret service” to ensure maximum security for the President and his staff. As in 2014, when Clinton returned to QUB, students were discouraged from lingering around campus and were denied the opportunity to meet the President
I will go there, take me home Curated by Gregory McCartney
Olaf Brzeski Pieter Hugo Adrian Ghenie 8 May - 26 Jul This exhibition has been made possible with the generous support of the John Ellerman Foundation. Image Credit: Pieter Hugo David Akore, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana 2010, copyright Pieter Hugo. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Yossi Milo, New York.
Making Headlines By John Trew, former editor I was surprised when my appointment as editor of The Gown made the headlines. Actually, it made one little headline -- in the Belfast Telegraph’s Youth Column. Editor at Nineteen it stated underwhelmingly, beside a blotchy photo which emphasised my teenage acne. The story, written by Eddie McIlwaine, glossed over the fact that I had been pitched into the Gown job at such a tender age because the previous editor had left ‘under a cloud’ and a sub was needed to finish the term. No problem, said I to the Trustees who were concerned at my lack of experience. After all, I was only 12 when I launched a newspaper at school. The Tuesday Times
required me to do the cartoons, draw up the crossword grid and write all the stories using the same fine-point pen. The Gown’s printers in the early 1960s were also stuck with outdated machinery and methods. The wee firm, located across town behind the Central Library, struggled with ancient wooden type, a flat-bed press that only printed two pages at a time, and an old Linotype typesetting machine that spat molten metal at ‘them students’ who would invade the dusty premises once a fortnight to put the paper together. Thankfully, what the four men of Enterprise Printing Service lacked in tidiness and
technology was made up for in their patience, kindness, and old-fashioned skills. As editor of Gown, their biggest contract, I was a welcome visitor: delivering copy and photographs, designing inside pages, re-writing handset headlines to make them fit, and learning the newspaper business from the ground up by getting my hands blackened with printers’ ink. It seemed to have seeped into my blood-stream by the time I graduated in Law and started seeking journalism jobs in 1963. That was the same year I married Karen, whom I met at a Gown party. After some early frustrations - and fun-jobs that didn’t pay enough for a family man - I
began my decades-long association with the world’s oldest daily paper, the Belfast News Letter, where I worked my way up to become Editor during eight of the worst years of The Troubles. In early middle age, I happily swapped this daily diet of death and destruction to become a freelance travel journalist, travelling a half-million miles, compiling scores of publications at home as well as writing many thousands of words about hundreds of destinations abroad. And the first big milestone on this journey of a lifetime was The Gown. So many thanks and Happy Anniversary, old friend!
The Gown Advisory Trust By Conor O’Clery The Gown launched my career in journalism. I know that because I was taken on by The Irish Times upon graduating in 1972 when they were looking for a reporter with a university degree and experience in student newspapers. They also wanted a Northerner with a Catholic background to balance the newsroom at a time the paper was stepping up its Northern Ireland coverage due to the Troubles. But that’s another story. So five years ago, when the paper was floundering, several of us with similar tales of its critical role in our professional lives resolved to do something. The Gown had fallen foul of the Students Union executive and management. It was about to be thrown out of the Students Union building. The University authorities were unsympathetic. We reconstituted The Gown Trust, which had lapsed somehow, and eventually got agreement on a protocol outlining the rights and obli-
gations of all parties concerned, the Students Union, the University authorities and The Gown – a process in which Brian Garrett’s legal advice and knowledge, not to mention his formidable negotiating skills, was central. As part of this, The Gown for the first time formerly adopted the National Union of Journalists code of conduct. The crisis ended, one might say, on the day in 2012 when the Vice Chancellor, then Peter Gregson, relaunched The Gown at a reception in the red-brick building, at which he formally recognised the importance of having an independent student newspaper. All parties by that time had come to recognize that it was unconscionable that Queen’s University should be deprived of such an important element of student life, one which provides a wonderful opportunity for aspiring journalists to start their careers. Having been in the business (briefly) of hiring journalists for The Irish Times I know
there is nothing more impressive to an interview panel than a portfolio of articles or a record of helping to run a student publication. The Trust, made up of former and working journalists, provides a link with the past, a folk memory of the paper and of the journalists and media people it has produced, a formal status recognized by the University and the Students’ Union, and a source of guidance and advice for editors. The Trust never interferes in the running of the paper but provides a mechanism for selecting new editors each year. QUB is fairly unique among universities in the UK and Ireland in having a truly independent student newspaper. Long may it survive in this new media age, when serious and authoritative journalism is needed more than ever, and long may it provide students with the excitement and fun we all remember from our own Gown days.
Where Do We Go Now? By Maeve Quigley Forecasters have long been predicting the death of print and although this prophecy has yet to come true, it’s fair to say that the newspaper industry has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. The future of print might be uncertain, but regardless of whether or not the world will need newspapers in a few years’ time, it will definitely still need journalists. And happily The Gown is also changing with the times. Just as leading newspapers around the world are adapting and creating and online presence, the recent teams at The Gown have
developed a dynamic website for the paper, complete with an online edition plus social media feeds. This might sound like something from another planet to the students who first worked on The Gown 60 years ago, but for the students of QUB it’s providing another valuable resource. Whether you are in Belfast or Botswana, you can now still keep up to date with current affairs at the university, see all the breaking news on The Gown’s Twitter feed and like recent posts on Facebook. Moving with the times is also essential when it comes to attracting new advertisers - and new readers. In an era where so many of
us spend our down time with our faces stuck in our smart phones, arguably the best way to connect with your target audience is social media. But whether it’s a print newspaper, a digital version or a link posted via Twitter - the premise is the same. Good stories will always be read, good writing will always be appreciated so there’s still plenty of room in the world for good journalists. Survival for the media depends on embracing change so, just as it is important for major players in the industry to evolve and change, The Gown must continue to move with the times if it is to remain at the heart of Queen’s for another 60 years.
The Hood (Or Lack Thereof) The Hood is The Gown’s anonymous whistleblower cum satirist. Founded in 1976 by a generous donation from the Sir Humphrey Hood Foundation, the Hood has consistently broken news of wrongdoing in the elected officials of the Students’ Union, as well as the wider student movement and the university itself. Loved by people who care too much about SU politics and despised by officers who should care more, the Hood delivers the news and the schmooze on those who waste your union dues. With each issue of The Gown the Hood delivers the scandalous news we all want to hear, but do not want to believe. However there is never a shadowy face-to-face meeting in a dimly lit underground car park. Is it an attempt to conceal identity? Is it because the Hood lives on a yacht off the island of Fernando? Who
knows? Either way, several days before The Gown goes to print, our Editor is greeted by a young courier known only to the team as “Dainty Humphrey”. Humphrey has a tendency to greet The Gown Editor with an exaggerated curtsey at which point he presents the hugely anticipated delivery; the Hood’s column. It is a nerve wrecking moment each month when the envelope bearing the highly unnecessary wax seal of a two finger salute is opened to reveal the unfortunate souls who will be subject of the Hood’s literary wrath. Despite the all seeing, all hearing, omnipresent aura the Hood resonates throughout the university, for The Gown’s 60th anniversary coverage the team was presented with a challenge it is not accustomed to. How on earth do WE make contact with the Hood? Logically you may think that the most obvious way to make contact is through Humphrey, but in the split second that the
monthly delivery exchanges hands he begins his haste retreat. The team tried everything. There was even a ritual sacrifice of a Chalco’s burrito on the steps of Boojum, and vice versa; but to no avail. However the medium of song yielded questionably positive results. Within three hours of The Gown’s efforts to summon the Hood through a joyous hymn service in at the front steps of QUBSU an unsigned note was duct taped to the door of The Gown office. It read: “They paved paradise and put up multi-storey building development in place of the old library instead of a parking lot.” Given the uncertainty surrounding the origins of the note, The Gown asks that all exhibition attendees stay vigilant during their visit to the Naughton Gallery. The Hood is extremely unpredictable and the ever-growing number of Hoodlums presents a heightened security risk.
From Gown Girls to Editors By Kaity Hall
An early issue of The Gown is an enlightening insight to the past, but especially in terms of the representations of women. A mere cursory glance through the issues from the fifties right up to, and even past the seventies, exposes what could accurately be described as a Father Ted-esque sexism handed from one decade to another. A particularly striking 1955 note in a column titled “Punch’ n Judy” profiling female students for the “sex starved herds of Queensmen” read “Young ladies, we ask you to watch your behaviour in the Union and in the library, or you will NOT feature in this column” In our slightly more progressive situation sixty years later, this could operate as a humorous satire, but sadly, there was no satire in operation. Yet the fact The Gown has now had three consecu-
tive “young ladies” taking the prestigious position of editor, neatly points out the progression made in the direction of gender equality these past sixty years. Once seen as a male pursuit, journalism is in continual growth in terms of its diversity. Yet it is still far from being a career that can boast of a wealth of input from women. The very existence of organisations such as ‘Women in Journalism’ (WIJ) and ‘Everyday Sexism Project’ demonstrate that gender equality in journalism and more widely, is far from sealed. A study undertaken by University of Oxford found that while the number of women studying journalism “substantially” outweighs men, the number of women reaching senior positions within journalism is “few.” These findings are perhaps bittersweet,
but endeavour to show that aspiring female journalists aren’t put off by any preconceived notions of journalism as having a gender bias today, at least not one that cannot be challenged and changed. A far cry from behaving according to what the “sex starved Queensmen” deemed acceptable, women in journalism have carved a place for their own voice within the media, one that isn’t a condescending shout out mediated through a male voice. As Eleanor Mills outlined, “Equality and democracy is not truly possible without half of those voices being female” A look back through the representations of women exposes how important it is that this voice be maintained and ever expanded.
Richard Herman was amazed when he arrived from the USA to study Medicine at Queen’s in the mid-50s to discover there was no campus newspaper. Helped by Australian anatomy Professor Jack Pritchard and local friends, the gap was filled with a quaintly-entitled fortnightly, The Gown. The paper has reflected six decades of unprecedented change: The expansion of Queen’s from a regional redbrick to a world-class institution now ranking in The Times Top 20 for Global Connectivity; the transition to laptops,
What a wonderful - often
mobile phones and coffee culture; the years of terrorism which still need more than sticking plaster solutions; the ups - and current downs - of the flagship arts Festival we helped to nurture; the comings and goings of First Ministers, Prime Ministers, Presidents and Vice-Chancellors. Our rare independent status allows us freedom to dig deep into the big issues, from graduate unemployment, student sectarianism and suicides, to great gigs, campus scandals and sporting ups-and-downs.
worrying - world we cover!
The Decades: Fifties and Sixties By Niall Coleman When Richard Herman established the newspaper in its first printed issue in April 1955, he announced the start of a “most ambitious career” for The Gown, as “a fur-
ther step in the development of a mature University”. 60 years on, Herman’s ambitions have been realised in what is now the
longest running student publication in Ireland, with a life-span that surpasses democracy itself at Queens. Amongst the stories of political speaking and Union debate, the archives are seasoned with pieces that bring a smile - even advertising space provides a looking glass into a different world, as one lady advertises her daughter’s hand in marriage in November 1958: “Heiress to fortune, or aristocracy, country family, young, attractive, good-looking, lively, fun, kindly, energetic, clever, efficient, domesticated, highly cultured, to decent man of good family over 25 with view to matrimony. Strictly confidential on both sides.”. One such incident demands at-
tention: that of the infamous “snake in the library” incident of November 1958: “As a result of an incident in the library reading room, two students appeared before the discipline committee, were fined a guinea each and warned as to their future behaviour. It appears this was the result of the production of a snake in the library, which caused a certain young lady to scream”. As the Sixties progressed, reportage of events took a darker turn as the political situation in Northern Ireland continued to deteriorate.As it reported on the expansion of the National Front’s activities to Northern Ireland, it reported also on the picketing of Captain William Craig’s home by Queen’s students in protest against escalating violence and poor housing conditions
in Derry. When confronted by a Gown reporter, Craig was to reaffirm his belief that the growing Civil Rights movement had been infiltrated by the IRA, before dismissing the crowd as a “lot of silly tools”. As Gown reportage took on darker elements, it took great effort to provide to its readership some relief. The scantily-clad girls of Page Three were to feature for decades, a now archaically sexist view of student life at Queen’s. This of course raises questions; however none as significant as one posed by Dr. Lukianowicz of the Queen’s Psychological Society, whose 1964 lecture provoked a feature asking: “Do you know that some of your best friends may be transvestites?”
The Decades: Seventies and Eighties By Niamh McGovern The 70s, 80s, Generation X. A Period of political tension and social fluctuation, and the experience for Gown journalists is no different. Headlines in 1970 debate biblical funda-
mentalists on pornography, “Drug Squad Taxi”, and a timely referendum on Queen’s Durex machine. Features on the “Gay Liberation Front” forming within the grounds of university mediate the growing protest for ‘repressing the gay’ activists within
Queen’s. By 1976, the Care-Friend organisation emerges as a new movement of homosexual and bisexual friending groups to liberate equality. The Gown estimates around 70,000 of Northern Ireland’s population is LGBT. However, alongside cultural fluctuation, Gown Girls and “Grooviest Guys in the Union” specials, Northern Ireland’s imminent conflict is an emerging headline for the paper. By 1972, headlines reported growing “Peace Movement Groups” and end sectarianism rallies by the National Union of Students. In 1973, a most recognisable photo appeared front cover, a prize-winning “Child’s play” feature special, by Brian Grzymek. Ruptured conflict throughout the decade makes the
front pages of The Gown, and “Death Trap” attacks within campus. Gown journalists interview provisional IRA member Jimmy Higgins, and UVF members; and quite significantly in 1977, report on the bombing of Queen’s computer centre. The paper headlines the apparent rumours by IRA members of Queen’s involvement with the British Government in the midst of Belfast’s violence. But there is striking news within university circles. In 1980, Student Union President Tom Lynch resigns, for financial misconduct. The headline “Lynched By His Own Mob” reads the front cover. In 1983, the paper mourns the death of QUB Law lecturer, Edgar Graham, shot at 29 on campus. Even thirty years ago, students rallied against
imminent education cuts, 3,000 protesters take to the streets in 1982. There are notable mentions throughout these decades. The tension of consociational politics still shadows Queen’s, in 1883, Unionist and D.U.A. members walk out of council “with intention not to return”, in 1986 The Gown publishes Dr Taylor’s “Religious ‘Apartheid’ at Queen’s” investigation. Equally as dominant is the growing reports on Queen’s AIDS risk, and ‘Don’t die of Ignorance’ campaign. LGBT liberation movements struggle to find a voice at Queen’s, but are welcomed on the front pages of The Gown. In a period summarised only by uncertainty, The Gown captures enthusiasm for change; education funding, sexual liberation and equality on the dance floor.
The Decades: Nineties and Noughties By Amy Slack From the serious to the trivial, The Gown covered a lot over the nineties and noughties – and even became newsworthy itself on more than one occasion. The nineties saw The Gown confront the changing technologies of the period. In particular, the Internet becomes an increasing topic of interest through the decade, starting with Gavin Bell’s report on QUB setting up its own ‘World Wide Web server’ in 1994. For the uninitiated, he describes how the using the WWW works: ‘The information is displayed on the screen as if
it were a magazine with pictures and text all on the same page, with even the ability to get sound and video.’ By 1995, the newspaper had sent one contributor to explore the ‘Net’ and report about her experiences. Lucy Turton provides riveting commentary of pre-Google internet as she explores the Arts and Entertainment Directory – apparently, the Ace Ventura webpages are ‘the best I’ve seen so far.’ On a more serious note, the newspaper was unafraid to confront the more troubling side to student life. Indeed, the mid-nineties saw The Gown run several articles on prostitution in the university area. According to their investigations, including interview-
ing a sex worker, they found that some Queen’s students were paying for sex, while ‘at least one student’ was working in the trade too. The newspaper also dealt with the safety of students in Elms. Back when the accommodation site was a collection of tower blocks, The Gown labelled it ‘A SECURITY NIGHTMARE’ (December 1991). They reported, since the start of that academic year, Elms had seen ‘one reported incident of rape, one of serious assault, and an unprecedented number of burglaries.’ By the noughties, The Gown itself became the news. In April 2003, the newspaper was hit by controversy after its election issue was banned by the returning officer, who suggested that some com-
ments about a candidate had been ‘defamatory.’ In response, The Gown ran its editorial on the front page, declaring ‘WE WON’T GO AWAY YOU KNOW.’ Further trouble arose in February 2009, when funding problems threatened The Gown’s closure. To draw attention to its needs, the newspaper ran an entirely black front page, with ‘SAVE OUR GOWN’ as a bold white headline. These problems soon led to the establishment of a Gown advisory board, and as a result, we are now stronger than ever. As the editorial of April 2003 put it: ‘Journalists, even student journalists, are required to report the truth, warts and all. This is our duty, and The Gown journalists will not shrink from it.’
Sixty Years of Music History By Laura Shields Musical trends have changed remarkably over the past sixty years. Rifling through The Gown archives makes this remarkably clear. Rather unwittingly, The Gown’s writers have been collectively piecing together a comprehensive record of the progression of both our musical tastes and scene since 1955. Jazz undeniably dominated the 1950’s editions of The Gown. That said musical coverage during this decade is sparse. However as coverage moves into the 1960’s something interesting happens; we fall in love with Rock ‘n’ Roll and an emerging American pop culture. Fittingly, The Gown reports how the Belfast Festival took such American influences for its central theme in 1966 and featured stateside musical artists. But it’s not all about America. As we move into the 1970’s our
musical landscape is altered again, this time by the Troubles. Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole became a dangerous place. However, what seemed even more terrifying was the prospect of punk band The Clash playing in the city despite Gown sentiment that “Punk Rules O.K.”. It isn’t until the 1980’s that the effect the Troubles would have on the Northern Irish music scene is truly reflected. Terri Hooley speaking to The Gown in 1982 related how “… numerous bombings and shootings forced many venues to fold up”. Yet as the 1990’s emerge an air of excitement surrounding music coverage returns. Cool FM is launched with a newsworthy CD Jukebox and a newly dedicated arts section is
packed full of reviews of live music once again. Alternative rock bands dominate the pages with features on Nirvana, Bouncing Souls, Hole, Blur and Morrissey. Lots of Morrissey. From this point on, Northern Ireland’s music scene has continued to grow and The Gown has continued to report. At present, The Gown features increasing numbers of local bands alongside the big name acts who are returning to Belfast’s many new venues. Musical history is still being written but as long as The Gown is around, we will have the means to track it.
Belfast’s MAC Joins Plus Tate Network The MAC is pleased to announce that Plus Tate, the contemporary visual arts network, is to expand by sixteen institutions and the MAC has been chosen to join the original cohort. In 2010, Plus Tate was launched to share collections and expertise and build a network which would use Tate’s resources to strengthen the contemporary visual arts ecology in the UK. The expansion comes in the wake of the Warwick Commission Report which highlighted the importance of building strong arts organisations outside London. The decision to extend the Plus Tate network was announced
in September 2014 and applications were received through an open process in which premium was placed on a strong artistic vision, a focus on contemporary art, outstanding public programming and a commitment to local community engagement through art. The network will now have greater geographic spread across the UK with three new venues being added in Northern Ireland, The Fruitmarket Gallery joining in Scotland and Artes Mundi in Wales. Three London venues have also been added. Nicholas Serota said: ‘Expanding the network will significantly change
Plus Tate’s texture. These are all organisations that contribute to their local community but which have a national profile. The larger network will bring different kinds of experience into the pool and facilitate greater cooperation between partners.’ Hugh Mulholland, Curator MAC in Belfast said: ‘Being included in Plus Tate …affords us the opportunity to become an active contributor to the well-established network of other galleries who already make up Plus Tate and who share our desire to be part of the national and international discourse around contemporary visual art practice.’
Making Headlines By Megan Liddy, former editor I have been very lucky. Since graduating, I’ve worked at some of Northern Ireland’s most prominent media companies. I’ve covered strikes and unveilings of blue plaques. I’ve interviewed celebrities, and been to a few glitzy events. I’ve even had reason to call a former QUBSU councillor, a favourite target of The Hood in his time, who is now a real councillor. It’s early days, I don’t have an NCTJ diploma yet. Considering that I’m not qualified quite yet, I’m happy with how
things are going. This is a tough industry. There are plenty of old hands who are keen to discourage people to follow in their career shadow. The recent Twitter discussion under #AdviceForYoungJournalists was filled with ‘don’t’ advice. It’s hard to hear. But these are times filled with negativity. Just as people have been complaining that the English language is in the worst state it’s ever been in since about 1615, the population of the Earth seems to be con-
stantly saying: ‘It’s not like the good old days though”. Of course, things aren’t like the old days. Time moves on and industries evolve, normally with the help of new blood. I’m confident that journalism will not die out because of some joking discouragement on Twitter. Plus, to the casual observer, it’s clear that the press loves bad news anyway, so surely we really have a head start in the industry. With a general election coming up, I will follow it avidly, but probably won’t really be al-
lowed too close to it yet, as I’m still just a cub. I don’t mind, after covering the QUBSU sabbatical elections for three years, I’m confident that the general election will be a bit lacking in atmosphere. With a bit of hard work and a hefty helping of luck, plenty of former Gown staffers will be managing the big stories one day.
Sixty Years of Advertisements By Chantelle Frampton The Gown has relied on local advertisements since its first publication in 1955. The independent newspaper has been able to stay alive due to the extensive advertisements of local Belfast businesses. These ads played a major role in student journalism and made The Gown the newspaper that it is today. Throughout the decades there have been significant changes to our lifestyle and society. We’ve seen gendered consumerism of the Fifties; the psychedelic Sixties, the Punk Era of the Seventies to the big hair and bigger shoulder pads of the Eighties. The Gown’s advertisements have been tailored to suit the consumer demand of students of the
decade. Throughout The Gown’s publications of the Seventies and Eighties, there was a dominance of hair salons and local clothing stores with the brand of Doc Marten’s being repeated a number of times. The advertisements reflected the lifestyle change of alternative hair and unconventional clothing. As the newspaper entered into the Nineties, there were less advertisements, however, that does not mean they were less effective. Local food businesses, student insurance and computer and stationary shops were much more prominent than hair and clothing. The amount of journalistic content was more prevalent than advertising. Therefore the
advertisements appear much more prioritised as student essentials were marketed as opposed to luxuries. The student lifestyle of drinking, eating and travelling has been illustrated through the adverts over the past 60 years. We have seen alcohol; cigarettes, travel agencies and local cafes dominate The Gown during the earlier decades. The majority of businesses shown, excluding brands such as Guinness, are all local to Belfast and in relatively close proximity to the Queen’s University campus. This gave small businesses a chance to market their product to students as well as offered students an insight of their new local surroundings.
The stereotypical student persona hasn’t changed an awful lot in 60 years. The same products and businesses are still being marketed towards students as the lifestyle of eating, drinking and travelling appears as prevalent in 2015 as it was in 1955. The major changes within advertising appear to be the quantity as opposed to quality and content.
Poetry and The Gown: Poetry In a city famed for its poetic output, the Gown archive is an indispensable resource for those interested in the evolution of poetry from Belfast and beyond over the past sixty years. The publication’s early development coincided with a renaissance in Northern Irish poetry in the 1960s, as writers such as Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley came to prominence on the world stage. Writing for the Gown, the latter poet addressed the need to, “clear a space for the progency of the imagination” and, from the outset, the publication has done just that even establishing the Gown Literary Supplement in 1972 to provide a greater platform for emerging writers. The paper has interviewed and featured work by some of the most well known and acclaimed poets of modern times: from Medbh McGuckian to Eavan Boland,
Ciaran Carson to Tom Paulin, and, more recently, Belfast Poet Laureate Sinéad Morrissey and the Arts Council’s Head of Literature and Drama, Damian Smyth. A cursory glance through the Gown’s back issues reveals gems such as an appraisal of a Seamus Heaney reading at the Belfast Festival, or of Paul Muldoon’s Quoof (hastily critiqued, as the book for review arrived only shortly before the paper went to print). Column inches not devoted to verse or reviews have homed critical debate (Seamus Deane’s rousing defence of the Field Day enterprise springs to mind), or coverage of literary events – for example, a “sudden outburst” by Derek Mahon at the launch of Frank Orsmby’s first collection of poems is documented in detail. Over the years, the Gown – and Literary Supplement, which ran until 1990 -
expanded its remit to include the work not only of local poets, but those from further afield, too: Denise Levertov, Selima Hill, Gillian Clarke and Hugo Williams have all been featured. As the paper’s poetic scope widened, a 1990 issue of the supplement was dedicated to the celebrating the literature of Scotland – featuring new pieces by Norman MacCaig and Ian Crichton Smith, and an interview with Craig Raine. Questioned on his admiration for Ulster poets, Raine remarked, “I expect Ulster to continue to be fertile poetic ground – partly because you have a pressing, important subject, partly because success breeds success”. Happily, the writers to have emerged during the last twenty-five years have fulfilled – if not exceeded – this expectation, with the Gown continuing to bear witness to the fruits of this fertile territory.
d Literature By Tara McEvoy The Gown: Prose Considering the upsurge in English “Kitchen Sink” drama of the fifties, an anonymous Gown columnist asks, in a 1958 issue of the paper, “Why have we not got what, in fear and trepidation, I shall call Ulster Angry Young Men?”, continuing, “Are we being parochial in demanding more literature and drama based in Northern Ireland? I think not. Art must have its roots in the thing the artist knows, loves, and appreciates”. Such art blossomed in the following years and – with its dedicated coverage of prose and drama – the Gown was there to report on it. Interviews printed within the paper’s pages have included those with influential figures such as short story writer Bernard McLaverty, playwright Martin Lynch, and Brian Moore, three-time Booker Prize nominee and author of the seminal novel The Emperor of Ice Cream. The novelist, in conversation,
took the opportunity to decry “sensationalist novels which exploited the Troubles at the expense of an honest attempt to understand their causes”. In reviews of Lynch’s plays, this concern also came to the fore, Gown critics citing early piece Dockers as providing “an opening night which will long be remembered at the Lyric”, with later work The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty heralded as, “successfully reticent – a veritable testimony to non-manipulation of subject”. Equally, acting talent was regularly profiled (a young Fiona Shaw lauded for her performance as Beatrice in a Belfast Festival production of Much Ado About Nothing). Actor Simon Callow even turned his hand to being a Gown reporter, interviewing Michael MacLiammoir for the paper in 1969. Among his successors, contributing to coverage of the Festival’s thea-
tre program, was Maggie Taggart – who would go on to become BBC Northern Ireland’s Education and Arts correspondent. Flicking through the archive of the Gown and its Literary Supplement, you’re met with reviews of some of the greats of twentieth century literature: Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, Arthur Miller, Bernard Malamud, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco, George Bernard Shaw, Brian Friel, Bret Easton Ellis – the list goes on. In recent years, emphasis on the literary arts has remained a stalwart of the paper’s reporting. BAFTA-nominated writer Glenn Patterson, interviewed by the publication in 2003, remarked, “You’ve got to be in love with words in order to be able to write”. In sixty years, though reporters have come and gone, the Gown has, evidently, remained in love with literature.