'no Mean City' Exhibition

Glenn Patterson

Marie Jones

Stephen Rea

A new photographic exhibition will show that Belfast is ‘No Mean City’.

The permanent exhibition, on display in the City Hall, profiles more than 50 of Belfast’s most celebrated citizens, past and present.

The exhibition has been commissioned by Belfast City Council to mark the centenary of the City Hall. Alongside a commemorative stained glass window, it is one of two legacy projects from the year of celebrations to mark the official opening of the city’s civic centrepiece in 1906.

Photographed by Belfast-born Michael Donald, the exhibition features a wealth of celebrated citizens from the past century, from backgrounds as diverse as sport and music, literature and trade unionism, drama and medicine, business and engineering.

The legendary George Best, ‘Titanic’ designer Thomas Andrews, Van ‘The Man’ Morrison, John Boyd Dunlop, war hero James Magennis, Baroness May Blood, Irish President Mary McAleese, Sir Frank Pantridge and chef Michael Deane are among the eclectic mix of portraits featured.

Poet John Hewitt rubs shoulders with Mary O’Malley, founder of the Lyric Theatre. Seamus Mac Seain, champion of the Irish language, stands alongside educationalist Margaret Byers. Ruby Murray shares the stage with Gary Lightbody, lead singer of Snow Patrol.

Marie Jones writes a new script for Kenneth Branagh, while centenarian Lilian Spence looks over the shoulders of mural painters Mark Irvine and Danny Devenny. Boxer Brian Magee squares off with artist Rita Duffy and entrepreneur Lord Rana. Dame Mary Peters shares memories with Brian Keenan and Sir Otto Jaffa.

Former snooker world champion Alex Higgins shares the frame with film maker John T Davis, while the inimitable Terry Hooley shares stories from the road with ‘Moving Hearts’ founder Keith Donald and opera star Angela Feeney. Artists Basil Blackshaw and Oliver Jeffers paint pictures of the past and present with architect Dawson Stelfox, who scales the heights with civil engineer LL McCassey. Novelist Glenn Patterson, actor James Ellis and poet Michael Longley swap stories with missionary Amy Carmichael and the one and only David Healy.

‘No Mean City’ will be on display in the west corridor of the City Hall from Friday (December 15) until the end of June, and will be rehoused when the City Hall closes for refurbishment next summer.