Ahead of the G8 Summit, Northern Ireland flourishes culturally

On Monday, the 39th G8 Summit will commence in Northern Ireland. I am looking forward to Northern Ireland being positively highlighted on the global stage for these two days and beyond for a multitude of reasons. I think that the world will be fascinated with not only how beautiful the country is (please let it not rain…) but also how much this lovely place my family calls home has turned around in the last 20 years.

As readers of my previous blogs may know, my mother grew up in Derry-Londonderry, and moved to the US after she married my American father, who she met while he was studying abroad in Edinburgh.

I grew up, very fortunately, travelling to and from Derry-Londonderry to visit my mother’s very large side of the family. To say that I love it there would be an understatement, as it has become a second home to me.

I have learned so much about the resilient spirit of the people of Northern Ireland, much of it as I wrote a four year research paper on The Troubles during high school, writing and rewriting as I travelled back for Christmas holidays. The paper helped me learn just what life was like for those throughout Northern Ireland in the 20th century, including my mother.

Fast forward to today, and Northern Ireland is flourishing both economically and culturally. During the past six years it has attracted more inward investment than the previous 40 put together. The US has been a key partner too, investing over 1 billion pounds in past the 5 years.

Derry-Londonderry has been chosen as the first ever UK City of Culture, beating out some other UK cities and ultimately taking home the prize. It has been well worth it. The city has held numerous concerts with A-list headliners, broken Guinness world records, held festivals and encouraged service opportunities.

Just recently, the city along with BBC Radio 1 held the sold-out One Big Weekend Concert with headliners Bruno Mars, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, and earlier in the year, thousands helped set a Guinness World Record for the largest choreographed song and dance routine ever staged, when 5,400 hundred people descended on the city centre to sing and dance to “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” And just last weekend, the programme coordinated a grand “return” for Derry-Londonderry’s patron saint, Colmcille (who my brother Colm is aptly named after), which brought together tens of thousands of people to watch a light show on the River Foyle directed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, who penned the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

It has been marvellous to watch from a distance, but in March, I was able to go see it for myself. On my way to London, I stopped in Derry-Londonderry and Belfast to spend some time with family and was so impressed by the goings-on in both cities.

The City of Culture programme has brought new life to the city – with £100 of private and public investment, new jobs and a huge boost in tourism. Tourism website Lonely Planet named Derry-Londonderry the fourth best place to visit in the world in 2013. Later this year, as part of the celebrations, the Turner Prize for visual art will be chosen in town, marking its first ever selection outside of England.

In Belfast, I visited the new Titanic Quarter, which is spectacular. A small disclaimer is that Titanic is my favourite film and that this is the second time in a year I had dragged my cousin to the Museum, but that is how worthwhile the exhibition really is.

The Titanic Quarter is the largest regeneration scheme in Northern Ireland’s history and includes not only the infamous RMS Titanic’s museum and memorial, but a mile’s worth of waterfront property including restaurants, storefronts, hotels and businesses. The regeneration of the Quarter is expected to create more than 20,000 jobs throughout the next 15 years.

Also located in the quarter is Titanic Studios, which produces the well-known American HBO drama “Game of Thrones.” Since opening, the exhibit has attracted more than 800,000 visitors from around the world. If you ever find yourself in Belfast, you must go and see it.

There are so many positives about Northern Ireland, and the G8 Summit taking place there next week is sure to highlight them. I look forward to reading the national and international media and seeing photos of the Summit – not only because my colleague Jessica Jennings, who is based on our Comms Team in DC but has been working London on loan on a G8 media logistics post – but because world leaders will be gathered in the place I am very proud to call my second home.