‘True union and harmony’ fostered during Fleadh engagements

Mr Moore spoke candidly about his role in the unprecedented collaboration, which took place through his involvement in both the Bands Forum and his own band, the William King Memorial Flute Band, at a presentation and discussion in the Tower Museum.

“I think we can say with total honesty that we’ve uncovered areas of true union and harmony through our participation in the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann and this has been

highlighted and strengthened over the past 18 months, with genuine engagement and mutual respect.

“This new position in the city has allowed me, in my role with the Bands forum, to push forward other initiatives in the education sector about marching bands and pushing the culture on, and we chaired the meetings that led to the important work on the management document, the ‘Maiden City Accord.’”

The past three or four years have been marked by remarkable progressive in community relations in the North West at a grass roots level, which has been helped, in no small measure, by the establishment and efforts of the Forum since 2011.

The Forum’s aim has been to build relationships and the capacity of bands by sharing good practice, providing training, developing common policies and procedures, fostering good relations and acting on behalf of member bands on relevant issues.

This ultimately led to a number of local marching bands getting involved in the Fleadh during Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013.

Mr Moore explained: “After initial engagement with An Chultúrlann...it was apparent there was a certain degree of confidence and trust between the groups.

“Another big thing was the representatives of the bands going into An Chultúrlann for the first time. We had our eyes opened with the impressive facilities for music.

“We had this general feeling that as a cultural music group ourselves, we were lagging far behind the Cultúrlann people, in areas of infrastructure and cultural planning.”

There followed a meeting between local band members and the Fleadh Executive Committee in May 2013 at which a number of outstanding musicians from local bands performed.

Mr Moore said: “It highlighted the one thing that united everyone: the unique style of music and the crossover tunes, that all sections of the community use.

“Everything that was done that night challenged all the preconceptions and misconceptions of everyone who was in attendance and highlighted the similarities that we had rather than the differences.

“Labhrás Ó’Murchú, the Director General of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, made a heartfelt speech and I think everyone present there realised that something important was happening.

“From then on it was all about taking part in the mainstream Fleadh events rather than about marching.

“I think we made this point, and it’s important to state, that it was the people from the bands that were at the event who were taking this feedback back and speaking in their own bands and debating with their own members about taking part that was the real key to participation.”

Mr Moore said this was certainly the case with his own band, the William King, who whilst having participated in Irish music festivals before had never been involved in a celebration of Irish music on the scale of the Fleadh.

“The initial idea when it was reported back to ourselves, the William King, caused quite a bit of debate. In the past we had actually taken part in Fleadh type events in Burtonport and Kincasslagh during the 1980s. We’d also played in an international bands event in Limerick,” he said.

This, however, was on a different level.

“But this idea, coming out of the blue, as it did, surprised even us. The UK City of Culture 2013 event when it was announced, it was an event that we also viewed with a degree of scepticism.

“Because we felt, where do we fit into this event because we hadn’t seemed to have had much discussion about it. But as it turned out, it turned out to be the most significant turning point for this city and it was also a very busy time for all cultural groups.”

Setting aside any ideological or communal objections that may or may not have been raised in terms of engagement on either side, there were also the sheer logistical challenge of fitting a Fleadh into a bandsman’s hectic Summer schedule

“On top of this we were celebrating our fortieth anniversary year and making a documentary film,” explained Mr Moore. “We did however, consider the offer from the Fleadh very seriously.”

He said the band representatives encountered from Eibhlín Ní Dhochartaigh and her colleagues at Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin positivity and a sense of inclusion beyond what had been expected.

“At this point, we had to offer a free vote to the band [William King] because we were way over committed. We offered a vote to our membership saying we needed a totally unanimous decision to add another playing gig on to what we were already doing, to work in a playing capacity at the Fleadh due to the amount of time we already needed in August.

“So the vote actually went 36 for and two against. So being democratic, we decided we wouldn’t be playing on the gig rig but we did offer a series of workshops, including the drumming at St Columb’s Park House as our contribution through the Forum, to the Fleadh.

“It turned out to be a great success for us. As it transpired we as a band had to play 23 nights out of 31 in August and that was on top of the masterclasses during the

Fleadh, which goes to show the amount of work we had to do at that time and the commitment needed.”

Mr Moore acknowledged that there was some trepidation in the lead up to the middle of August but the performance of Jonathan Burgess’ play, ‘The Pride,’ to a packed audience in An Chultúrlann at the start of the Fleadh broke the ice and got a great reception from everyone who attended.

And tellingly, whilst conventional wisdom would perhaps have suggest that a PUL band performing on the Strand Road these days might expect to receive a lesser reception than their counterparts in Ebrington, this wasn’t the case at all.

“The Churchill Flute band who played in Victoria Market on the cityside had the largest and most enthusiastic audience,” said Mr Moore.

“And probably, in terms of venue they potentially had the most controversial area of the city to play in.

“Now they are the oldest marching band in Ireland, some 180 years almost, and they’ve played in many parts of Europe and in Ireland.

“In a short speech given by their conductor, Simon Mowbray, before they played, he thanked the Committee for the opportunity to perform at the Fleadh, and explained to the audience that their opening piece was played by them the previous Saturday at the Apprentice Boys of Derry Relief of Derry parade.

“It was a measure of the confidence that everybody in the Bands Forum felt about the degree of acceptance that our cultural groups felt from the Fleadh audience in the city,” said Mr Moore.

Early concerns about security quickly disappeared and pure musicianship took over.

“The bands at the Ebrington Square venue. Caw, Burntollet, Pride of Orange and Blue and the Churchill again also experienced no issues at any stage and even took time to play with traditional Irish musicians,” said Mr Moore.

He went on to add how Labhrás Ó’Murchú once again made “another impressive and heartfelt speech to the Forum and the organisers for a memorable week, in history, actually, before presenting a memento of the occasion to the Burntollet Flute Band, who also had their local annual band parade in Claudy streamed live to America.”

The Bands Forum co-ordinator said there was no negative reaction from the “keyboard warriors” on social media in the aftermath of the Fleadh.

“In fact the overwhelming reaction amongst the PUL community, if they made any comment at all, was ‘well done’ and why should we not be part of anything, after all we have skilled players and we are proud of our heritage and culture.”

This collaboration continued this year when the Pride of Orange and Blue Old Boys travelled to Sligo to take part in Fleadh 2014.

Mr Moore said this was testament to the level of confidence that has been newly instilled by the ongoing co-operation in the city.

“We feel now, maybe for the first time ever, that we have an equal say in the cultural vision of this city.

“During this year’s Fleadh in Sligo the Forum again spent three days giving talks and delivering workshops on the work and ideals that we represent.

“We again performed a rerun of ‘The Pride’ play and sent a band, the Pride of Orange and Blue Old Boys, who performed and worked with local musicians from Sligo and showed the close ties that the music from all different cultures had.

“They even got to march in the main parade on the last day and they were encouraged to play and display all the music and style that they show during their usual band events.

“The very, very few negatives that were ironically expressed, were by visitors from Northern Ireland, but even these paled into insignificance given the overwhelming support that was shown the band.”

Mr Moore remarked that the trust shown on all sides bodes well for the years ahead.

“I can say in closing that I thank everybody who broke the mould that often holds us all back and this gives us all a good starting point for the future,” he said.