A ‘love fest’ for Belfast……. anybody?

I’m still shattered with tiredness today. It’s a combination of things I think, multiple insect bites, side effects of anti-histamines and, maybe, too, side-effects of ‘themmins at their oul lark‘, again. That does tend to drain the energy levels.

By ‘themmins’, I mean both the Orange Order and Republican Dissidents. By, ‘at their oul lark’, I mean………. well, I mean, same old, same old…… doing the same thing and expecting different results.

The OO have been on the Woodvale rioting and fighting with the police, and I see, on the BBC website, a weaponry cache, including Semtex was found by Gardai in the South which they say belong to Republican Dissidents.

I know taking refuge under the duvet doesn’t change the world, but sometimes, I don’t really know what else to do. There is no antihistamine to help with my allergy to that type of stuff. It is wearying and the darkened room and the rescue remedy treatment (that’ll be DRRRT to you), helps me, even if it makes no odds at all to anyone else. It stops ME channelling the anti-Christ if nothing else and that has to be a good thing.

Having said that, it’s smart to remember, that overall things passed off peacefully yesterday. Overall, things are better. 

There was a time when here, Lower Ormeau, was one of the most volatile flash-points in the city. I stayed put yesterday – the farthest I went from the house, was to the Asia supermarket across the road,……………. for juice, if you must know.

In the morning the parade when down through the district respectfully. Last night, after a day of carousing, the parade came back, through an agreed route which diverts it around the periphery of the area. There is no doubt it was different in tone on its return, but it made no significant impact for the worse. The OO got to do their carousing. The people of the Lower Ormeau, were left to it.  Here,  in a place which at one time was so inflamed, things were very different.

Change for the better happens in small increments, small acts done consistently over time, building trust, mutuality and win:win. When things unravel, they are dramatic,  catastrophic and may take a long time to come right; if ever.

In the spirit of small incremental acts, which, done consistently build a win:win, I’m proposing a ‘love fest’ for Belfast. Will anyone join me? I think we should seize hold of Valentine’s Day and make it a total love fest for this place. Let’s wrangle Valentine’s Day off the sycophants and let’s all have a whack of that.

February is cold, horrible, and miserable and dark. It’s also miserable, if you’re out of love, or in a dead end relationship, or stuck in the belief that it is only for lovers and has to be sickly, red and/or chocolate-covered. We all need love. Big time.

So…………….. a love fest for Belfast………… anybody? There’s still time between now and February 2014.   Hmmmmmmmm – thinking………….