Want to find out more about the Northern Slant team? Each Tuesday we will put 10 questions to our community of contributors – about them, their interests and hopes for Northern Ireland’s future. Kicking off our ‘Two minutes with the team’ series is Steve McGookin. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveMcGookin.

 

1. Tell us about yourself, and why you got involved with Northern Slant.

I left Belfast in 1984 after graduating from the University of Ulster, and came back to live in the city just over a year ago, after living in London and then New York in the meantime.

In March, I had the good fortune to sit next to Jamie Pow at a lecture during ‘Democracy Day’. We got talking and he told me all about NS. I wanted to get involved but didn’t feel I knew enough about local politics to make an informed contribution – and you already had plenty of people smarter than me writing about it – so he let me write about the political world I’d just left behind, I think partly so we’d have an insanity yardstick.

 

2. Describe Northern Ireland in 5 words.

Beautiful. Resilient. Frustrating. Kind. Underdog.

 

3. What makes you proud to be from here?

When you come across someone from here anywhere else in the world, they’re usually the most rational, constructive, pragmatic people in the room. And they’re almost always the most fun to be with. That all comes from a combination of our approach to work, our natural skepticism of authority and our sense of humour, which I hope never changes.

 

4. Are you hopeful for the future?

In the long term, yes. But we certainly have as many short- and medium-term challenges as we’ve ever had in my lifetime; some of which are within our control, others that are thrust upon us.

The biggest one is still making a better case for why our talented young people should stay instead of leave, but I’m hardly in a position to criticise anyone for doing what’s best for their own personal future.

5. If you could change one thing about Northern Ireland, what would it be?

I suppose the holy grail would be to create a system of representation that doesn’t inevitably generate stalemate, and puts the genuine everyday needs of people, rather than parties, first. But getting from here to there is easier said than done, and it’s sad to see so much energy and resources wasted in treading water while people might be losing faith in the democratic process.

 

6. Favourite NI celebrity?

Danny Blanchflower, Pat Jennings and Gerry Armstrong.  You can see the trend there, I’m sure.

 

7. Politician you most admire, from outside Northern Ireland?

I was proud to have cast my first vote as a US citizen for Barack Obama in the 2012 election. While he wasn’t perfect, I do believe he woke up each morning with the aim of making life better for ordinary people. Today, it’s probably Senators like Sherrod Brown or Sheldon Whitehouse, who work tirelessly for their constituents and causes of fairness and justice. And though she’s not technically a ‘politician’ one of the sharpest political minds we have is Rachel Maddow. Who knows what’s in her future.

In the UK, I think Ken Clarke is still easily the most entertaining parliamentarian. I thought it was a shame when Angus Robertson lost his seat and I really want to see what Mhairi Black does with her political career. I hope she doesn’t become too disillusioned.

 

8. Favourite place to bring a visitor?

Outdoors, Dunluce Castle; Indoors, the Titanic Exhibit and the Ulster Museum. The Seamus Heaney Homeplace is fantastic too. As for hostelries in town, my three favorites are The Garrick, The John Hewitt and Whites.

 

9. Potato bread or soda bread?

Fadge. Fried or toasted and dripping with butter.

 

10. Snow Patrol or Van Morrison?

The great thing is we don’t have to choose, but can be proud of our amazing musical heritage. I’m a great admirer of both, just as a generation ago I was a fan of both Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones (as well as The Xdreamysts).

One of the first concerts I went to was Van at the Whitla Hall in February 1979, and I’ve seen him many times since then. A true icon.

Gary Lightbody, meanwhile, is simply one of the great Irish – not just Northern Irish – songwriters of this or any generation. I’m also a huge fan of Glen Hansard, Foy Vance, Paul Brady and Danny O’Reilly.

But there are some incredible artists here who are in the process of building a big reputation – people like Malojian, Ryan McMullan, Lauren Bird, Ciaran Lavery, Joshua Burnside, Ryan Vail and David C. Clements; as well as some outstanding bands like The Emerald Armada and PORTS. And I’ll always go see Matt McGinn, Anthony Toner or Ben Glover if they’re playing in town.

We’re really lucky to have a thriving local music scene and probably the most pleasant surprise about coming home has been discovering the wonderful venues there are to see live music in – and not just in Belfast.

 

You can check out Steve’s articles for Northern Slant here.

 

Also published on Medium.