Want to find out more about the Northern Slant team? We often put 10 questions to our community of contributors – about them, their interests and hopes for Northern Ireland’s future. This week’s interviewee is Ruth Foster. You can follow Ruth on Twitter @fosttweets.

 

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

I’m originally from the bright lights of North Antrim, but currently live and work in London

I first came across Northern Slant when I was studying at Dartmouth College in America as part of my degree in 2017 and found myself delving deeper and deeper into Northern Irish Twitter when I realised that it was close to impossible to follow the collapse of Stormont and subsequent Assembly elections via traditional media from afar.

A few months later Connor [Daly – Northern Slant Editor] reached out to me to be a part of the Northern Roots interview series to document my experience living in the far off land of Scotland, and since then I’ve found myself getting more involved in the weird and wonderful corner of the internet that is Northern Irish Twitter. It was via this that I met Alina [Utrata] from Northern Slant after I moved to Belfast in August, who I’ve come to believe is my political/current affairs soul mate. What started off as a follow back on Twitter turned into hours discussing everything from Northern Irish politics to frat culture within the Ivy League to McKinsey’s involvement in human rights abuses in the Pocket coffee shop opposite Queen’s University Belfast.

When Alina sadly left us to go back to America, she asked me to take over Northern Slant’s ‘Political Week in 5 Points’ column, describing me as “the only person who is both informed and funny enough to continue the international relations humour our audience have come to expect”. Blinded by this flattery I took on the task and now have a weekly justification for my ever-growing and ever-worrying current affairs addiction.

 

2. Describe Northern Ireland in 5 words.

Not perfect but it’s home.

 

3. What makes you proud to be from Northern Ireland?

We’re strong; we’re great storytellers; we have the best sense of humour; we love the craic; we make excellent bread (wheaten, soda and potato); we have excellent taste in artisan coffee; we don’t take ourselves too seriously (most of the time). We know how to stand up for what we believe in, and we understand the importance of family, community and having a strong connection with where we come from.

Photo by Francis Augusto

4. Are you hopeful for the future?

Being hopeful for the future keeps me going. It may be naive and I might be idealistic, but I have a foundational belief that one day things are going to get better and that things aren’t always going to be this way for women, the LGBT+ community, ethnic minorities, those living in interface areas and those who worry about how they’re going to put food on the table in Northern Ireland. Not having hope for the future and not believing that we all deserve a better version of the reality that we are currently living is what often holds us back as both individuals and communities.

 

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

I’ve said this before, but we all need to stop feeling so guilty and start feeling a bit more confident in ourselves. We’re a great little country. We’ve overcome a lot. We still have a lot of issues that we all, collectively, need to work through. But nothing’s going to change if we keep up this culture of putting your head down and not talking, whether that’s about our emotions or our past or the current issues that we face politically, economically or socially.

 

6. Favourite NI celebrity?

For some reason as I’m answering this no contemporary Northern Irish celebrities come to mind, despite the fact that as soon as I see a name or a face even slightly related to NI I feel the need to point it out to whoever I’m with in a way that says “this is where I’m from and it’s really great and we do good things that aren’t politics!”. Can I say a literary figure like C. S. Lewis or Seamus Heaney? Are they celebrities? Does this just demonstrate how pretentious I am?

 

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

Like every other left-leaning-Twitter-dwelling-twenty-something-year-old, I really admire Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I don’t just admire her for what she represents in terms of being a young, female, working class, Latina politician, but also for her ability to masterfully take on the political establishment while posting relatable Instagram stories.

In terms of UK politics, I really admire Lord Dubs and all of the work that he has done for child refugees, drawing on his own experience of being saved on the Kindertransport. It’s always admirable to see a politician who stays true to their values despite both the hostile policies and rhetoric that they come up against – especially in this current environment.

 

8. Favourite place to bring a visitor?

I’m sure that almost everyone says this, but it has to be the north coast (even when it’s plagued with buses of tourists seeking out the Game of Thrones spots). I love it not just because it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth, but also because my Father’s family is from that area. There’s something really special about knowing exactly where your roots are and being able to trace your family back to a specific place. That’s something that I really love about being from this little corner of the world.

 

9. Potato bread or soda bread?

Potato bread preferably fried with a fried egg that has a runny yolk.

 

10. Snow Patrol or Van Morrison?

Van the Man.

 

Ruth usually writes our ‘Political week in 5 points’ column. She also took part in our end of year review podcast here:

Northern Slant podcast: 2018 in review (27 December 2018)

Northern Slant podcast; 2018 in review part 2 (4 January 2019)