'New territory' as marching band musicians prepare for the Fleadh

In the grounds of an east Belfast primary school, an important rehearsal is taking place. Marching band musicians are preparing for what will be - for the majority of them - their All-Ireland Fleadh debut.

One bandsman called it "new territory" for the bands and for the broader unionist community as a whole.

Some Ulster bands have been taking part in performances across the week, with the main event a showcase at the Titanic Slipways on Thursday evening.

It is the product of many conversations and meetings between the Belfast Bands Forum and Comhaltas, the Fleadh organisers, and Belfast City Council.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has said the engagement of the unionist community has been a "tremendous success story".

He was speaking as he attended the fifth day of the festival.

Some bands have taken part in the All-Ireland event before - most notably the 2013 All-Ireland Fleadh in Londonderry.

But, says Darren Leighton, who is the chairman of the Belfast Bands Forum, Belfast is "a different beast".

It is "new territory" not just for the bands but for the community as a whole, he says.

But he continues: "We're confident we can bring people along on the journey with us and that comes from open and honest conversations with Comhaltas and Belfast City Council.

"Our aim is to try and break down negative stereotypes around the loyalist community and what our culture and traditions look like, and the only way to do that is by participating in it."

There has been some criticism of the Forum's decision to take part in the Fleadh, mostly online.

Maurice Brown, a piccolo player with the Imperial Guards Belfast band and director of the Ulster Bands showcase, sees it as an opportunity.

"There will be nearly 2,000 people on the Slipways, and coming from a unionist background, to see unionist culture as part of the wider Fleadh core programme, its huge."

He has taken part in an All-Ireland Fleadh before, back in 2016 in Ennis, County Clare. He's been playing at many other events across the week, including at Sunday's opening ceremony, and he's received a special award from Fleadh organisers Comhaltas.

He sees no conflict at all with that, and his background and culture as an east Belfast unionist.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am or where I come from," he said.

"We're standing here in east Belfast where I ran around as a wee boy, so for them to have opened up the Fleadh to include all cultures in this city and see fit to award me something at the end of it, is a huge privilege and a real honour."

Belfast City Council and Comhaltas have both spoken of how they want this All-Ireland Fleadh to be inclusive and welcoming to all comunities, including the Unionist community. Is that message getting across?

Marcus McCullough, from the Imperial Guards, said his friends and family are interested in finding out more about it.

"You're getting the questions - what is the Fleadh? Why are you taking part in it? Because it's not the Twelfth or one of your traditional big day parades. I think people just have a genuine curiosity about it."

Jonathan Walker is a drummer with the Loyal Band. He said he had no reservations - "not one" - when asked to take part in the Fleadh.

"If we're proud of who we are, we don't need to have any reservations.

"I knew sort of what the Fleadh was - we are all musicians, that's the common bond. And we need to embrace all cultures."

DUP councillor Tracy Kelly said she had no doubts that unionist musicians and culture should get on board.

"This is a large music festival, to come into our city and not showcase how amazing our musicians are, it would have been an awful loss to our community."

She was lord mayor of Belfast when the idea of bringing the All-Ireland Fleadh to the city for the first time was suggested, and she has praised the Belfast Bands Forum for getting involved from the beginning.

Speaking outside a Fleadh fringe event off Donegall Pass - one of several in the area this week - she said the concept was new to her.

"I'd never been to a Fleadh in my life. I didn't know what to expect."

Then she visited Wexford last year.

"I saw a huge display of traditional music and dance, a lot of positivity and I thought this is going to be absolutely fantastic when it comes to Belfast," she said.

"I did explain that Northern Ireland is different, we have other cultures and it's really important that they're seen."

The taoiseach said organisers have been "very taken" by the participation of different communities, "particularly the loyalist and unionist community, who have engaged with this Fleadh in an enthusiastic way".

"And that's been a tremendous I think success story of this Fleadh, and that's something that we want to build on," Martin told reporters.

He said many people he had met said the festival "in many ways reflects the change that has occurred over the decades" in the city.

"As Comhaltas grows, it's a global organisation now with an enormous reach, I think this idea of universality of music and celebrating the diversity of music is a wonderful one," he added.

Martin said the Irish government's Shared Island Initiative has been involved in "fostering a lot of cross-community cultural and musical endeavour".

"And it's wonderful the richness that can be revealed or unveiled by that type of collaboration," he said.

"I think one loyalist musician put it to me last year that communities will refine their music in accordance to their traditions, but all are drawing from the same well.

"And I thought that was a wonderful summation of what we are about in Belfast through the Fleadh."