Press Releases
Mayor to open Hard Gospel exhibition
MAYOR TO OPEN EXHIBITION
The Church of Ireland?s Hard Gospel Project invites you to
?Our Kind of People Exhibition?
Venue: Monkstown Village Centre, Monkstown Road, Newtownabbey (Opposite Monkstown Community School)
Date: Monday, 12 March 2007
Time: 11.30a.m.
The Mayor of Newtownabbey, Alderman Lynn Frazer, will officially open an exhibition being held by the Church of Ireland?s Hard Gospel Project in Monkstown on the outskirts of north Belfast. The ?Our Kind of People? exhibition documents the lives of those who have attended the local schools or live in the area.
The aim of the exhibition is to inform and inspire people in the area about the accomplishments of seventy local people. Their achievements have propelled them into careers in university, business and the world of sport.
Recent figures indicate that urban loyalist communities in the Belfast area fare less favourably in education than nationalist communities. In Catholic areas 24% of school leavers achieved a ?C? or above grade in their GCSE Maths. In Protestant areas the figure was 4%.
The event will run from the 12 March until 15 March. It will be open each day from 10a.m. to 4p.m. and on Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 7p.m. to 9p.m... On the final day of the exhibition, careers not traditionally followed in loyalist communities will be highlighted. These will include the PSNI, University of Ulster, Stranmillis University College and the Fire and Rescue Service.
The Hard Gospel Project was founded by the Church of Ireland to address the hard issues of sectarianism and to stimulate fresh and creative thinking about finding ways of a shared future in the Ireland of the 21st century.
Further information from:
Stephen Dallas,
NI Project Officer for the Hard Gospel
Mobile: +44 (0)7834992895
E-mail: Stephen Dallas