‘Good Vibrations’

Finished ‘More Lives Than One – a biography of Hans Fallada’ by Jenny Williams, a Professor of Literature at Dublin City University.

15^th June. Interviewed by Joseph McCabe from Dublin, a student at Queens whose MA dissertation is titled: Republicans and Policing; Empowering Communities or a Compromise of Principles.

7^th June. Finished ‘Hermann Hesse – A Pictorial Biography’.

6^th June. At Queen’s addressed law students from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, USA, about Irish history, the conflict and the peace process.

5^th June. Interviewed by Kyle Inman, a Fulbright mtvU student studying Irish History and Music at Queen’s and who is working on a dissertation about music and the hunger strike.

3^rd June. Was panellist on Radio Ulster’s ‘Seven Days’ programme from noon to 1pm, talking about the southern economy, political U-turns, PSNI/Gardai raids on those involved in sex trafficking, the British Queen’s diamond jubilee and whether Martin McGuinness and she shake hands on her forthcoming visit to the North.

1^st June. At the Lyric for a reading by Israeli writer, David Grossman, a very gentle man and a good speaker.

31^st May. As part of the Belfast Film Festival I attended the premiere in the Ulster Hall of the film loosely based on the loose life of Terry Hooley, ‘Good Vibrations’. It was very funny and represented a little chunk of Belfast, mid-70s, that steered clear of the conflict, though the conflict did not steer clear of the punks!