S6E11: Máirtín Ó Muilleoir: Building Bridges in Belfast, to Belfast
In New York for the annual New York New Belfast Conference, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir swung by the Irish Stew Global Headquarters for a transatlantic conversation with co-host John Lee.
In this episode, the Belfast Media Group and Irish Echo publisher tells of growing up during The Troubles, watching gun battles on his Belfast street, his move into politics, the less-than-warm reception he got as a Sinn Féin Belfast City Councillor, the superpower he discovered during his eventful year as the Lord Mayor of Belfast, and his tireless efforts to reach across divides, connect communities, and build bridges.
“When I had to reach out to the other side--sometimes that was tough--but every time I did I was met halfway--not 50 percent of the time, not 70 percent--every time,“ he says. “Every initiative we did reaching out to the Protestant or Unionist people, they responded with generosity and grace.”
He reflects on personal challenges, the conundrum he found waiting for him in the Lord Mayor’s office, his fondest memory from his one-year term, the electricity in the air of the new Belfast, the ongoing need for social justice, the imperative to grow economic opportunity, the indispensable contributions of Irish America, and reason the Northern Ireland Hospice earned his “Seamus Plug,”
And you’ll hear the curious story behind the remarkable Robert Ballagh portrait of him that broke the mold in the “Dome of Delight.”
Links
Social Media
Business Interests
Seamus Plug
00:00 - Introduction
02:52 - A Portrait in Purple
06:15 - People Based Politics
09:03 - Reaching Out and Meeting Half Way
13:33 - Finding Common Ground
16:09 - Looking at Irish America
19:16 - Bridging Belfast and New York CIty
23:33 - Belfast Challenges and Forward Movement
27:55 - Selling Belfast: Business, Peace, and Tourism
34:44 - Stabilizing Northern Ireland Politics
38:24 - Power, Symbolism and Gestures in Belfast
45:49 - Unionism and WWI Commemorations
49:01 - Engaging with the Republic of Ireland
51:53 - Forging Belfast Links in America
54:23 - Seamus Plug
57:26 - Credits
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir
Former Belfast Lord Mayor and Newspaper Publisher
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is Aisling Events’ Co-Founder & Director, publisher at the Belfast Media Group and at the Irish Echo in the US. The Irish Echo, established 1928, is the oldest and biggest newspaper serving Irish Americans across 50 States.
A former Finance Minister in the Executive and a former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Máirtín has been involved in community-building for four decades.
He is a founding partner of the North Ireland Growth Fund which is aiming to raise $100m to invest in early-stage companies seizing economic opportunities in Ireland’s 12 northern counties.
He has authored several books in Irish and English, is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast and has received several awards for his community commitment, most notably an honorary doctorate from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, USA and the Tolerntia Laureate Award for support of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, he served as Honorary Grand Marshall of the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Huntsville, Alabama.
He is a keen runner and is married to Helen O’Hare. The couple have four grown-up children.
