Charlotte Elliott and 'Just as I am'

Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871) was the daughter of Charles Elliott, a silk merchant, and his wife Eling Venn.  Her maternal grandfather was Rev Henry Venn (1725-1797), an evangelical minister in the Church of England, and she had two brothers who were also ministers in the Church of England.

 

On one occasion she was visiting friends in London and met the Swiss evangelist and hymn writer Cesar Malan.  While they were having supper he asked Charlotte if she was a Christian.  Although she had been brought up in a Christian home, she was taken aback by the question and she replied that she would rather not talk about it.  However the question proved to be a turning point in her life.

 

Some time later she met Malan again and confessed that ever since he had spoken to her she had wanted to come to Christ but she did not know how to come.  Malan replied, 'Come just as you are.'

 

Charlotte pondered those words and came to trust in Christ as her Saviour and Lord.  She also wrote the lovely old hymn:

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Down through the years many people have indeed come to Christ through the message of Charlotte Elliott's hymn.  She wrote around 150 hymns and many poems but that is certainly her best known hymn.

Belfast Benevolent Society of St Andrew

Last night Mary and I attended the annual St Andrew's night dinner of the Belfast Benevolent Society of St Andrew.  The society was founded on 14 September 1867 at a meeting in the Belfast Athenaeum in Castle Place and it is approaching its 150th anniversary in 2017.

 

It was a very enjoyable evening and the visiting speakers were Scottish sports broadcaster Archie McPherson and Ulster broadcaster Helen Mark, who is also a Scot.  Archie told us a number of amusing anecdotes about Scotland and Scottish football while Helen spoke of the Ulster-Scots and described the 'narrow sea' between Ulster and Scotland as 'a well-travelled path' and one that has been travelled in both directions.

 

The following brief history of the society was provided on the tables for guests:

 

The founders included Belfast businessmen who were born in Scotland, such as John Arnott from Auchtermuchty and David Taylor from Perth.  Arnott and Taylor had founded Arnott's Stores, drapers and  outfitters in Bridge Street, Belfast.

 

Charles Mitchell, who was born in Glasgow and who owned a distillery in Tomb Street, was also instrumental in founding the society.

 

A rule book was produced and the first annual general meeting was held on 30 November 1867.  According to the 1880 Belfast & Ulster Street Directory, 'Its members are Scotchmen or the sons of Scotchmen, but those who cannot be so defined are also received as honorary members' and the object of the society is 'to alleviate distress, to further such charities as may be deemed worthy of support, and to afford opportunities for the promotion of friendly feelings amongst its members.'  Its motto is, 'Our ain ills aye hae strength to bear, Another's aye hae heart to feel.'

 

In the early days the society provided practical assistance to people of Scottish birth, including coal allowances, spectacles and boots and tools for workmen.  The society also purchased a burial plot in Belfast city Cemetery and the first burial took palce on 24 July 1898.  The plot is marked by a rough-hewn stone with the Cross of St Andrew.  More recently, in 1974 it built ten bungalows for older people.

 

The society has always promoted Scottish culture in ulster and on 19 September 1893 a bronze statue of Robert Burns and other items relating to the poet were presented to the Belfast Museum by 'the poet's countrymen and admirers in Belfast'.  The originator of this presentation was James Dewar, secretary of the Belfast Benevolent Society of St Andrew.

 

More information is available on the society's website at www.standrewssocietybelfast.co.uk

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

On Friday morning (30 November) I spoke at the annual meeting of Advice NI, the independent advice network, which was held at Templepatrick.  It was an opportunity to give a keynote address on where we are as regards welfare reform.  I will post the full text of the speech separately but I want to highlight a particularly important section on the migration from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment.

Welfare reform is necessary and will bring much that is positive, but, I do not underestimate the challenges we will face to manage the transition.

One aspect of the reform programme on which I have significant concerns relates to Personal Indpendence Payment. and the proposed managed migration of the 120,000 working age customers currently receiving Disability Living Allowance.

I have previously set out some of my concerns publicly that this aspect of PIP is driven primarily by the need of the Westminster coalition government to save money.  I would reiterate today my concern that this migration could have a real negative impact in some of our most deprived communities at a time of economic hardship.  I have asked my officials to develop an understanding of the potential impact on the most deprived areas and I do believe there is a case for delay in the migration of  PIP to at least allow for economic conditions to improve.

This does not take away from the fact that the Disability Living Allowance is no longer fit for purpose, which drives perverse behaviours and does not ensure that the available financial support is getting to the right people.  People with a disability deserve to have the same type of conversation that we are intending to have with other benefit claimants to maximise their potential whilst ensuring that the right level of financial support is available.

North West Regional Science Park

Yesterday I travelled up to Londonderry for the official launch of the North West Regional Science Park at Fort George in Londonderry and the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

 

Fort George is key development for my department and the launch today signifies the first major step in unlocking Fort George's true potential.  The total European investment of £12 million, in Londonderry and Letterkenny, represents a significant investment from Europe to the area.

 

This coupled with my department's contribution to the North West Regional Science Park project at Fort George, which is over £1 million, will help to make the regeneration envisaged for Fort George a reality.

 

It is expected that this investment will encourage high-quality technology and knowledge-based businesses to Londonderry.  It will also contirbute to the One Plan job targets through knowledge service jobs in the longer term and in the short term it will help boost the construction industry.

 

My department has played a pivotal role in taking this project forward, alongside the other key partners, who have all worked incredibly hard to get us to this point, including ILEX, the North West Regional Cross Border Group, Northern Ireland Science Park, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, SEUPB and DFP.

 

The outline planning application for Fort George, which has been lodged with Planning Service, foresees major mixed use development on Fort George.  The North West Regional Science Park is a key component of that vision and will help to pave the way for further developments on the site.

 

My planned  investment n the Fort George site over the coming two years includes preparing the whole site in a state of readiness for the private sector and putting infrastructure on site.

 

The North West Regional Science Park will add to the recent regeneration works undertaken by my department in the city.  Those have inlcuded the £9 million investment in the public realm at Waterloo Place and Guildhall Square and the £15 million investment in the preparations for the United Kingdom City of Culture in 2013.  In addition the public realm works at Queen's Quay will help to improve the all important arterial linkages from the city centre to Fort George.

 

2013 will be an exciting year for Londonderry - with the proposals for Fort George and the United Kingdom City of Culture events, there is much to look forward to.

Earlier this week the Minister for the Environment anounced that planning permission for the NWRSP building had been turned round in just 14 weeks.  I hope that this sets a benchmark for other major planning applications, in particular another EU funded project, the Community Hub on the Girdwood site in North Belfast.

The wider development on the Fort George site will include residential, office, leisure, light industrial, eductaional, community facilities, convenience retail, cafe and restaurants.

I notice that some commentators in Londonderry have observed that the development of the entire site will take around ten years. That is not in the least surprising. This is a large site and the development of such sites, which involve public and private investment, is generally taken forward on a phased basis eg the Gasworks in Belfast.

 

A programme of decontamination will have to be carried out as the site, which was associated with shipbuilding from 1912 and became a Royal Naval base for ship repairs in 1941.  Decontamination work will not be completed until 2014 but work on the Science Park is expected to start by next March. 

 

 



A simple question for Alasdair McDonnell

SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell MP MLA

Last Friday (23 November) I posted about the fact that SDLP councillors in Newry and Mourne Council had joined with Sinn Fein to retain the name of a playground, which had been named after the IRA terrorist and hunger striker Raymond McCreesh.

Newton Emerson comments on this in the Irish News today (1 December):

Sinn Fein and SDLP councillors in Newry and Mourne have voted to retain the name of a playground named after Raymond McCreesh, an IRA gunman caught with a weapon used in the Kingsmill massacre.  The moral squalor of this is difficult to fathom. 

IRA memorials are usually justified on the grounds that Northern Ireland has plenty of British war memorials.

Is there a playground anywhere named after a British equivalent of Raymond McCreesh? 

If there is, do Sinn Fein and the SDLP consider that acceptable.

I agree with Newton Emerson that 'the moral squalor of this is difficult to fathom'.

 

So what have the media done about this 'moral squalor'?  Have they interviewed and questioned SDLP leader Aladair McDonnell MP MLA about this or have they asked SDLP deputy leader Dolores Kelly MLA?  I certainly haven't seen much evidence of it, indeed I haven't seen any at all.

 

So how long will it be before they get round to asking Alasdair one very simple question?  'Alasdair, is it right to name a children's playground after an IRA gunman?'

So once again, over to you, Belfast Telegraph, Irish News, Stephen Nolan .......  Oh, and perhaps church leaders, Protestant and Roman Catholic, could speak out on this as well.

Latest opinion poll on political parties

 

The latest opinion poll on political parties in Northern Ireland appeared yesterday in the Belfast Telegraph.  Of those intending to vote for the main political parties, their relative support is as shown above.

Of course each opinion poll is just a snapshot at a particular time but the pattern of opinion polls over a period of time shows some clear trends.

The DUP is the largest party in Northern Ireland and its support remains firm.  Indeed it has the support of 67.2% of unionist voters.  Of course there is much work to be done and the position of the party can be strengthened further but this is a good poll for the DUP.

However support for the UUP continues to decline and has reached the lowest level in the history of the party.  Back in 2003 it was the largest party in Northern Ireland but after a succession of leaders it is now down to a poor fifth.  The comparable figure at the last Assembly election was 13.2% and like his predecessors Mike Nesbitt seems unable to reverse the decline, which is most serious in the east of the province.

Interestingly the Alliance Party has gained some ground and this seems to be amongst Roman Catholic voters.  However all is not well in the Alliance camp, which is deeply divided about 'same-sex marriage', and is now embroiled in a controversy about the Union flag at Belfast City Hall.

 

The poll was taken between 6 and 23 November and so the results were not affected by the recent DUP conference.

Sectarian attacks on Orange halls

Fourscore Orange Hall

There it was tucked away in the top corner of the Belfast Telegraph (Friday 30 November), in a column entitled 'news in brief'.  It was a single short paragraph with no photograph and you could easily have missed it.

 

Arson attempt on Orange hall

Damage has been caused to the roof of an Orange hall by would-be arsonists.  Sometime between Tuesday evening and 5.30 pm on Wednesday, someone climbed on to the roof of the hall in the Garlandstown Road area of Glenavy and tried to set it alight.  damage was caused to roof tiles and guttering.  Police are appealing for information.

Such are the priorities of the Belfast Telegraph that the attempted arson attack on Fourscore Orange Hall merited just 63 words. 

 

There was no mention of the fact that the hall was destroyed in two previous arson attacks or the fact that there has been a series of arson attacks in recent months on the nearby Glenavy Protestant Hall.

 

Moreover the newspaper failed to report another sectarian attack on an Orange hall. Republican graffiti was daubed on the exterior walls of Loughanreagh Orange Hall in Coleraine.

 

Surely if there has been a series of arson attacks on Orange halls in a particular area, as is the case at Fourscore and Glenavy, then it deserves more attention and should not be relegated to a brief and cursory report in the corner of a page.  Does such sectarian behaviour not deserve to be highlighted and exposed?

 

For many years there has been a campaign of sectarian attacks on Orange halls and these are just the latest attacks.  When they occur they are condemned by the Orange Order and by unionist politicians but what about the other voices that need to be heard?  Where are the voices of civic society and especially, where are the voices of church leaders, both Protestant and Roman Catholic?  What are local newspapers, radio and television doing to recognise and report the onging, long-term and widespread sectarian campaign against Orange halls and against the Orange community?

 

The attack at Fourscore Orange Hall was neither unique nor unusual.  Indeed this very hall has been destroyed by sectarian arsonists on two occasions.  So how can the Belfast Telegraph justify the brevity of its report and how long must we wait for church leaders to speak out against such sectarian behaviour?

 

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has news releases about both attacks on its website and you can read them there.