Ullans Academy
St Patrick’s Breakfast
City Hall , Belfast
7th March, 2013 at 8.00am
200 community activists and political leaders gathered at Belfast City Hall to celebrate Saint Patrick. The Master of Ceremonies was Sammy Douglas MBE, MLA. The Right Hon the Lord Mayor Gavin Robinson opened the proceedings, the Ullans President Dr Ian Adamson OBE explained the significance of the Shamrock, Dr Roger Blaney spoke about Saint Patrick, and thanks were extended by the chairman Liam Logan. Musical entertainment was provided by students of Saint Patrick’s College and the Boy’s Model School, Belfast.
Martha Eisenhower from Reno, Nevada, who is a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar in Belfast sponsored by Bangor Rotary Club
The Ullans Academy is a community based group established since 1992 to promote shared heritage and build strong community relations between all communities within Northern Ireland with particular reference to Belfast. Our aim is to help connect communities and to nurture mutual tolerance and respect.
The Academy aims to achieve this by improving understanding of our history. Events in Irish history have retained such emotive potency that they still impact upon the history of today. For many the understanding of key historical events often remains superficial, and slogans and stereotypes have substituted real understanding. By presenting a broader perspective to Irish history the aim is to allow the citizens of the island of Ireland to integrate historical events less emotively – and less divisively – into their rich historical inheritance. Such an integration is long overdue, particularly for the people of Northern Ireland who have suffered too much and too long for their past history
The Ullans name was chosen as it was felt the name was inclusive and “neutral”. It is a neologism combining Ulaidh, the Irish Gaelic name for Ulster and Lallans, the name used by Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson for the Scotch language. It can also be used as an acronym for Ulster Language, Literature And Native Speech, thus encompassing all languages and traditions in Ulster and the island of Ireland.
The Ullans Academy is a Company limited by guarantee and Directors work in a voluntary capacity receiving no remuneration for hours worked on behalf of the Academy. Currently the Academy hosts two annual events to mark St Patrick’s day and St Columbanus. The Academy has recently held a short series of lectures on key historical topics in Belmont Tower and Culturlann.