00:00Well, I don't really know, but again I'm just going to give you a little bit of history.
00:05A lot of people in the room will remember what the Golden Mile was in Belfast.
00:10And the Golden Mile was Great Victoria Street.
00:13And there were lots of nice venues, but there was a lot of dereliction venues.
00:17And there's a lot of dereliction there now.
00:19And it basically happened because Belfast had a ring of steel
00:22that you couldn't come into the city centre after certain times.
00:26But, you know, this is where there needs to be the joined-up writing.
00:31This is where the likes of DfE and DfC.
00:35I think a lot of this sits with Department of Communities, actually.
00:38And it's not all about Department of Economies.
00:43Because, you know, we are a community. This is a community.
00:47The night-time economy is a community.
00:49And that's cliché, and I could probably wax lyrical about it.
00:52But when I get to Gordon Lands, which I am soon, I'll be telling them this.
00:57And what that really means is, give us your money.
00:59Because if you can do this on what we see as Northern Ireland communities,
01:06and people will know what I mean by that,
01:09you need to look at the people who are actually delivering.
01:12And if that's across, if that is from the TEO, the Executive Office,
01:18communities, economy, and even infrastructure,
01:22who seem to be in a distant office.
01:26But that is where the money needs to come from to help support TransLink,
01:31which unfortunately is governed by the government.
01:34And can I just touch on culture now?
01:37Yeah.
01:38It's one of my five priorities.
01:41Two top ones are getting connectivity, late-night connectivity,
01:44established all year, not just for Christmas.
01:47Which starts on the 30th of November.
01:49If you don't know that, go and look up the TransLink website
01:52and share, share, share.
01:54Ending violence against women and girls.
01:57Mundane stuff like common sense approach to pavement cafe licensing,
02:02which is very important for night-time economy and hospitality.
02:06Some pedestrianisation of certain areas in Belfast,
02:10which DFI said they had no more money,
02:12but I said I would give you the bollards if you need them,
02:15because that's all that's needed because the consultation is done.
02:18But culture now.
02:20Getting culture now back for September 2025 will happen.
02:25Great.
02:27It will not happen the way we all knew it,
02:30because it probably outgrew what it needed to be.
02:34Probably too much on the streets and not enough back in the grassroot venues
02:38where artists shoot and will be paid.
02:43What I will say to you is there is a...
02:46I don't know what the word is.
02:48There's a study going on at the moment worth £30,000.
02:51It's widely out there from Belfast City Council around feasibility.
02:55But very clear on what I said on the purple flag.
02:58The purple flag is a benchmark of the night-time economy.
03:01Three in the night sit on it.
03:03The Department of Economy sit on it. I sit on it.
03:05I very clearly said that when culture now comes,
03:08it should not and will not be delivered by Belfast City Council.
03:12It needs to be delivered by people who have got skin in the game,
03:16who understand the OES of this world,
03:19the Adam Terkendens of this world,
03:21the Black Boxes of this world,
03:23the Macs of this world.
03:25And if I've left anybody out, I apologise.
03:27But people who know what they're doing.
03:29So it will happen.
03:31Thank you for that, Michael.
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