b'With the opening of the Duncairn Centre for Culture & Arts, the 174 Trust is about to embark upon a new and excitingperiod of service for the North Belfast Community. Since its foundation in 1983, the Trust has sought to work with localpeople, helping them to identify and meet local needs by providing an inclusive, non-threatening and safe environment for individuals and groups to access programmes and to be involved in a wide range of life-enriching activities where all people are valued equally. The Ireland Funds have been longtime partners with 174 Trust in supporting their eorts towards peace and reconciliation in their often deeply-divided community of North Belfast.here, Rev. Bill Shaw of the 174 Trust tells of the new life that the Centre is bringing to the area.afterfourteenyearsofplanning , Already the 170-seat theatre space has hosted a series of major consultation,sweatandtears,Belfastsnewestartsvenue(andconferences including Victims , Community Relations Council,perhaps the coolest music club this side of anywhere!) is up and PolicingBoardandTheArtsCouncilaswellasseveralmusic running in a former Presbyterian Church.anddramaevents.Thenewvenueisalsoprovingitselftobe TheDuncairnCentreforCulture&Arts,describedbythea popular destination for music fans who have been entertained Arts Council CEO as a WOW! building, officially opened to the byadiverserangeofinternationally-renownedmusiciansand community on May 1. The new facility is part of an already busy performers. complex that caters for several hundred people of all ages every The daily foot traffic, whether visiting the exhibition space orweek with a diverse range of activities and programmes.enjoying a cappuccino in the Refresh Caf, is drawn from near andSituated as we are in the most divided and volatile part of the far. It is already becoming an established meeting spot for localcity, this launch was an important restatement of our commitment people, Protestant and Catholic alike. This fall, in response to theto North Belfast. Especially significant, coming as it does, during unprecedentedinterestgeneratedduringandaftertheopeningour 30th Anniversary celebrations.Spring Festival, the 174 Trust hopes to unveil an exciting 120,000Support from The Ireland Funds has been crucial during this arts programme.period in helping us maintain a presencea shared spaceopen to In a neighbourhood where everything is either them oreveryone regardless of religious affiliation, race or ethnicity. The us Protestant or Catholicthe 174 Trust has succeeded in174 Trust realises that it is not possible for a society to be healthy in creating a unique and stunning cultural spaceone in whichterms of its ability to be reconciled within itself and to foster a everyone can share and celebrateand at the same timesense of shared society if its cultural sector is unable to make its makeamassivecontributiontowardsbuildingalastingproper contribution to the civic debate. Cultural discourse has a key peace and a truly reconciled community. part to play in peace building and we are now better equipped thanRev. Bill Shaw of the 174 Trustever to play a strategic role in this respect. connect2014 | 23'