Northern Bank Lecture Series 2008
Wednesday 23 January 2008, 7.30 pm
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Why We Collect Things
LOYD GROSSMAN
Loyd Grossman was born in Boston in 1950 and graduated from Boston University (BA cum laude) and the London School of Economics (MSc Econ). He is a member of the Court of Governors and the Council of the London School of Economics.
After starting a career in journalism with Harpers & Queen and the Sunday Times, he was diverted into television, where as a writer, presenter or deviser he has been involved in a wide range of programmes including Through the Keyhole, MasterChef, Behind the Headlines, History of British Sculpture, Loyd on Location and Build Britain. He has also written and presented a series, Composers at Home, for Radio 3.
Loyd’s knowledge of, and interest in, food led him to create his own brand in 1995 which became Britain’s most successful new premium food brand and now has annual sales of £65 million.
His lifelong interest in history, the arts and heritage has involved him in a number of organisations. He is a former Commissioner of the Museums and Galleries Commission, a former Commissioner of English Heritage (where he was Commissioner with Special Responsibility for the North West and Chairman of the Museums Advisory Committee and the Blue Plaques Panel), a former Commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and a founding member of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. He created the 24 Hour Museum (the world’s most comprehensive museums and galleries website) and was its Chairman until 2005.
Loyd is the founder and Chairman of the Campaign for Museums (which organises Museums and Galleries Month), past Chairman of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, Patron of the Association for Heritage Interpretation, President of the British Association of Friends of Museums, a Trustee of St Deiniol’s Library, Chairman of Culture Northwest (the Cultural Consortium for North West England) and Chairman of National Museums Liverpool. Recently, he has been appointed Chairman of The Churches Conservation Trust.
He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was appointed OBE in 2003 and was recently awarded a Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Chester in recognition of his heritage work.
Ticket Price: £7.50
Ticket Hotline: 028 9039 5106
Tuesday 19 February 2008, 7.30 pm
Belfast Waterfront Hall
Television History - A contradiction in terms?
DAN SNOW
Dan Snow is a well-known historian, broadcaster and television presenter.
He was born and raised in London and remembers spending every weekend of his childhood being taken to castles, battlefields, country houses and churches. He developed a great love of English history which he went on to pursue at Oxford University. While there, he also rowed in the Boat Race three times.
After leaving Oxford he immediately started presenting military history programmes with his father, Peter Snow. Their television series, Battlefield Britain, won a BAFTA award. It told the story of eight of the decisive clashes in British history from Boudicca to the Battle of Britain. The follow-up series was transmitted in the summer of 2007 and featured eight of the key military encounters of the 20thcentury, including battles such as Stalingrad and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
Dan has made numerous history programmes for the BBC. He is the ‘History Hunter’ for the ONE show on BBC1. He is also part of the BBC Events team and has presented anniversary programmes commemorating the end of World War II in July 2005, Trafalgar in October 2005 and the Falklands War in 2007. During the course of his work he has flown World War II aircraft, been gassed, contracted pneumonia and been trained as a sniper.
Dan is also writing a book about General Wolfe in Canada and working with English Heritage to produce short films about many of their properties.
In October 2007 he was named on the Evening Standard List of the Top 1000 most influential Londoners.
Ticket Price: £7.50
Ticket Hotline: 028 9033 4455
Online Booking: www.waterfront.co.uk
Thursday 6 march 2008, 7.30 pm
Market Place Theatre, Armagh
The Psychology of Leadership
DAVID AARONOVITCH
David Aaronovitch is one of the best-known journalists and current affairs broadcasters in Britain, winning several national awards and having worked for ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, The Independent,The Guardian, The Observer and The Times.
He started his media career as a television researcher, then became a producer for ITV’s Weekend World and founding editor of the BBC’s On the Record in 1988. He moved to print journalism in 1995, working for The Independent and Independent on Sunday as chief leader writer, TV critic and columnist until the end of 2002. He began contributing to The Guardian and The Observer in 2003, where he was a columnist and feature writer.
He won the George Orwell prize for political journalism in 2001 and was the What the Papers Say Columnist of the Year for 2003.
Since June 2005 he has written a regular column for The Times. He also presents or contributes to radio and TV programmes, including Have I Got News For You and BBC News 24. He appears regularly on Any Questions and Question Time.
He is author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country, published in 2000.
Most recently David was the interviewer and executive producer on the major BBC1 series, The Blair Years, broadcast in late 2007. This involved eight hours spent interviewing Tony Blair in front of the cameras and several off-the-record meetings with Mr Blair, both before and after his departure. In the process of making these programmes, David also talked to and interviewed leading international figures such as President George W Bush and Kofi Anan, as well as a wide range of former Cabinet Ministers, top civil servants and ambassadors. These encounters form the background for David's new book on Blair as a leader, to be published in 2008, and for an approach to a series of talks on the psychology of leadership.
David's fascination with some of the more arcane aspects of public life and debate will lead to his book on the impact of conspiracy theories Voodoo Histories, being published in early 2009.
Ticket Price: £7.50
Ticket Hotline: 028 3752 1821
Online Booking: www.marketplacearmagh.com
Thursday 10 April 2008, 7.30 pm
Guildhall, Derry
Sport in a Divided Society
TREVOR RINGLAND
One of the great rugby union wingers of his generation, Trevor Ringland was a Triple Crown winner with Ireland in 1982 and 1985 and toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions in 1983. He made 34competitive Ireland appearances, including in the 1987 Rugby World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. He also played for the Lions against a world select 15 in 1986 at Cardiff Arms Park to mark the centenary of the International Rugby Board (IRB) and organised, in conjunction with Hugo McNeill, a special peace international match in Dublin in 1996 between Ireland and the Barbarians.
Trevor played his club rugby with Ballymena Rugby Club and represented Ulster on many occasions.
A solicitor by profession, Trevor is a partner with leading Belfast firm Macaulay Ritchie and is a highly respected litigator. He is also well-known for his cross-community work and is Chairman of the high profile One Small Step Campaign, which seeks to promote a shared future for Northern Ireland. He also recently co-chaired, with Formula One legend Eddie Jordan, the Irish stage of the World Rally Championship.
In July 2007, Trevor was joint winner of the prestigious ESPY Arthur Ashe Award, which he collected from movie star Samuel L Jackson at a gala ceremony in Hollywood, California. The award was presented to Trevor and his colleague Dave Cullen for work for the multi-national Peace Players International programme.
Trevor is from Larne and attended Larne Grammar School before studying Law at The Queen's University of Belfast. He now holds various directorships and chairmanships of private and voluntary sector organisations. He is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, a board member of the Ireland Funds and a board member of Mediation Northern Ireland. Trevor served on the Sports Council for Northern Ireland and the Broadcasting Council of the BBC, is a member of the Ulster Unionist Party and is a Trustee of RUC George Cross Foundation. In 2003 he co-authored a pamphlet with Mick Fealty and David Steven entitled A Long Peace? The Future of Unionism in Ireland.
Trevor is a former committee member of the Irish Rugby Football Union and was a rugby coach at CIYMS RFC.
Ticket Price: £7.50
Ticket Hotline: 028 9039 5106