Protestant band culture flourishes in Northern Ireland since Good Friday Agreement

Laurie Taylor visits the Kilcluney Protestant Marching Band in County Armagh, near the contested Drumcree site where there has been a stand off between Protestant marchers and Catholic residents since 1998. Contrary to his expectations, Laurie Taylor meets a band whose young members claim cross-sectarian respect and who have recently visited the Republic of Ireland to take part in an international band competition. He also discovers why there has been an apparent flourishing of Protestant band culture since the Good Friday Agreement.

Thinking Allowed: Laurie Taylor leads a weekly discussion on topical issues within our academic institutions and research bodies.

Contributors: Jackie Witherow, researcher & Phd student in ethno-musicology at Queen's College Belfast; Dominic Bryan, director of the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's University, Belfast & lecturer in Social Anthropology; William Kute, owner of Drum Sounds, a shop on Sandy Row in Belfast; and, from the Kilcluney Volunteers Flute Band, chairman Ivan Walker, secretary Quincey Dougan, and band members Carolyne and Steven.