RIBI Conference 2015 Belfast Day 3 - Mary Peters

Friday 10^th April. Today the Conference gets under way at the Waterfront Conference Centre, just around the corner from our hotel. This morning I awoke to a problem.  To my horror I realised that I hadn’t brought the camera back from the Titanic dinner last night.  Having searched all my pockets and checked every drawer in our room (three times) the only conclusion I can draw is that I must have left it on the table when we left last night. To make matters worse, it isn’t actually my camera, it is the DG’s, as she pointed out to me once or twice. I phoned the Titanic Belfast early on to ask if it had been handed in, but was told that it hadn’t. However, they said, there is still hope. They suggested I call back after 10.30 by which time the cleaners will have finished, and may have found it.

                                                            The Waterfront Conference Centre

I went down to breakfast in a worried state of mind, and came across the chap who kindly drove us there and back last night. I asked him if, by any chance, a camera had been left on the seat of his car. He said he would have a look and let me know. Fifteen minutes later he called back to say that, regrettably, no camera had been left on the car seat.  Just after that DG Sandra Townsend came over and said ‘Is this yours?’ and pulled my the DG’s camera out of her bag! How relieved I was, and demonstrated it by giving her a big hug, vowing my undying loyalty to my new best friend. It is remarkable how much of a lift you get when a nagging problem has been resolved. I felt better than if I had never lost the camera in the first place.

                                                         Breakfast room at the Hilton

After breakfast we walked around to the Waterfront to register and pick up our ‘Attendee packs’, which were essentially plastic document folders, containing the Conference programme, various visitor guides to Belfast, and surprisingly for us, tickets to a tour of the Titanic Belfast this evening followed by a fork supper. As I had already been to the Titanic last night as a VIP, I didn’t think it appropriate that I should go there again with ordinary Rotarians, so I persuaded the DG that we should find a different establishment to grace with our presence tonight. Incidentally, although we weren’t given Conference bags by the organisers, the Belfast Tourist Office had a stall near the registration desk  handing out ‘Visit Belfast’ canvas bags for free, which were ideal to hold my attendee pack and any other stuff I might pick up.

                                                                                Conference bag, with folder

Having registered for the Conference, I then had to find my way up to the next floor, to a desk mysteriously called ‘Credentials’. As one of two voting delegates representing Shepperton Aurora at the Business Meeting tomorrow, (the other being the DG), I had to present myself to be ticked off their list. I then got a green sticker to proudly wear on my delegate badge, indicating that I was a voting delegate at the business meeting, with clearance to enter all areas of the auditorium.

                                                                  Impressive - Auditorium at the Waterfront

Actually, any Rotarian can attend the Business meeting (I can’t for the life of me think why they would want to) but they have to sit in a separate area from the VIPs (or Voters in Permanent Slumber). To my extreme annoyance the DG managed to get two green stickers on her badge, meaning she had two votes every time something had to be voted on. When I asked for a second sticker I was politely refused, as this is apparently a privilege of the DGs only. I don’t really understand why they should be singled out in this way, when I, as Consort, go to just as many events as the DG does, and I frequently get  praised on how I perform my duties. Only the other day somebody said to me ‘You’re unbelievable!’’.

The President of Belfast Rotary Club. Even with that impressive chain he only has one green sticker on his badge

Anyway, once registration and credentials had been sorted out, we had some free time, as the first session of the Conference wasn’t due to start until about 2 p.m. So, with the whole city of Belfast at our disposal for 2 or 3 hours, what did we do? Go and visit a historical building, like City Hall or the Crumlin Road jail? Go for a cruise on the river Lagan? Have a more in-depth look at Titanic Belfast?  No, you guessed, we went shopping.

                                                        St Georges Market

St George's Market, a fine indoor market just yards from the Hotel, was our first destination. The building dates back to Victorian times and is one of the city’s oldest attractions.  It really is very impressive, full of fresh local produce, and several fresh fish stalls. The DG didn’t waste much time in buying two more handbags for her collection, one of which was brought into use immediately.  I  bought a new wallet. We both found the stallholders to be very friendly and only too happy to stop for a chat with passers-by. There was a good atmosphere about the place which seemed to encourage even me to buy things.  At a watch stall, I tried to buy a new strap for my watch as the existing one was falling apart. However the stall holder said it was too good to throw away and repaired it for me for just £2. How’s that for service?  We met several  other Rotarians in the market and we had quite a laugh as we wandered around.

                                                        Inside the bustling market

We then walked on a little further to the Victoria SquareShopping Mall where the DG found several shops  to her liking. The best thing about the mall for me was the viewing gallery at the top of the building which afforded panoramic views across the city. From this vantage point, it was noticeable how many churches and cathedrals there are in Belfast, there must be dozens. By now it was lunchtime, and we headed back towards the Conference Centre.

                                                           Albert Memorial Tower, seen from the viewing gallery

Attached to one side of the Waterfront building is a small café, called ‘We Make’. We popped in here for a soup and a sandwich, and met up with Ron Enticott and his lovely wife Gwyneth. She was originally from Northern Ireland and still has a lot of family near Belfast. They were both off to a family get-together today, although Ron planned attending the Conference on Saturday. The sandwich I had was the biggest doorstep I have had in some time. Whilst the soup was delicious, I struggled to finish my sandwich, and the DG gave up on hers half way through. I think this was just another example of the big portions you tend to get whenever you eat out in the city.

                                                               Inside 'We Make' cafe

By now it was almost time for the Conference to start. We headed into the House of Friendship (a quaint name for the area where various charities and Rotary-related organisations set up stalls).  I had a chat with a young lady from the Wheelpower charity, which helps to provide specialised sports wheelchairs to athletes. I remembered her from the DG’s handover last year at Halliford School, when she attended on behalf of the Charity. I also spoke to Sheila Elsey on the Philippine Community Fund’s stand. I was a bit sheepish, as I had spoken to her a year ago and promised to get her along to speak to Shepperton Aurora about the charity, but had forgotten to do so. Being a good hearted person, she forgave me, and I renewed my promise to invite her to speak. This time I must remember to do it.

                                                        The DG talks to Sheila Elsey

Eventually it was time to take our seats in the auditorium for the first plenary session as the Conference got under way. Peter King welcomed everyone to the Conference, and he was followed by Philip Beggs, District Governor for Ireland (all Irish clubs, North and South, are in the same District) who welcomed us to Belfast. We then heard from a remarkably youthful looking Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Guy Spence. He spoke eloquently about many of the good things happening in Belfast these days. Next up was RI president Gary Huang, who delivered a keynote speech, underlining his theme of ‘Light Up Rotary’ this year and reminded us of his favourite philosopher, Confucius, who once said ‘It is better to light one candle than to sit and curse the darkness’. Gary pointed out what a difference 1 million Rotarians could make to the world if they all lit a candle.

                                                       Peter King opens the Conference

After Gary, we had another very young politician in the form of Simon Harris, Minister of State at the Department of Finance in the Irish Republic.  He spoke very well, and with an authority that belied his youth, about the state of the World today from an Irish perspective. I really enjoyed his presentation, as his was a viewpoint we don’t usually hear in the UK.  A bit of light relief followed with some superb dancing from the Taylor School of Irish dance. Some of the girls only seemed about 6 or 7 years old and seemed to have rubber legs, with the way they flung themselves around the stage. They seemed to enjoy it immensely, as did the audience, because the dancers got the loudest applause of the day so far, and deservedly so.

                                                        Irish Dancers wow the audience

The highlight of the day for me though, was a talk by Dame Mary Peters, probably Northern Ireland’s most famous athlete (if we exclude footballers). I remember vividly when she won an Olympic Gold Medal for the Pentathlon in Munich in 1972. It was a time when Britain didn’t tend to win many medals, so it was particularly memorable. She is now 75 years old, and I must say she looks pretty good. I hadn’t realised that she was a Rotarian, and does an enormous amount of charity work. One of her greatest achievements was the creation of an International Athletics track for Belfast, which unsurprisingly is called The Mary Peters Athletics Track.

                                                           Mary Peters

The first session was brought to a close on a high note by a presentation from local comedian and compere Gene Fitzpatrick. I would liken his style to that of the late Frank Carson, a fellow Ulsterman. I haven’t laughed so much for a long time, but if you were to ask me now for one of his jokes I would have to confess I can’t remember a single one. When good comedians are on stage I often wish I had a recording device so that I could recall jokes another time. But I suppose that would be unfair to the comedian. Most of his funny stories were at the expense of hapless Irishmen, but they seemed funnier because an Irishman was telling them. As Frank Carson would say ‘It’s the way I tell ’em’ .

                                                                             Gene Fitzpatrick

Whilst I was in the auditorium, the DG had spent most of the afternoon at the Rotaract stand in the House of Friendship, and that was where I found her after the Plenary Session had finished. It was probably the most popular stand in the room, because of the number of Rotaractors who had attended the Conference, including Tom Silverson , Lou Moss and Sean Parry. They gave the stand a party atmosphere which attracted people to it. The DG and I and the Rotaractors (who included two visitors from Italy) were probably the last to leave the Convention Centre and I noticed that staff were waiting patiently for us to leave so they could lock up.

                                                           With Rotaractors - can you see me?

That evening there was a formal Dinner Dance at the Hilton Hotel, but we decided to give it a miss, as dancing is not really for us these days.  We had just decided to head off into the city to look for a Chinese when we met up with a number of other District Governors who weren’t going to the dinner dance either.  We were invited to join them at a Restaurant they had booked. As we needed  5 minutes to get ready, they all headed off, leaving instructions on how to find the Restaurant, called the Vaudeville which, they said, was opposite City Hall.

                                                        City Hall

We knew where City Hall was, so didn’t anticipate any difficulty finding the Restaurant.  We were wrong. City Hall is a very big building with busy roads on four sides. Starting at the front entrance and working our way round, we saw a number of Restaurants which might be described as opposite City Hall, but none of them were called the Vaudeville  So we walked round a second time with the same result. We were now 20 minutes overdue and were about to give up and revert to Plan A, which was to find a Chinese, when the DG received a text from Les Wilson ‘Where were we?’  ‘Opposite City Hall’ was our reply. ‘Ah, well it isn’t actually opposite City Hall, its near City Hall, in a road called Arthur Street. It’s actually called the Café Vaudeville. You can’t miss it, there is a bouncer on the door’.

                                                                  Cafe Vaudeville

This was a novelty, establishments that require bouncers to be stationed on the door are not the sort of places we tend to frequent.  There’s always a first time for everything, so off we went to Arthur Street, which we remembered passing earlier. On the way we met Doug Price, who had kindly come out to find us. We soon arrived at the Restaurant, where the bouncer  found a side entrance for us to enter, as there were steps up to the main entrance, and finally we were in. We joined many of the usual suspects: Les, Pat, Martin, Wendy, Stan, Sheila, Martin, Gill, Doug, Rosemary and a few of Les’s friends from his District, some of whom we had met in Southport last November.

                                                         Sheila, Martin, Rosemary

Food and company was good, but my overriding memory was constant loud music blaring out, making it difficult to hold a conversation with our friends.  Looking round at the clientele, I couldn’t see much reason for a bouncer on the front door, but maybe things got a bit livelier after 10 p.m. when we left. Back at the Hotel, we decided to give the bar a miss tonight and retired to bed.