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Dr Jim Donaghey (Ulster University) and independent videographer Slaine Browne are delighted to premiere the latest output from their ‘Skate Stopped?’ and ‘Get Portrush a Skatepark!’ research projects.
Asking ‘Why Doesn’t Portrush Have a Skatepark?’, this 15-minute street lecture looks back at more than 25 years of local campaigning for skatepark facilities in the seaside town, and analyses the current dynamics that continue to frustrate local urban sports enthusiasts, despite an impressive groundswell of public support for their cause.
The street lecture argues that ‘resortification’ (that is to say, development of the town as an upmarket tourist resort) has been a major factor in the local Council’s continued failure to provide for the skateboarding community here. Local authorities with responsibility for planning, sports development, and tourism/leisure articulate a particular vision of Portrush in their published strategies and Civil Service conduct – and this clashes directly with skateboarders’ demand to be taken seriously as legitimate users of public space in the ‘skateboarding capital of Northern Ireland’.
Learn more about Skate Stopped?
The research is hosted at Ulster University’s School of Communication and Media, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council ‘Creative Communities’ initiative and the Arts and Humanities Research Council ‘Impact Acceleration Account’ fund.
Event info
This event has ended
Thursday 30 May
7.30pm
The Playhouse, Portrush