29.08.2025
The Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund (USBF) is delighted to announce the recent appointment of Linen Hall Library Director Julie Andrews onto the USBF Investment Committee.
Julie will be joining chair Frank Ferguson and fellow Committee members Fiona Keane, Ian Crozier, Anne McMaster and Wesley Hutchinson.
Speaking of the appointment, Frank said, “We are delighted to welcome Julie Andrews to the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund Investment Committee. She brings incredible knowledge, ability and vision to the role and we look forward to working with her very much in the coming years.”
“I am delighted to be appointed to the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund,” Julie added. “It is an honour to be involved with the Fund and Northern Ireland Screen at this very exciting time in their development.”
The Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund was established in 2011 to ensure that Ulster-Scots heritage, culture and language is expressed through moving image. Since then, the USBF has gone on to fund more than 350 hours of TV, radio and digital content.
The USBF Investment Committee oversees all of the funding decisions in relation to the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
For media inquiries, please contact:
Stuart Quate Head of Marketing, Digital & Communications, The Linen Hall T: +44 (0)78 6866 9503 | E: s.quate@linenhall.com
The Linen Hall Library, Archive & Museum
About: Founded as the Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge in 1788, The Linen Hall is a unique institution. It is the oldest library in the city and remains the only subscription library in Ireland, continuing to generate a proportion of its income from membership. Founding members established the society on radical and Enlightenment ideals. Over more than 200 years, The Linen Hall has retained its independence, maintaining the principle that its resources are owned by the community for the community.
07.07.2025
The Linen Hall has announced the launch of the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award 2025. Michael McLaverty (1904 –1992) was one of the foremost proponents of the Irish short story. His archive was lodged with the Library by the Literary Executors of Michael McLaverty in 2005. The purpose of the award is to foster and encourage the tradition of the short story. Below are the guidelines for entry.
THE PRIZE FOR THE WINNING STORY IS £2,000.
£250 for each of the two runners-up.
The winning story will be published with the two runners-up in a limited anthology.
ADJUDICATORS
Renowned writer Neil Hegarty (The Jewel; Inch Levels; The Story of Ireland) and editor Emma Warnock, No Alibis Press.
ENTRY FEE
£10 Sterling
CLOSING DATE
Midnight 31 October 2025
Entry guidelines can be found on our website
https://linenhall.com/michael-mclaverty-short-story-award-2025/
Adjudicators for this year’s competition are renowned writer Neil Hegarty (The Jewel; Inch Levels; The Story of Ireland) and editor Emma Warnock, No Alibis Press.
Neil Hegarty said: “It’s a great pleasure to judge this edition of the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award, and in so doing to honour a writer whose work I have always admired. This Award matters: and I’m very much looking forward to reading your entries.”
Linen Hall Librarian Samantha McCombe said: “We are privileged to hold the archive of Michael McLaverty at the Linen Hall and are delighted to celebrate his fine prose by continuing to honour Michael McLaverty’s commitment to foster and encourage creativity in the short story form.”
The inaugural competition in 2006 was won by Patrick O’Hanlon. Subsequent winners have gone on to publish further works, including: Aiden O’Reilly (2008 winner): Greetings, Hero; Michèle Forbes (2010): Ghost Moth, Edith & Oliver; Mandy Taggart (2012): The Man of the House; Annemarie Neary (2014): A Parachute in the Lime Tree, Siren, The Orphans; Kevin Doyle (2016): To Keep a Bird Singing, A River of Bodies; Eamon McGuinness (2018): The Wrong Heroes; Niall Bourke (2020): The Erection Specialist.
Bios
Neil Hegarty
Neil Hegarty grew up in Derry. His novels include The Jewel; and Inch Levels, which was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Novel of the Year award. Neil’s non-fiction titles include the biography Frost: That Was the Life That Was, and The Story of Ireland, which accompanies the RTÉ-BBC television history of Ireland. His short fiction and essays have appeared in the Dublin Review, Stinging Fly, Cyphers, Tangerine, Banshee, and elsewhere; and he is co-editor of the essay collection Impermanence, which has been adapted for radio by RTÉ. He is a regular literary reviewer on the Irish Times.
Emma Warnock
Emma Warnock is the editor at No Alibis Press, a small independent publisher of fiction and non-fiction based in Belfast. Emma studied English Literature at Queen’s University, where she gained a PhD in contemporary fiction in 2006.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
For media inquiries, please contact:
Stuart Quate Head of Marketing, Digital & Communications, The Linen Hall T: +44 (0)78 6866 9503 | E: s.quate@linenhall.com
The Linen Hall Library, Archive & Museum
About: Founded as the Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge in 1788, The Linen Hall is a unique institution. It is the oldest library in the city and remains the only subscription library in Ireland, continuing to generate a proportion of its income from membership. Founding members established the society on radical and Enlightenment ideals. Over more than 200 years, The Linen Hall has retained its independence, maintaining the principle that its resources are owned by the community for the community.
01.11.2024
A reception will be held in the Library on 3rd October, National Poetry Day to mark the donation of two textile pieces to The Linen Hall from the Conflict Textiles Collection: an arpillera celebrating Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral – Our Lady of Words by Linda Adams – and an embroidery on the work of poet Seamus Heaney entitled Flora Poetica by Marlene Milner.
Representatives from the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, from The Linen Hall, as well as Trustees from Conflict Textiles along with curator Roberta Bacic will be in attendance.
The donation will be marked by formal speeches and poetry readings from the work of Mistral and Heaney. Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. Seamus Heaney received, 50 years later, the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Our Lady of Words and Flora Poetica will be on display in the library throughout the month of October. Our Lady of Words will be on permanent display in the library thereafter.
A short film of the event will be made available on both websites.
This event will be filmed.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media inquiries, please contact:
Stuart Quate
Head of Marketing, Digital & Communications, The Linen Hall
T: +44 (0)78 6866 9503 | E: s.quate@linenhall.com
24.09.2024
The Linen Hall Library is pleased to announce initial funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, to conduct a feasibility study for Linen Hall 2, an exploration into the potential development of a new, modern facility.
This study, project managed by Turner and Townsend, with a design team led by Todd Architects, will help assess how the library might expand its capacity to house the Northern Ireland Political Collection and create a new venue for events, exhibitions, and community engagement.
The Northern Ireland Political Collection, established in 1968, is a unique and significant resource containing over 350,000 items that document the political history of the region. The collection includes artefacts, books, pamphlets, posters, and periodicals that represent a wide range of perspectives on the political and social landscape of Northern Ireland.
The feasibility study will examine how a new site could enhance public access to the Political Collection, support education and dialogue around Northern Ireland's history, and provide flexible spaces for events and exhibitions. At this early stage, Linen Hall 2 remains a concept, and the scoping study will be vital in determining whether and how it can progress.
Julie Andrews, Director of The Linen Hall Library, said: "This initial funding allows us to take the first step in exploring the future possibilities for Linen Hall 2. The Northern Ireland Political Collection is a globally significant archive, and our goal is to ensure that it remains accessible to future generations in ways that encourage learning and understanding. We are grateful to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support."
The Linen Hall remains committed to its mission of preserving Northern Ireland’s cultural heritage while evolving to meet contemporary needs. Further details will follow as the feasibility study progresses.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media inquiries, please contact:
Stuart Quate
Stuart Quate Head of Marketing, Digital & Communications, The Linen Hall
T: +44 (0)78 6866 9503 | E: s.quate@linenhall.com
The Linen Hall
Library, Archive & Museum
About: Founded as the Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge in 1788, The Linen Hall is a unique institution. It is the oldest library in the city and remains the only subscription library in Ireland, continuing to generate a proportion of its income from membership. Founding members established the society on radical and Enlightenment ideals. Over more than 200 years, The Linen Hall has retained its independence, maintaining the principle that its resources are owned by the community for the community.
National Lottery Heritage Fund
About: The largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players, they distribute grants from £10,000 to £10million to support projects across the UK that connect people and communities to their heritage.
