Róisín McNally

Róisín is the Heritage Engagement Officer for Inner East Belfast, based in EastSide Partnership. Róisín is working directly with the community to support engagement, identify opportunities and develop projects that celebrate and activate Belfast’s rich waterfront heritage, reconnecting communities with the waterfront.

What does Belfast Historic Waterfront mean to you, and why is it important to connect local communities with the heritage?

To me, the Belfast Historic Waterfront means a living connection to the heritage, culture and lives of the city. The river and blueways are where people first came together, and utilised it for their energy, livelihood, folk traditions and even leisure. It’s important connect local communities with the heritage of the river because it is inherently woven into who they are, where they live and what they do.

Over the next two years, what do you hope to achieve through your work with local communities?

I hope to enhance the experiences that our local communities have with our heritage places through community led and facilitated programmes. This includes the collection and documentation of local stories, photographs and artefacts, and developing our current assets with their support.

How can people living in the area get involved, share their stories or help shape the future of Belfast Historic Waterfront?

People living in this area can get involved by visiting our heritage places in the Belfast Historic Waterfront and understanding what it is about them that interests it – be it the architecture, the social history or even the landscape – and seeing how they can enhance that experience, be it through reaching out the EastSide Partnership to share their stories with us or volunteering along our greenways and heritage/arts events.

How do you plan to increase the awareness of your communities to Maritime Heritage and increase their sense of connection to Belfast Historic Waterfront?

My aim is to go out to these community groups directly and ask them what their current awareness of Maritime Heritage is, what part of that heritage is important to them and how they would want to connect to Belfast Historic Waterfront. Their voices are key to driving our understanding of what the communities of east Belfast want to see, and how we can best achieve that with their support