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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Brilliant article by Seanín Graham after spending the day with Young Spencer up the Shankill. Yet another example of how much the north has changed archive.ph/lTDFa ‘Protestant and proud’ Young Spencer: Meet the Shankill Road’s answer to Kneecap

archive.ph

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ha. That’s great from McCann! Agnostic myself. The funny thing is that evangelicals made up quite a lot of the letter signatories. I knew they would - it’s the world I grew up in. And, for contrast, we also had a lot of drag artists. That’s the scope of the coalition. It’s gonna be a wild ride!

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I’d say there were more than a few Protestant atheists 😂 Lots of feeling torn between using your privilege to challenge the narrative, and feeling weird about the label.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

One of my favourite things about the last few days, is stories from trade unionist, artist, environmentalist circles… when the letter started circulating, people realised they didn’t actually know who was a Prod. Cue hilarious conversations. Happily, that’s how many of us in the north live now.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Someone sent me a name and shame for some of the signatories. This was the summary at the end. I’ve never felt so proud. I had people phoning me saying they were delighted to make the cut lol

Summary of who signed the Protestant solidarity letter for Garvaghy Road. People prominent in peace and reconciliation. LGBTQ activists, Palestine campaigners and Irish language sector, people involved in Irish unity stuff and also ordinary prods 💪

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hugest of thanks to every single person who had the courage to put their name on this.

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Reposted by Claire Mitchell

Kris (he/him) @portlandkris.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Letter with ALT-text. Also available here docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We write as a group of concerned individuals from a Protestant background. We hold a wide range of views on politics, faith and identity, and no single label captures our diversity. But we are committed to our shared society, and we feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown. We value the peace and progress built since the 1998 Agreement. We want our children and grandchildren to inherit a future free from the anguish of the past, and we are anxious that some now seem willing to reopen old wounds. While we recognise that the Portadown District LOL regard Drumcree as unfinished business, we are distressed by the trauma that is being visited on the residents of the Garvaghy Road after 28 years of calm. This is a community that has suffered deeply and still lives with the legacy of the parading disputes of the 1990s, which cost lives and left lasting scars. Many of us have family and friends for whom parading is a valued tradition, and some of us have been directly involved ourselves. We recognise its importance to many in our community. The vast majority of loyal order parades take place each year without restrictions - an outcome enabled by agreements and arrangements reached after exhaustive efforts. All of that is now being called into question, with potentially devastating consequences far beyond Portadown. We appeal to the Orange Order to look towards the bigger picture and bring this impasse to an end in the interests of our entire community. We urge the British and Irish Governments to act together and without delay: to restore stability, to ensure that the parading framework is robust and trusted, and to spare the residents of the Garvaghy Road a return to the fear they endured for so many summers. This is a time when all of us committed to a better future have a responsibility to raise our voices to protect peace, progress and a shared society free from sectarianism. We must avoid the abyss we are currently staring into. For the fut…

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

We have nearly 1500 names now. Last day to sign

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This was teamwork with 5 of us. Others will pick it up tomorrow. We’re up to 400 names now and still going strong. Thanks to every single one of you who have supported 🙌

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Oisín, thank you for letting me know. I’ve been thinking about her loads. That sounds like a beautiful and fitting send off. Love to you all x

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🚨 Open letter from people of Protestant backgrounds concerning the Garvaghy Road 🚨 We feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown 🚨Over the past few hours we have collected over 140 signatures

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sorry I meant we as Prods feel the psychological warfare from sectarian loyalism in our areas too. But it’s a low level daily grind, not this overwhelming level of attrition. I feel that unless more Protestants can be honest about the root of the rot, we’re in trouble.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It absolutely is psychological warfare Brónagh. And so deeply cruel. We feel it in our areas too, but this is another league of cruelty entirely.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

People told us today about the high suicide rate on the road, people’s mental health and PTSD never recovered. We spent time with mummies, grandas, residents for whom this is their life, rain soaked reps who had been out from the night before. So many stories that will stay with me today x

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Don’t think we contributed much Brendan, but we couldn’t sit in the house

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Spent the afternoon with friends on the Garvaghy Road, listening to stories of local people’s grief and trauma from the last time around. This is no way to live. Love and solidarity, peace and progress to all. We have come so far. We are one society, one community. We cannot go back.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I’m so sorry for your loss. And also to Oisín. Rena is one of my favourite people I ever met online. What a gorgeous human being. I’d drafted a chapter for my new book based on a conversation we had about the emotions of the Fleadh. She called it a homecoming Sending much love to you all.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I think this is excellent. I share the same frustrations and thoughts about remedies.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Claire JC’s ‘Ulster Says Maybe’ group is live. A progressive space for ordinary people of all backgrounds to talk to each other about Irish unity… there’ll be interviews, a book club, discussion topics and zero tolerance for sectarianism… Join here - www.patreon.com/ulstersaysmaybe

patreon.com

Ulster Says Maybe — A community for people who care about Northern Ireland

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Reposted by Claire Mitchell

Tony - Pod Guy - Groves @tonygroves.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Ulster Says Maybe with former Unionist and Irish-Northern-Irish-British identity Tik Tok creator, Claire JC, is out now. And no Andy, a border poll is not off the table. podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/t...

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

We’ll all come down from the high at some point. And of course this work goes on at a lower key all the time. But sometimes events happen and you can just see things very clearly. So many big feelings, of so many different kinds. It’s a marvel.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Talking today with a friend whose family are DUP & Orange Order. Her dad was also really emotional when he saw the Shankill Defenders in the finale. He was so happy to share his world with people and for them to see it’s not all bad. He feels it is a miracle of understanding and is filled with hope.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

God I loved CafeBarDeli. The rigatoni. The barbera wine. We went there nearly every week for years.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Such a beautiful thing to see barriers drop like that. And yes, classes will be rammed! Hopefully and good year for arts venues in the city as we all try to hold on to that feeling :)

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Ah here you’re going to set me off again Alan 😭 Beautiful

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Yes I think it’s about sharing. I think it’s as much sadness about being cut off from one another here as it is about the music per se. I’m so happy that so many of us are finding each other and travelling together now.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

It’s not misgivings in the sightest. It’s sadness that we were cut off from all of this and missed out on so much music and fun and shared experiences because of partition, conflict, thought policing in our own community

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Catholic friends cried too - joy, relief, lightness at being not just visible in this city but the things they love so enjoyed and celebrated. Maybe other reasons I don’t get yet. I think we all needed that so much x

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

So many of us cried their way around the Fleadh. My friend’s big sis, 50s, grade 8 in flute, was pining over a lovely tin whistle all week. Only on her her fourth visit to the shop did she work up the courage to buy it. She felt she didn’t have permission somehow. And now she loves it. Grief and joy

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Obviously you don't pause at the grief. With this realisation comes a programme of action, which is more music, more communal experiences, more craic, more disregarding the rules society told us were real. You may see a bunch of middle aged women playing the spoons outside Primark next year...

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Amidst the complete and utter joy of the Fleadh, I'm hearing Protestant friends express a real pang, or almost grief, about the parallel universe we missed out on, because we... weren't allowed, felt we couldn't? I think it's our age - sandwiched between conflict and peace.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Fuck me, the Fleadh is an emotional experience. Just beautiful to experience Belfast like this.

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Going to the Fleadh. Dundonald Park and Ride so rammed can’t even get on the Glider!

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I’m so tired I just tried to mute my dog barking with the tv remote lol

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