ENTERTAINMENT venues that have closed to the public tend to be gone for good. So the plan to reopen Bournemouth’s Palace Court Theatre – also known as the Playhouse – constitutes a dramatic comeback. It is 35 years since a lack of public support seemed to have brought down the curtain on the building s days as a theatre and cinema. It became a place of worship, over the objections of Bournemouth council and many supporters. Now Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has acquired the venue – a neighbour of Bournemouth’s Premier Inn on Hinton Road and Westover Road. It plans to restore the 1930s art deco building as a teaching space with performance venue, complete with 400-seat auditorium that will welcome the public as well as students.
Partition 100 Years On: James Craig – an ordinary man with an extraordinary career
As part of his series of articles on the Partition of Ireland, historian Cormac Moore outlines how, despite his undoubted strengths, Sir James Craig guaranteed a sustained reluctance by Catholics to recognise the legitimacy of the state he was instrumental in founding As a Down-born unionist, Sir James Craig, the first prime minister of Northern Ireland, had none of the doubts surrounding partition that the Dublin-born Carson had. Picture from The Bystander Cormac Moore 24 February, 2021 01:00
On becoming Ulster Unionist leader, Craig appeared to be mindful of governing for the nationalist minority but as 1921 progressed, his openness dissipated. Picture from The Sphere