Part of Members' Statements – in the Northern Ireland Assembly am 10:30 am ar 18 Mehefin 2024.
Luke Fields is an Aquinas student. He is also a playwright. In the past few months, Luke and a number of students across the UK entered a playwrighting competition, and, out of the 500 entries, Luke was successful. He is a former Youth Lyric pupil and has achieved enormous success. He will go to the National Theatre, where his play will be directed by an in-house director and performed by actors on stage. This is an amazing achievement for Luke — it is also testament to the young, creative talent in south Belfast — and I am incredibly proud of him.
Last night, I was at the launch of the Seamus Heaney Centre — I think that you were there too, Mr Speaker — and I was struck by how that new building, which is a tribute to one of Ireland's greatest poets, will not only be a place of learning but inspire the next generation of creatives. On Wednesday, it will have Fighting Words NI, a young creative writing programme. Children from Botanic Primary School will go to the Seamus Heaney Centre and learn about creative writing. It will inspire the next generation. As I was thinking about Luke, Seamus Heaney, Kelly McCaughrain and all the amazing writers in our city, it made me think of how important it is that we have strategic, long-term arts funding. Given that we have been able to produce such talent, imagine what more could be achieved if that funding were in place.
Congratulations to Luke. I wish him all the best for the performance of his play.