Stevie Mc Girr

Townsend Enterprise Park – member profile The ‘peace line’ that runs between Belfast’s famous and polarised Falls and Shankill Roads is the location for Townsend Enterprise Park (TEP). The enterprise park model is a familiar one, providing, as they do, affordable units for lease to help entrepreneurs pre -start, start and grow their businesses. Townsend is no different in this respect, however the story of where they came from and, more importantly, where they are going to, is unique. The organisation was formed in 1987, at a time when the Troubles still raged and the gates at the end of Townsend Street were closed at dusk to prevent the free passage of paramilitary gangs to and from both communities. Today in 2017, the gates are still closed every evening at the request of the residents of both the lower Falls and lower Shankill, despite the passing of nearly 20 years since the ceasefires. It seems that old wounds run deep and neither community can trust its counterpart to desist from aggressions. And yet, there, despite it all, Townsend Enterprise Park strove to economically regenerate the area, provide employment and promote social cohesion. The peace line itself is only one part of the story though. TEP is built on the site of the old Soho turbine foundry, established in 1838 by one Robert Shipboy McAdam, an industrialist and polymath who spoke thirteen languages and founded the Ulster Gaelic Society. His devotion to Gaelic culture was seemingly at odds with his loyalty to the British Crown, but McAdam's proclivities were beyond orange and green and he was active in societies dedicated to arts and philosophy, was one of the founders of the Belfast Museum, and edited the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. McAdam therefore, with one of his feet in Irish culture and the other in British culture, could be said to metaphorically bestride Townsend Street and has become a totem for TEP’s future plans. Townsend’s present reality is one of economic success – there are currently over 300 people employed in the park and businesses are, largely, sustaining themselves. In fact, the employment network it has created extends far beyond west Belfast, with some tenants commuting over forty miles each morning. It’s unclear how many local people make up those numbers, but there is no denying the impact that TEP has had on the area. As noted by current CEO Margaret PattersonMcMahon: “What would be here if the enterprise park wasn’t?” Nevertheless, Margaret wants to engage both local communities more directly and is considering the production of a newsletter to promote that concept of social cohesion through economic regeneration. Indeed, the future of TEP includes the involvement of everyone who lives, works and prays in the area. Next door is Townsend Street Presbyterian Church, a landmark Belfast building, the trustees of which are on the board of TEP. Just across the Falls road in Albert Street is the catholic cathedral of St Peter, whose trustees are also on the board of TEP. At one end of Townsend Street is the Welcome Centre, an organisation that provides services for people affected by or at risk of homelessness, and whose trustees are on the board of TEP. Margaret’s aspiration is to redevelop the memorial hall which is adjoined to the Presbyterian church as well as the old national school building, located at the back of the church. This fine old nineteenth century schoolhouse has many of its original features intact (miniature chairs!) and has recently benefited from a roof restoration. Its only tenants at present are the Divine Healing Ministries and a church group that gives coffee and conversation to the aged, but its many rooms (including the old assembly hall, replete with wooden room divider) could potentially host seminars and concerts and provide a home for community organisations. The memorial hall would function as a gateway to the complex, with an exhibition centre featuring the achievements of McAdam and reminiscences of the times when the hall was an army barracks; as well as a ‘Peace Line Café’ staffed, potentially, by service users of the Welcome Centre. At the Falls Road end of Townsend Street lies an anonymous stretch of green space , the transfer of which is being negotiated from the Department of Infrastructure to the ownership of the enterprise park. Currently, the land is used only by local youths for an annual bonfire every August 8th, so the building of community gardens on this space would likely be widely supported, not least by the residents of the lower Falls as well as the staff and service users of the Welcome Centre. It is hoped that this will be facilitated by the NI Executive’s Community Asset Transfer policy, whereby land or buildings formerly owned by the state may be transferred to community ownership, sometimes for a nominal fee, possibly even for peppercorn rent. In the absence of any community rights legislation though, as exists in Scotland and in England, this policy can be hit-or-miss: the success of any transfer is dependent on the will of the various departments of the devolved government which still retain the power to prevent a proposed transfer and put the asset on the open market. Notwithstanding the transfer of the green space, TEP is intent on capitalising on both its own success and on Belfast’s booming tourist industry. Each day, Margaret watches a near-constant stream of black taxis pass her office window as they bring visitors on one of the many murals/Troubles history tours available in the city. The gates at the Shankill Road end are still locked all weekend, unless special permission is granted for church activities; the church itself is closed most of the week. “Imagine this was Barcelona or Milan,” Margaret muses, “a building like this would be open round the clock.” She envisions a day when those tourists could stroll down a street blooming with wildflowers, look at installations detailing the rich history of the area, visit the old church and have coffee in the Peace Line Café. The hope of the respective communities of lower Falls and Shankill is that, through economic regeneration, they too are included in the story of Townsend Street.