Public give their views on Belfast Twelfth, 2024

Transcript

00:00We had a great day. This is Kingsley. It's his first Twelfth today.

00:03Hello Kingsley.

00:04He has an older brother, Freddie, running about somewhere with his daddy.

00:07But yes, we had a great day, didn't we?

00:09It was great fun.

00:10Tell me this, what does the Twelfth mean to you fundamentally?

00:14Well, I'm actually not from here.

00:17So I'm from Inneskillen, but their daddy's from up East Belfast direction.

00:20So the Twelfth is very important for tradition and stuff like that.

00:25So we're actually a mixed family, but we like keeping in with both sets of traditions.

00:29So we go to St. Patrick's Day and then we go to the Twelfth as well,

00:32just so they understand their culture on both sides.

00:35Oh, right enough.

00:36It's the greatest event of such type I have ever had.

00:44Did it surprise you how big it is?

00:46Yes, yes. I'm totally surprised how long and how big it is.

00:54It's a day of family. It's a day of being together.

00:59It's just amazing. Amazing.

01:01We've done it for over 40 years, four different generations,

01:06and we wouldn't miss it for a little.

01:08And why come all the way over to Belfast from Scotland for it?

01:11Because this is where the atmosphere is.

01:14This is the atmosphere.

01:15And you say you've loads of generations here.

01:17Do you mind if I spin around and show people?

01:19Yeah, absolutely.

01:22This is a new one.

01:23There's the tiny new one.

01:28And what fundamentally does the Twelfth mean to you?

01:31Well, I've always been very interested in history,

01:35and my grandfather fought in the First World War,

01:42and he was with the 9th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles.

01:46So I've always been a strong supporter of the military things

01:51and what they do and what the lads have done in the past.

01:54And I sort of see this as sort of a military event.

01:58And fundamentally, what does the Twelfth mean to you?

02:02Well, I think that the Twelfth symbolises the fact that

02:07a significant proportion of the population in Northern Ireland

02:12still view themselves as part of the United Kingdom

02:16and would like to remain so in the future.

02:20And it's a way of celebrating that.