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As part of her original story submission Mollie surveyed 100 young people across Northern Ireland as she thinks it is important that all range of voices are represented. She says her research indicated that 73% of those questioned say the troubles still impact on their lives, despite the fact they were born post-Good Friday Agreement.
Mollie says music is her lifeblood; she loves to listen to “anything but country” and thinks music plays a unique role in connecting young people and different communities in Northern Ireland –a legacy of the 1970s punk scene which “created a non-sectarian common-grown for young people to come together to express themselves through music rather than violence”.
“It can be tough growing up here but the Northern Irish music scene is a tight knit community that offers a safe space for teenagers to come and freely express themselves. Nobody cares where you’re from when you’re lost in a crowd. “
Mollie says going to gigs allows people to “just experience music and be yourself” and as a consequence it helps breaks down barriers. She says she was sheltered from the history of the Troubles growing up – when she saw a Union Jack flag on a poster when she was 10 she thought it was to do with Britain’s Got Talent – but the older she has got the more she thinks people don’t realise tensions remain, often unconsciously. Mollie’s interest in music isn’t about producing or performing personally but experiencing it, and supporting others to do the same. She always loved to listen and go to gigs but become directly involved in the business of music when she applied to be part of a project run through the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast.
The award-winning enterprise and mentor programme offers a group of 14-19 year olds access and insights into the live music industry and to develop the skills to plan and produce their own live music events. It gave Mollie an opportunity to get hands-on – from gig promotion to stage management to sound engineering –working with a team of people she’d never met before. The team formed a close bond and for Mollie “they’ve become friends for life”. After the 12-month project finished for her she continued as a mentor to support future cohorts and is doing an OCN qualification in Events alongside her GCSEs and A levels.
Over the last ten months Mollie has really missed live music –she used to go to gigs 2-3 times a week. She worries about the long term impact of lockdowns on entertainment venues and allowing young people to meet and integrate: “The threat to the arts that coronavirus has caused has motivated me to tell this story now as I have seen first-hand how it is a lifeline for teenagers and how important it is that young people have access to the arts.”