Happy families!
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, his mother and grandchildren have taken part in a unique initiative to highlight the importance of family.
By Ciaran O’Neill
Mr McGuinness, his mother, Peggy, and his five grandchildren recently posed for a photography on Derry’s Walls which will be go on display as part of an exhibition being launched in Belfast this week.
Many other well-known people from throughout the North took part in the project which was organised by Help the Aged to mark 21 years of its work in the region.
Amazing, during the McGuinness photoshoot, it emerged that Mrs McGuinness, who has lived in the Bogside for most of her life, had never actually been on Derry’s Walls.
The photographs by local photographer John Harrison were specially commissioned by Help the Aged in Northern Ireland to celebrate the importance, diversity and strength of family relationships to society.
The exhibition will open at Ormeau Baths Gallery on Wednesday and there are plans to bring it to Derry later this year.
Among the other personalities who posed with members of their family were Liam Neeson, Eamonn Holmes and Ian Paisley.
Rosemary Kelly, Chairman, Help the Aged in Northern Ireland said the pictures showed familiar faces in settings very different to that in which people are used to seeing them.
“This is no longer the First Minister, but a doting grandfather in his study with his grandsons, nor the Hollywood superstar, but a son visiting home, and out to dinner with his proud mother.
“While this exhibition includes what might be described as “older celebrities”, through our work we see on a daily basis hundreds of older people who play a valuable and vital role in their local communities, without recognition.
“We hope that, after viewing this exhibition, people will take time to consider and remember the contribution older people make to our society.”
