Overview

In the Belfast Busker, the Dutch singer-songwriter/journalist Stan van Haasteren tells us about the adventures he experienced while living in Belfast. Making his money busking in the Belfast streets he learned to love, he got to know the city and its people very well. At the same time, he worked as a freelance journalist, reporting for Dutch media on the rollercoaster of developments in Northern Ireland between 1996 and 1999: the IRA ceasefire, the Good Friday Agreement, the violence surrounding the Orange Order parades, and the Omagh bombing. He describes how he was welcomed to the city by random strangers he met during jam sessions in many Belfast bars. He made some great friends, fell in love (twice), wrote many songs, played gigs in bars, lost his voice, had pellets fired through his window, and drank more than a few pints of beer. The story is full to the brim with hilarious anecdotes, insightful observations, love for Ireland, music, and politics. Desperately trying to stay neutral in a city divided by conflict, Stan often feigned ignorance. He learned that it is nearly impossible to be neutral in a city where the side you are on can't only be told by the religion you practise or the party you vote for, but also the football club you support, the jewellery you wear, the bar where you drink, the sports or musical instruments that you play, where you live, your name, and the songs that you sing. Hell, even the name of your cat can blow your cover. Returning to the 'scene of the crime' 24 years later, he notices how his own life has changed more than Belfast; even though there is peace, the city is still very much divided.

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