Meet the Locals

Stuart Bailie

Stuart Bailie

An influential journalist and broadcaster, Stuart is based in Belfast, where his BBC Radio Ulster show has welcomed guests such as Radiohead, REM, Snow Patrol and Brian Wilson. Find out more.

   
Colin Bateman

Colin Bateman

Colin was born in Newtownards in County Down in 1962 but grew up in Bangor, where he attended Ballyholme Primary School and Bangor Grammar School. Find out more.

   
Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh

Born in Belfast, Kenneth was educated at Grove Primary School. Though his family left for England when he was nine, his first great success as an actor was as the title character in a BBC television production of Graham Reid’s acclaimed ‘Billy’ plays, set in Belfast. Find out more.

   
Simon Callow

Simon Callow

The British actor, author and director, Simon Callow CBE, studied at Queen’s University, Belfast, and then trained as an actor in London. Find out more.

   
Barry Douglas

Barry Douglas

An internationally renowned musician and conductor, Barry was born in 1960 in Belfast, where he attended Methodist College. He first studied music in his native city. Find out more.

   
Gavin Esler

Gavin Esler

A presenter on the BBC TV Newsnight programme, as well as on BBC World, Gavin is also an author of three novels and an account of the United States during the Clinton years, 'The United States of Anger'. Find out more.

   
Sir James Galway

Sir James Galway

'The Man with the Golden Flute' was born in Belfast in 1939. He began playing the penny whistle as a small child before switching to the flute. Find out more.

   
Ciaran Hinds

Ciaran Hinds

Ciarán began his career at The Glasgow Citizens Theatre. He has worked at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Druid Theatre in Galway and at the Gate and Abbey Theatres in Dublin. Find out more.

   
Maxine Mawhinney

Maxine Mawhinney

Now a leading presenter with BBC News 24, Maxine trained as a newspaper journalist in her native Northern Ireland, before working on radio and television for BBC Northern Ireland in Belfast. Find out more.

   
Mebdh McGuickan

Medbh McGuckian

Medbh was born in Belfast in 1950 and educated at the Dominican Convent and Queen’s University. Find out more.

   
Barry McGuigan

Barry McGuigan

Also known as the ‘The Clones Cyclone’, Barry was born just across the border in the Republic of Ireland but fought as a British boxer and became a sporting hero to the people of Northern Ireland. Find out more.

   
Katie Melua

Katie Melua

Katie Melua was born in Georgia (in the former USSR) in 1984. The family moved to Belfast, where her heart surgeon father was offered a post, when she was eight. Find out more.

   
Stephen Nolan

Stephen Nolan

One of the most popular presenters in British radio, Stephen was born in Belfast in 1973 and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Queen’s University. Find out more.

   
Glenn Patterson

Glenn Patterson

One of the foremost novelists to emerge from Northern Ireland, Glenn was born in Belfast in 1961 and studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Find out more.

   
Mary Peters

Dame Mary Peters

Mary moved to Ballymena in County Antrim with her family when she was 11 years old and Northern Ireland has been her home ever since. Find out more.

   
Nick Ross

Nick Ross

Born in 1947, Nick came to Belfast as a student to read psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, where the Nobel-Laureate Seamus Heaney was among his teachers. Find out more.

   
Zoe Salmon

Zoe Salmon

Zoe grew up in Bangor in County Down, just outside Belfast. In 1999, she won the title of Miss Northern Ireland. Find out more.

   
Raymond Snoddy

Raymond Snoddy

Born in Larne, Co Antrim, Raymond was educated at Queen’s University. A freelance journalist who writes regularly for The Independent, he was Media Editor of The Times for seven years. Find out more.

   
Duke Special

Peter Wilson

Also known as Duke Special, vocalist and pianist Peter is one of the leading alternative musicians in the United Kingdom. Find out more.

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Two customers at Belfast Welcome Centre

Belfast Welcome Centre

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Visitor Information

Visitor Information

Get some handy tips to keep you informed during your stay.

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Did you know?

London’s Sloane Square and Sloanies are named after County Down born and Belfast educated Sir Hans Sloane, the man largely responsible for the formula for chocolate bars.