LET me tell you something about me and Belfast. I love this city.

I’ve had three opportunities to work and live elsewhere, but I’ve always chosen to stay.

Not out of the fear of something new, nor the upheaval involved with moving lock, stock and barrel to somewhere else. I stayed because I’ve always felt at home here.

With the bricks and mortar. With the river running through it. With the parks. With the hills above it. With Samson and Goliath greeting me every morning.

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With the daily banter. With the easy escape to beaches and the sea. With the huge changes that have swept across it since 1998.

With the memories of the buildings which once housed The Irish News, Belfast Telegraph and News Letter – all of which sent work my way down the years.

With Parliament Buildings, which is where I met my partner, Kerri, 26 years ago.

With Central Library and the Linen Hall Library. With Queen’s University and the students’ union, where I learned to play snooker properly and withstand the hoots of derision from the bar staff whenever I asked for a Pimm’s or ‘decent glass of red wine’.

With the now closed Wyse Byse shops. With Botanic Avenue and Sandy Row. With........

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