Alf McCreary

Trump’s clash with Pope Leo sparks claims of blasphemy and a wider attack on Christianity’s role in public life

The near-capacity audience at the Ulster Hall on Friday night was given an unexpected treat when Barry Douglas surprisingly took to the stage as the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, in place of the scheduled soloist Alim Beisembayev who was unfortunately indisposed through illness.

International travel used to be more enjoyable, before potential passport woes came into operation, writes Alf McCreary

The Ulster Orchestra ended its 2025/26 season memorably with music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Strauss and Edward Elgar, in a well-filled Ulster Hall on Friday evening.

Classical pianist prepares to return to Co Down festival during a year of special anniversaries

We still have a long way to go, writes Alf McCreary, but there’s so much good about Northern Ireland

Rite & reason: Presbyterian Church in Ireland is still under scrutiny by the Police Service of Northern Ireland

When I was growing up in the border area of south Armagh as a “Presbyterian/unionist” by accident of birth, I had no idea that, many years later, I would be enthusiastically welcoming the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to Belfast for the first time.