It has been a pleasure to watch Belfast come alive this week, with music on every corner, sessions spilling onto the streets and the city packed with people of all ages. A warm céad míle fáilte to everyone who travelled here and made the Fleadh the success it is.
None of this ran itself. Bar and restaurant staff, retail workers, council crews and Translink drivers have worked flat out all week. Many of them are surviving on the lowest wages in the city. With at least £50 million pouring into the local economy, the very least they are owed is a gratitude payment for their hard work.
This week has also proven something. For years we've been told pedestrianising the city centre is impossible and late-night buses can't be run. Right now, commuters are facing a fresh round of transport cuts. Yet in a single week, shuttle and late-running services appeared and the city centre belonged to pedestrians rather than cars. Capacity, space and cost were never the problem. When there is a will and money to be made, mountains move.
Look how quickly accommodation appeared once there was a profit in it. Temporary villages were built in parks in weeks, while families here wait years in hostels and people burned out of their homes in racist attacks two months ago still have no permanent roof. Homeless services were pushed out of the city centre, and rough sleepers moved on. The visible signs of poverty and deprivation have been temporarily swept under the rug, with no credible plan for eradication.
Culture here can't be a one-week showcase for tourists. It needs ring-fenced, multi-year investment, and Irish language rights delivered in full. Belfast has shown what it is capable of. The challenge now is delivering it for the people who live here all year around.