‘Lish and Gerry at The Shrine’ is a drama based around two Northern Irish Football legends that crossed the sectarian divide in the 1940s for the love of their sport.  Elisha Scott was the Protestant manager of Belfast Celtic while Gerry Morgan was Linfield’s Catholic trainer.
Three performances of this drama by Padraig Coyle were staged in July and August in Armagh, Craigavon and Belfast.  They were a joint project by the Irish Football Association, Belfast Celtic Society and Healing Through Remembering and they followed on from the successful staging at Stormont in February.  Each performance was followed by a facilitated discussion on the issues of dealing with the past which the play brings to the surface.
These discussions were facilitated by two of Healing Through Remembering’s delivery partners, Joe Blake and David Gardiner.  The workshops not only touched on the issues raised during the play but also encouraged people from the local football community to share their stories about the good community relations work going on in the sport today.
The first of three performances took place as part of the John Hewitt summer school at the Market Theatre in Armagh as it considered the word ‘remembering’.  This was followed by a performance run in collaboration with Portadown and Glenavon football clubs at the Craigavon Civic Centre.  The last in the series was held in the more informal surroundings of the Rock Bar on the Falls Road.
All of these events have been held with support from the European Development Fund under Peace III.