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The
street traders of Belfast have for long added colour
and character to a city centre otherwise as bland
and as boring as many of the politicians planted in
its heart in the City Hall. They may not have the
legendary status of the street traders of Moore Street
Dublin or Albert Cuyp Street in Amsterdam but Joe
Kerr and those who ply their trade in our midst have
made their mark and it is evident from those who call
out to them as they do their business that they are
popular with the public.
Just
before Christmas I came across a friend standing at
his stall just outside Primark. He was freezing and
had his hands burrowed deep into the pockets of his
coat. ‘You’ll have to take them out to give
the punters change’ I commented to him. ‘Sure,
every thing’s a pound so they can take what they
want and throw their money on the stall’ he replied.
As if to mock him, a customer bought two sheets of
Christmas wrapping paper and gave him a twenty pound
note. The hands came out of the pockets as quickly
as a lizard’s tongue to claim his reward. ‘Have
to live’ was his parting shot before turning
to address another would be buyer.
Having
to live by working on the streets is deep grained
with some of Belfast’s stall holders. In Joe
Kerr’s family the tradition of street trading
runs back to 1968. How many times I wondered did his
relatives have to grab what they could and run to
escape one of the many bombs that blitzed the town
for the most of the early 1970s? How frequently were
those other occasions when they just stood there complacently
and risked their lot due to being so used to the bomb
warnings coming in only for the explosion never to
materialise.
Today,
the street traders still have to run but it is no
longer to evade the bombs, but the batons of the RUC
or PSNI, whatever you care to call them. Hugh Orde’s
men and women, it seems, are prepared to adopt a zero
tolerance policy towards street traders while ignoring
others elsewhere visibly trading in hard drugs. I
had earlier asked one of the street traders if any
of their number would speak to The Blanket.
He directed me to Joe Kerr, saying ‘Joe is a
good speaker’. He was right about that, Joe was
nobody’s fool. When I approached and asked him
if he was willing to talk with us he gave me a quizzical
look. I sheepishly produced a press card which left
him even less impressed. His expression conveyed a
feeling that the press were hardly going to take an
interest in their plight. I explained that I was not
‘the press’ but would like to let them have
their say. He agreed to talk.
Wearing
a Street Traders Against Closure badge as he spoke
with me, he described how his late father campaigned
on behalf of street traders to be left alone. Now
he was in a similar position. The traders, he stated,
are desperately trying to secure licenses so that
they can carry on with their business without fear
of being hauled off to the cells and possibly given
a ‘tanking’ by some ‘peeler’ eager
to work off his frustrations on some shackled victim.
He pointed out that a new Act had been given the government
assent last April and was supposed to lead to the
handing out of licenses by the 1st of October last.
‘But nothing happened and we are still waiting,
still being hassled, still having our merchandise
confiscated and still fearing the baton over the head
if we do not move on quickly enough’.
To
underline his point Joe referred to the previous Saturday
when the RUC had attacked the street traders. Explaining
how the force, not renowned for its record on human
rights, had waded into the stall holders, Joe claimed:
this
is not Ardoyne, the Short Strand or Garvaghy Road
where this type of thing might appear a run of the
mill every day event. It baffles me how Hugh Orde
can send his men in here fully equipped with riot
gear to beat street traders into the ground when he
is complaining every other day if the week about not
having enough resources to chase after the people
he says are causing the biggest problems in this place
at the minute. Imagine having the riot squads tear
up and down Royal Avenue after a few street traders
out doing a day’s work when there is so much
else they could do. Makes you wonder what the priority
really is.
Referring
to the riot that had taken place after the cops had
moved into aggressive mode Joe said ‘unfortunately
it was started by guys who have never sought a license.’
This causes immense problems for the street traders.
Up to now 70, 000 members of the public have signed
the petition to back the traders.
When
I put it to him that perhaps local representatives
particularly at council level with experience of working
class communities could lobby on behalf of the traders,
Joe was hard pressed to conceal his contempt. He pointed
out that politicians have been complaining that the
traders have not been paying rent or rates. ‘We
have been campaigning from the 1st of October 2002
to be allowed to pay the things. We will not stop
campaigning until the most us get a license.’
He
argued that DUP proposals on the matter were not put
forward to help the traders but to make it more difficult
for them. ‘They did not even want to speak to
us. The DUP and the UUP were having a rattle against
us.’ He spoke of approaching both parties on
Lisburn Council. Gary McMichael of the then existing
UDP came to see them but displayed a ‘nothing
to do with me attitude.’ Sue Ramsey and Tom Hartley
of Sinn Fein were also approached and their attitude
seemingly was no different. Joe said he ‘pulled
Hartley in a cry for help but got the brush off.’
His attitude to Sinn Fein was that ‘they have
lost the passion that they used to have and that helped
put them where they are today.’
A
week or so later, by chance, I met Tom Hartley in
the town and asked him how he felt about the claims
of the street traders. He explained that the matter
was effectively outside of the council’s hands
and had been legislated for at a more senior level.
I asked him had he brushed people off who went to
seek his assistance. He looked at me as if he was
weary but explained ‘you know I do the work on
the ground and will listen to anybody who comes to
me. But like everybody else in this city I don’t
have to take abuse on the streets nor have claims
thrown in my face that Bobby Sands died for nothing.
Being civil in these things goes a long way.’
He seemed genuine about it and having watched him
pound the streets in the rain trying to get people’s
drains fixed nowhere near election time, I could not
dispute his commitment to helping his community. And
while I could never see eye to eye with him on political
matters, I have always found him tolerant and willing
to listen.
But
my personal liking and respect for Tom Hartley aside
clearly, the gap between those in elected office and
the street traders remains considerable. Growing visibly
angry at the sense of betrayal experienced from local
politicians Joe Kerr hit out at what he felt was their
cynicism:
We
want the politicians to come forward and speak out
on this matter. There have been occasions when I have
raised this issue with some politicians only to be
dismissed with a ‘we do not need your vote gibe’.
Belfast city council have wasted about one million
pound of the tax payers money in trying to clear us
off the streets. The same tax payers are coming here
and signing our petition and buying our stuff. Do
they not have the sense to realise that they could
save themselves that million quid and on top of that
tax us and then put it into doing something useful
for this city such as building better community services
in the deprived areas. It is a class issue and that
crowd down the street in the City Hall don’t
give a damn.
Emphasising
the theme of class Joe dismissed any suggestion that
the matter could be viewed as either nationalist or
unionist. ‘If we want to label it anything we
can label it class.’ He was adamant that there
is a concerted attempt being made by those who have
the capital to drive working class people off the
streets. ‘They tried to do the same thing in
Dublin and parts of England - drive the traders off
the streets. Traders protested in Glasgow city centre
for two years to get a license. We will do the same
if necessary.’
Throughout
our exchange a steady flow of well wishers stopped
to sign a petition perched on Joe’s stall. He
turned at me as the customers began to gather in greater
numbers. Deciding that he could not leave his female
colleague to manage on her own he made his concluding
comment:
You
see the multinationals and their wealthy friends want
to run this city, People come to us because they can
get a wee bargain which they could never afford to
pay for in the places owned by the multinationals.
We provide a service to the people of this city and
make a living at the same time. The multinationals
make a killing, care nothing for their customers and
are interested in profit. At the end of the day we
keep money in this country for the betterment of the
people who live here while the multinationals take
it out.
I
left Joe admiring the spark in his eyes. If others
were as passionate about the issues of our day and
were prepared to face those who wield batons in their
desire to suppress social justice, inequality and
poverty would be all the quicker confronted. Only
a hundred yards away the politicians pigged out on
a banquet. It may as well have been a hundred miles.
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