Shankill Mirror

The Shankill Mirror is a free local paper that stands out from the crowd with content that includes forthright commentary on both national and Northern Ireland affairs by the editor John McVicar. It is also guaranteed to provide comprehensive reportage of the North and West Belfast area’s often turbulent news and politics, along with information on events and other items of interest. There are numerous pages of personal greetings for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and memorials with lots of pictures which is an interesting reflection of lifein the area even if you don’t live there. It is a vibrant paper and in its own way an interesting read. Apparently there is a keen following, though I notice the Shankill Mirror seems to be produced only monthly these days, a reduction of its former output.

For a hyperlocal newspaper, this isn’t a bad wee rag at all. It’s been going for years, so the people of the Shankill seem happy enough. To my knowledge, it’s run out of a room in a local community centre, which gives you an idea of the type of operation it is i. e small. It’s really what you’d expect a community paper to be: a few pages long at most and full of notices about birthdays and anniversaries. It’s nice to see this type of newspaper still surviving despite the rise of the internet.