Tom Kelly: The Fleadh gave us a vision of Belfast reborn through a shared love of music

A TRIP to Belfast for a break felt like a bit of a busman’s holiday, but the Fleadh was simply irresistible. I love music of all kinds, from The Beatles and Clannad to Freddie Mercury and Scott Joplin – even Kneecap or the Proms. If a pub has music on, I’m like a moth to a flame. As actor and director Kenneth Branagh said, Belfast is a city of stories. Unfortunately, some of those stories haven’t always been uplifting.It’s a city shaped by its industrial heritage, competing cultures, yarns, poetry and music, as much as its fractious past and ever-present 21 miles of peace walls infrastructure.Occasionally, the true potential of this great city is glimpsed through the hosting of events like the Giro d’Italia, the Tall Ships Festival, and now the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. Last week, Belfast