On the final day of Connswater Shopping Centre's existence, Ian Carr from the East Belfast Wise Men’s Sheds community group speaks about members' reactions to finding out it was for the chop, just two weeks before the axe fell. Filmed by Iain Gray, 21st March 2025.
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00:00So, Ian, you were saying that the guys you have here from the Men's Shed were disbelieving
00:05at first when this came through the door two weeks ago?
00:08Yes.
00:09How we were initially contacted was a letter was put through the front door two weeks ago
00:16on Friday.
00:17And then within a couple of hours, officials called in to say that the centre would close
00:24down on Friday the 21st of March.
00:27And that is a very short window of opportunity for anybody to react in trying to restructure
00:34to go somewhere else.
00:37Initially there was shock and awe at the speed in which the landlords expected us to leave.
00:45But now there's an acceptance.
00:47We have a temporary place to move to at the moment, but in the long term, we would probably
00:54need somewhere to accommodate all the activities and issues that the Men's Shed deal with.