Prior to joining forces with his brother William, and his pal Kevin, Tom worked for ten years in cross-community art projects in city as a means for getting two communities to understand one another. He was a pioneer in field. Tom says: "Our society has done incalculable harm to our natural pride and sense of self-worth. Christianity addresses this." Tom has completed many murals in city that depicted life, as it existed a long time ago. He called these `heritage murals'. They were made for schools, hospitals and community centers.

Tom is a fine singer and musician and has produced Wellspring's one and only CD, a compilation of well-known Irish gigs and a few original numbers from Wellspring's composers.

WILLIAM Tom's older brother William Kelly also worked in England. First he went to Queens University after a formal education at St.Columbs College. St.Columbs incidentally boasts no less than TWO Nobel Prize winners - Seamus Heaney and John Hume. Renowned playwright Brian Friel was also educated there.

William decided to leave uni and went to Carlisle, England, to work as a Post Office counter clerk, which lasted a year. His intention was to `grow up'. "Happily, I failed," he says.

Teaming up with his brother Tom and Kevin to form The Bogside Artists was a natural progression. William likes to read and paint and has little time left for anything else. He is married and spends his time between Australia and Ireland. _________________________________________________________ _

3. ON THE GRAPEVINE

Sad days for some in Derry. The old stalwarts who were in regular receipt of funding from Derry City council have been axed this year. The purse strings are tightening. We, of course, have never received a penny and it seems that this time around, our "chances are very slim" according to one official. We are shocked, of course. __________________________________________________________

4. OUR DIARY

Recently we have organized our group along more professional lines with a management committee and everything. That means, when we apply for funding, we might conceivably be taken seriously. In meantime, we concern ourselves with our next murals. The first of these will begin at end of May. There will be three more in toto, and you can follow our progress with all three. You can be sure that this section of our newsletter will gradually take pre-eminence over all others. _________________________________________________________

So now you know all about us! Our intention is to complete remaining three murals for Bogside. It will be an open-air gallery, unique of its kind. Our Newsletters, of which this is first, will keep you informed of our progress; and in "Diary" section especially, you will read about bizarre and wonderful events that unfold, as we go about making our murals......because what actually happens to The Bogside Artists, on a day to day basis, is a helluva lot funnier than anything we could make up. Also, we will be able to post photos taken in situ on our Newsletter so that you can get a real intimation of what it is like to work as a muralist in Derry! On that promising note, I bid you adieu and wish you, on behalf of Tom, Kevin and myself, a very happy day. _________________________________________________________

5. USEFUL WEBSITES

www.derrycity.gov.uk, Spartan in contact info.

www.derrycityfc.com, Derry's soccer site, all you ever

wanted to know about Derry's football squad but were afraid to ask. Up to minute.

www.geographia.com/northern-ireland/ukider00.htm, useful links to all things Northern Irish.

http://www.donegalnews.com, has that little village life content. BIG things happen in Donegal, mostly to fish.

http://www.irishroots.net/Derry.htm, for those seeking their biological origins all over Ireland. Derry's genealogy center is based in Heritage Building where The Bogside Artists have exhibited.

http://www.cityofderryairport.com, simple and to point giving visitor what he needs to know and well presented with good flicks. Flights to Dublin, London, Glasgow, Manchester, Majorca etc.

http://www.derryvisitor.com, good plug for town. I should say "city"; but Derry will never be a "city" as such, we hope! To Derry "wans", it'll always be a town. _________________________________________________________

Elsewhere in Our Troubled World

In Pakistan UN envoys are sent to monitor elections. But at verge of losing, President Musharraf orders to have investigations stopped and, not long after, declares himself winner.

In Bangladesh, government decides to send out an army to stamp out increasing crime in country. Their targets: not criminals, but opposition leaders. The country’s crackdown on crime is accused of being nothing more than a form of state terrorism directed at political parties.

As for our friends, Germans, their Prime minister, Gerhard Schroeder wins an election after one of his ministers artlessly compares George W. Bush to Adolph Hitler. Is it tactless comparison that is more shocking here, or extremity of measures taken by politicians to appeal to their otherwise disenchanted populations?

All around world, voter turnouts are decreasing, as is trust in government—except of course in Iraq, where Saddam and his lovable thugs are able to tactically coerce people to vote by stamping their blood on ballots. But Iraq’s kingdom-come aside, recent trends bring about great speculation about ‘Third Wave’ and how prepared countries are for democracy.

In that respect it seems as if West is willing to sacrifice quality for quantity. The more countries convert to democracy, more its proponents can boast of its promise, and easier it is to access and do business with these countries. Few will admit that majority of these ‘Third-Wavers’; these newly democratized nations are anything but democratic.

Closer to Home

It seems as if world of politics is completely devoid of trust if even world’s most successful democracy, good old United States, is having its share of troubles.

In shadow of United State's chaotic presidential elections of 2000, Russia's Communist party made a sarcastic offer to send election monitors to Palm Beach to help with Florida’s troubled mid-term elections. The same joke was voiced by Albanians and by none other than Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. However, what was once a joke has now become a reality. America has accepted offer.

The first delegation of poll monitors ever assigned to analyze an American election arrives in United States and among its staff are Russian and Albanian representatives.

Their goal is to evaluate whether or not Florida’s mid-term elections meet international democratic standards.

This same team of ‘democracy-police’ have previously monitored French elections, and now United States, after which they will pay Turkey a little disciplinary visit.

Some would say this event is justice for all countries that have been lectured by Washington in past about their electoral processes.

Others would say maybe we could all learn a thing or two from Mugabe and Saddam’s perfectly silenced masses.

The Reality

No corner of earth is without a democracy in distress.

Those of us who are lead to believe that world is rapidly reverting to democracy have been deceived. Most of these new democracies are haunted with previous histories of communism or civil war and marred by poverty and social inequality. Under these conditions, transition to democracy is quite impossible. Inasmuch as there are institutions promoting democracy all over world, there are few that promote economic and social stability that makes democracy possible.

Why are they telling us that stage has been set for democracy when all around world less people are inclined to vote and more people are distrustful of their leaders? This year certainly speaks for itself. Across globe, elections have proven to be nothing more than theatrical—Saddam’s one hundred percent vote; Serbia’s no-shows; Mugabe’s self-imposed landslide victory.

As for third wave—maybe, just maybe somewhere beneath ocean of falsities, real wave is brewing.