Local heritage to be brought to life through inter-generational media project

Stories reflecting the rich industrial and cultural heritage of the Omagh area are being brought to life by local students through a partnership project between Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, South West College and NI Screen.

Second-year Creative Media students from South West College have been working together to research, record and produce a series of short films and podcasts capturing local stories and voices.

The inter-generational heritage project has captured stories on Desmond’s Factory, Watterson’s Shop, the Fintona Tram, St Eugene’s Brass Band, Omagh Railway, Nestles Factory and Omagh Pride.

Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Barry McElduff, recently visited the students at South West College to see final edits being made to the films and podcasts. The Chair was also given a tour of the creative media suite, observed the students at work, and took part in the technical testing and set-up for a podcast recording.

Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Barry McElduff, said:

“This partnership between our Council, South West College and NI Screen demonstrates the importance of working collaboratively to celebrate and preserve our local heritage.

By supporting students to engage with local communities and capture these stories, we are helping to ensure that our cultural and industrial history is recorded for future generations while also equipping local students with valuable skills and experience.

I really enjoyed my visit and meeting with the students. I would like to commend the students on their participation and look forward to watching the short films and listening to their future podcasts when they are launched.”

South West College student Michael McHugh, who worked on the podcast series, said:

“It was nice to see the local community take an interest in what we do at college and support us as we progress into the industry. We have been working on these projects for a number of months and are proud of what we as a class have produced.”

South West College tutor, Kirk Gilmore, added:

“We would like to thank Councillor McElduff for taking the time to come in and visit the students in the college and see first hand the skills they have been developing. These Heritage projects have been a great way of engaging students with the wider community and reminding them not everything is online. We need to work together to record our local history and voices or it will be lost.”

The students’ films and podcasts will soon be available to view and listen to via the South West College YouTube channel and the NI Screen Digital Film Archive.