Staycations: Actor loves lights, cameras and action of Belfast

Actor Ciaran Bermingham recalls Belfast’s attractions, grasped in gaps between his stage and screen roles there

Ciaran Bermingham in God Bless the Child at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

There’s a particular kind of joy that comes from taking a holiday without crossing oceans or booking flights, checking that the passports are in date and that you have the correct adapter (something I usually think of when we arrive at the destination and remember that I have them stored safely in a box in the shed and that’s where I left them, then quietly curse under my breath).

For me, Belfast became home for three weeks while I worked on God Bless the Child, a play by Pat Talbot based on the writings of Frank O’Connor. The Lyric Theatre was my base, the river Lagan my daily companion.