[4] [5] He joined Alan Warner, Professor of Anglo-Irish Literature, who moved from Magee College in Derry.
They were joined by the poets James Simmons (editor of The Honest Ulsterman), Andrew Waterman, Bill McCormack and other writers such as Tony Bareham, Mary Jones, Bridget O'Toole and the Russian scholar Michael Pursglove.
Others who developed work in media and drama included Des Cranston, John Izod and Ken Ward.
This included Gerald Dawe,[7] Brian Keenan, Brendan Hamill, Anne Devlin, and Aodán Mac Póilin, the Irish language activist.
They were joined by writers from England including Colin Duriez, Peter Pegnall and Paul Wilkins.
This cluster initiated a lively literary scene including regular poetry nights in local bars[8] and more formal readings by such poets as Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon.
[17] Although not as formalised as the Belfast Group[18] the people associated with the cluster supported each other during the early years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Living away from the centre of the Troubles in Belfast and without the constraints of a more established institution this group was able to build its own momentum.
[19] Jones published a novel titled Resistance (Blackstaff, 1980) which won the Welsh Arts Council Fiction Prize.
[23] Dawe became Professor of English at Trinity College Dublin[24] while Mac Póilin became Director of the ULTACH Trust and published several books on various aspects of the Irish language, literature and culture.