[2] Despite tensions in the city and bomb attacks on the premises by paramilitaries, many young people regularly attended shows.
Bands such as Rudi made their debut at The Harp in May 1978,[4] and Stiff Little Fingers played at the venue three times: in May, July, and August 1978.
Located on Hill Street, a stone’s throw from St Anne’s Cathedral on the north edge of Belfast city centre, and seen from the outside with its metal security grills and blacked-out windows, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a condemned building.
Terri Hooley had also described how “At a time when the religious divide in Northern Ireland was most pronounced, we had kids from both sides of the community coming together in the name of music.”[7] Brian Young, of the band Rudi, similarly recalled how “It really was the first time I can remember that significant numbers of young people from all sections and classes of the community, and from both sides of the sectarian divide, were able to meet up and get to know each other, initially drawn together by their enthusiasm for this new music and lifestyle.”[8] The Harp was regarded as a rough venue.
[9] Many local punk rock bands including The Outcasts, Rudi, Stiff Little Fingers, The Defects, and others appeared at the venue.
The BBC programme Something Else, broadcast in January 1980, carried a report on the punk scene in Belfast, which featured footage and interviews from the Harp Bar.