Donegall Pass
Coordinates: 54°35′42″N 5°55′23″W / 54.595°N 5.923°W
The Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.
Having previously been the home of George Chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegall, a road was first built in 1815, when it was known more commonly as the New Ballynafeigh Road before eventually taking on the name of the Ormeau Park. Ravenhill Road used to be the Old Ballynafeigh Road.
The area at the start of the Ormeau Road is not known by a single name but contains a number of features. Close to the Market Area is the Belfast Gasworks, built between 1887 and 1893 by such leading Belfast industrialists as Robert Watt, James Stelfox and John Lanyon. It remained open for its original purpose until 1988. The area has been substantially redeveloped under the Laganside Corporation and now includes a number of office buildings for companies such as Halifax The Gasworks is also home to the Radisson Blu Hotel Belfast.
Donegall Pass faces the Gasworks and at one stage represented a violent interface with the Market Area and Lower Ormeau. Over 25 yrs of work by local residents from Donegall Pass, Market and Lower Ormeau (Gasworks Community Network) has reduced this violence and is continually monitored by an unwritten agreement imposing no flag/emblem zone between Railway bridge and Ormeau Ave. The Donegall Pass has a great history and we can now see a change in the business community as the front of Donegall Pass has a plethora of Chinese shops and restaurants, Indian wholesalers, local cafe and sandwich bars. a pharmacy 2 churches, antique dealers and a newly opened auction house. The removal of the bomb blast wall and sanger at the old RUC Station has made Donegall Pass more amenable for potential investors and the opening of the footpath delivers a more amenable feeling of access. It leads on to the Donegall Road. From the 1970s Donegall Pass has been the location for immigrants from the Chinese Community and now we have the opportunity to express that 5 generations of Chinese are now living in this community. Other immigrants are also living in the community which includes Polish, Hungarian and Somalian / Nigerian families. All have now settled well and community relations in this community is stronger. Combating this growth has been one of the areas of concern of the ACT Initiative, South Belfast Alternatives, Donegall Pass Youth Club (founded 1975), other smaller community projects and Donegall Pass Community Forum, founded in 1996. It is the only residential area of this part of the Ormeau Road.
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