FOR 25 years, nationalist west Belfast was in rebellion against the status quo. Poverty, unemployment and a heavy British military presence bred a spirit of resistance. Nowhere was this more strongly reflected than in its culture. Song, music, dance and language symbolised defiance against political, social and economic conditions. They were far from innocuous forms of cultural expression. ,They challenged the very legitimacy of the State.

Sinn Fein and prominent community activists have slowly been harnessing this anger. They are attempting to move west Belfast from the margins into the mainstream and gain official support for various projects.

Sinn Fein's recently published document, A New Economic Strategy for West Belfast, is part of this, process. One of its main proposals is for a "cultural cluster" in the area. It claims that 500 jobs could be created in arts and cultural industries, together with ancillary tourism and catering facilities, if £5 million is invested in developing local assets.

"Such a strategy would, for the first time, acknowledge the rich cultural bedrock on which west Belfast rests and exploit the talents of the community to forge a new future, says Sinn Fein councillor, Mairtin O Muilleoir.

The document has been presented to the North's Department of Economic Development which is being asked, along with the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme, for funding.

The project has provoked interest. Damian Smyth, the Public Affairs Officer of the Arts Council, thinks that linking the arts to economic regeneration is a radicals idea. He is delighted that a political party is giving such priority to cultural matters. The Arts Council" is "very interested in principle" in Sinn Fein's ideas, he says.

THE main thrust of the project is to shift the cultural arts axis of Belfast from the leafy and salubrious south of the city to the west and north. It proposes to establish a "music mecca" in west Belfast. The McPeake School of Music and musicians such as Sean Maguire and Patrick Davey - the all Ireland Fleadh Cheoil uileann pipe champion - have ensured that the traditional music scene remained vibrant in the area.

But they did so against a background of official indifference, Sinn Fein claims. They are west Belfast's "Ulster Orchestra" and are entitled to the same funds as the Orchestra - over £1 million a year - it argues.

Sinn Fein is calling for the establishment of a flagship Irish language arts centre in the area. Culturlann Mac Adam O Fiaich on the Falls Road could be the basis for such a project. It already houses two theatres, a cafe, a bookshop, and Irish medium schools.

The party wants an Irish radio station set up to complement the Irish newspaper La which operates from the building. This would confirm Belfast "as the Irish language capital of Ireland" and create much needed jobs for Irish, speakers. Sinn Fein also sees job opportunities from the craftwork, of prisoners or former prisoners: "The task is to co ordinate the work of our potters, jewellers, woodworkers, leather designers, music instrument manufacturers and dancing costume makers.

"There is no reason why west Belfast can't have its own centre, of excellence for crafts, providing workspace for our craftspersons and a shop for their wares," says the document.

Some of the party's proposals, however, seem unrealistic. It suggests that a visitors' centre be set up at Bog Meadows - "one of the last remaining wetlands in an urban centre in Europe and a vital part of our environmental heritage", according to Mairtin O Muilleoir. But Bog Meadows is hardly impressive. There's a sewage works and an industrial estate beside it; a cemetery and a sprawling school behind it; and a motorway running through it.

Similarly naive is the suggestion that an outdoor activities centre be built on Black Mountain, based on existing models in County Donegal. The hills of Belfast may well have their own charms but they cannot compare with those of Donegal.

Sinn Fein also proposes that the West Belfast Community Festival be expanded, thus "providing a festival feel to the area from January 1st to December 31st". A carnival atmosphere does prevail during the annual week long festival in August. But such a mood would be impossible to sustain for a longer period in an area struggling against massive deprivation. A constant "festival feel" under such circumstances would seem manufactured and wholly artificial.

SINN Fein's cultural vision appears to be influenced by the Temple Bar model. "It is very ambitious but it would be great to have a Temple Bar in a small part of west Belfast," says O Muilleoir. "I don't think we're aiming too high. You must start somewhere and 10 years ago Temple Bar didn't have the facilities it enjoys today. Still, it's difficult to imagine even a corner of west Belfast as a warren of cobbled streets teeming with Mexican, Thai and Japanese restaurants.

Sinn Fein believes that an influx of tourists to the area will benefit trade But the spending power of visitors should not be exaggerated. In the words of one local businessman: "The typical tourist to the Falls is the back packer. They're not renowned as big spenders. They tend to sit over a pint all night and think that buying a pizza is splashing out."

Sinn Fein's demand that any jobs created in west Belfast be secure, well paid and with full union rights, will be difficult to reconcile with reality, too. Tourism based employment in any country seldom meets these criteria.

The party does admit that a flaw in its document is the absence of reference to the Shankill. "We're also part of west Belfast," says Rene Greig of Shankill Community Theatre, "and I'm very disappointed that we've been left out of the proposals."

By concentrating only on nationalist west Belfast, Sinn Fein is missing important developments across the peaceline, she says: "Our group was set up shortly after the Shankill bomb. We've been instrumental in getting local people involved in drama. We play to packed houses on the Shankill. We're just about to go on tour with a play. We're taking it to the Peacock in Dublin and to Derry, Tralee and Brighton. I'd have liked to see the Shankill included in the proposals for a cultural cluster."

The IRA's future decision on a return to violence in the North will affect Sinn Fein's proposals. There have been attempts to, "clean up" west Belfast's image since the peace process. The Provos no, longer appear on stage at open air concerts during the annual festival. Andy many wall murals of IRA gunmen have been replaced by doves and other peaceful images.

But the Troubles did arouse much curiosity about west Belfast. There is a strong possibility that if the IRA reinstates its ceasefire, and the names of places like the Falls Road and Ballymurphy gradually drop from the international media, interest in the area will decline.

There might be an increase in tourists in the first few years of peace. But, as west Belfast's notoriety disappears, so too could nay reason to visit it. The Antrim Coast and the Fermanagh Lakelands will be much more appealing.

Sinn Fein claims that demanding a £5 million investment, to create a cultural cluster is not unreasonable. It argues that the same sum is already spent on one project alone - the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, Co. Down.

The party says it is merely demanding equality of funding with projects in other areas. That could be the very reason its proposals, will appeal to the British government. By demanding parity of esteem culturally, Sinn Fein is trying to integrate nationalists, into the existing structures of Northern society rather than seeking to overthrow them. It's a considerable climb down. And there, are political advantages for the British government in financing at least some of Sinn Fein's cultural cluster" proposals. State funded projects are a most effective way of stabilising previously rebellious areas.