Belfast

Trip Start Jul 25, 2008

Trip End Sep 18, 2008

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Flag of United Kingdom Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Thursday, August 14, 2008

We woke to a drizzling Irish morning and from the hotel window we overlooked the Lagan River out to the red brick houses that stand shoulder to shoulder in the old areas. Belfast is surrounded by a series of hills, thought to be the inspiration for Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and you can just see Gulliver lying on the hills tied down by the Lilliputians. Ireland's first settlers touched down near modern day Belfast around 9,000 years ago, just as the melting ice caps separated the island from the British mainland. It has been the centre of so much violence over the years but now seems to be enjoying continual peace although the taxi driver said everybody likes a march or a riot and kids text each other to meet for a clodding - throwing stones at each other. The 1997 cease-fire and 1998 Good Friday agreement have given Belfast security. We hired a black taxi tour and headed off to see Belfast. First he took us past the Harland & Wolff Shipyard where the two giant cranes stand over 90 meters high. These two giant yellow cranes called Samson and Goliath, loom over what was once the world's biggest shipyard. Titanic's story begins here where she was designed and built. Thompson Dock is the final place where the celebrated RMS "Titanic" rested on dry ground and birthplace to the most famous ship since "The Ark". The city was once the industrial epicenter of Ireland and still has that feel although they are turning it around to become a tourist asset. The driver then took us past the Belfast Peace line and the political murals.

Mural

The emotion, hatred and violence that must have existed here is difficult for us to understand - it is indeed a wounded city. They refer to the years of conflict as "The Troubles" as if to downplay the importance that it has had on their history and psyche. Since the onset of "The Troubles" in 1971, Nationalists and Loyalists communities throughout Northern Ireland have been divided by Peace Walls. These large stone and steel constructions were designed to protect neighbourhoods from sporadic attacks and retain a sense of peace and protection. The two areas are defined by the roads - Falls Road and Shankill Road - the main Catholic and Protestant areas in West Belfast that were the bloody battlegrounds of the "Troubles". When you see red, white and blue kerbstones, Loyalists, (loyal to Great Britain), protestant (orange) murals and Union Jacks then you are on the "Shankill". If the kerbs are green, white and gold, the flag is Irish (red hand) and the murals are Republican (catholics who want to be separate from Great Britain) you are on the "Falls" - IRA area. The Falls area has bilingual (English and Irish) street signs and were sometimes painted out so that the British army got lost. These areas are still bisected with a high wall/fence with gates that shut the one side off from the other at night. Ironically it is called the Peace Wall. There are 17 walls, but 47 walls including Derry, Portadown and Belfast. There were linen factories between the walls where people worked all day together and then went out the protestant or catholic gate to be separated at night. The murals are still very pertinent on both sides and show that the hurt of hundreds of years will not be allowed to be laid to rest. The children are still mostly sent to different schools according to religion. A mural of Bobby Sands is painted on a huge wall on the Sinn Fein offices. We took a ride on the Belfast Wheel in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. This gave us a good feel for the city centre. We had a little bit of time to drive out to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum which presents Ulster life in the early 1900's - a bit like Sovereign Hill does in Ballarat in Australia. It was interesting to see the lady weaving cloth on a loom as it would have been done. The technology to weave patterns in the cloth even then was amazing. The people here have a broad accent and at times we can't understand them, nor them us. We had dinner at Robinsons - another Famous Irish Bar but we are still to experience a good sing song.