The unrest in Belfast and what I learned while I was there

 

     I was excited to see Belfast when I went to Ireland in 2019. I knew I wanted to go to the Titanic museum and see the city, but I had no idea what Belfast was really like. While on my tour with PaddyWagon, only 4 of us opted for the trip to Northern Ireland, so we were pretty free to ask about seeing things not necessarily scheduled. Our driver suggested a Black Cab tour once we got to Belfast because it was the best way to learn about the more recent history of the city. We all agreed and set off on our tour.

     The driver was a local and very knowledgeable. He told us about all the problems back in the 60s when there were frequent bombings on both sides and what the problem stemmed from. While most people think it was a religious war, that wasn't the main problem. The  key issue was the consitutional status of Northern Ireland. Protestants were Unionists and wanted to remain a part of England, Catholics were largely Irish Nationalists who wanted Northern Ireland to be free like the rest of the country. Both sides were bombing and shooting at each other over those years until it all came to a head on Bloody Sunday Jan 30, 1972 when British soldiers shot 26 civilians during a protest march in Derry..  We all remembered the stories from that time, but of course being in America all we heard about was the bloodshed and Catholics and Protestants were fighting. I know I certainly didn't truly understand why.  There is a "peace"  wall erected between the two parts of the city - the Catholic side and the Protestant side. The wall was erected to stem the bloodshed and keep the warring factions apart. It was hard for us to understand how it could happen. 

 The wall still stands with large gates separating the two sides. On the weekend, only one gate is left open for people to go into the other area at 10 am Sunday and it closes at 3pm. It opens again at 6:30 am Monday morning along with all the other gates so people can get to their places of employment and closes again at 6:30 pm. 

     Our driver first drove us around the Catholic area and explained when the city started to build housing projects in Belfast, the Catholic side only got housing where they had a communal bathroom in a building outside of their housing. Since many families lived in these buildings, it was difficult for all. It reminded me of the council housing in Poplar, London as they initially had the same type of housing (If you watch Call the Midwife, you will know what I am talking about.) Meanwhile, on the Protestant side of town, the housing was clearly much better and each home had its own bathroom. The stores were nicer, the parks were nicer- and the Catholics could feel the the slight for sure. I need maybe to back up a little into Irish history here. Ireland was colonized by England and in the 1600's they sent Protestant families from Scotland and England into Ireland to take over the land and make ''plantations" which were clearly better for the  poor Irish Catholics who couldn't take care of themselves. The biggest settlement was in the area we now call Northern Ireland which is still under the rule of England. The two largest cities, Belfast and Derry had many of the same problems. The ruling English were called Orangemen and still are. Derry/Londonderry is a walled city where they also have a Catholic side and a Protestant side. I visited there as well, but that's for another day. Of course most of you know how hard the Irish fought for their independence, but at the treaty made with the English in 1921, they had to concede Northern Ireland to the English. The rest of Ireland is a free state and country of its own. 

This is  the Catholic side. Then he drove us to the Protestant side and there really was a difference!  I guess problems like segregation happens more than we would like to admit. 

They built the Peace wall to keep the two neighborhoods apart. It is interesting to see all the paintings on the wall. Initially they were all Irish oriented. Now they showcase places that still hold people down. You may not agree with all the places they paint their artwork for, but you certainly understand the meaning behind it all. 

     When I was there, I could fell the undercurrent of anger running through the city, it was that palpable, so it doesn't surprise me to read the recent news, but it does make me sad. Will we ever learn to respect each other and our differences. I think of my family coming here from Germany, Italy and Ireland. I am a third generation American. It was not easy for any of my immigrant families to get their toe hold in America and create good lives for themselves and their descendants. There was prejuduce - the old "No Irish need apply" , kids calling my older cousins dirty Nazis during WWII. Did you know they had internment camps for Germans here in America during that time? Most people don't because all they ever heard about were the camps for Japanese people. And the Italians in Little Italy in Manhatten, poorest of the poor eking out a living as shoemakers, tailors, barbers. I think every immigrant who ever stepped foot in America had to come here, learn a new language, send their kids to school to learn to read and write in English, and they were grateful for the opportunity, but prejudice of all types carves out a place to gain a foothold and we as people can be so blind to it.