Wednesday, September
4
We went by bus from Dublin to Belfast. Still pretty done in
by jet lag, we planned a lighter day. After lunch and a pint we happened upon
one of the “black cabs.” These cabs runs special tours, telling the story of
“the troubles.” The legend is, most of the drivers on these tours are former members
of the IRA, so they know of what they speak. Our guide, Eugene, was a dear man,
it seemed to us. His father had been severely injured in a bombing in a pub. We
were taken to the loyalist part of town where welfare housing has been built –
in some ways like our inner city projects. There we met a colorful man by the
name of Louie, who had the gift of gab and not a little blarney. He told us
many stories and would have told us many more if we hadn't torn ourselves away.
The Irish Troubles are far more complex than I had imagined – both politically
and in terms of religious differences – and I don’t pretend to understand the
deep-felt emotion, anxiety and pain still felt by so many in Northern Ireland.
Even though there has been a truce since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the
tension in Belfast remains palpable.
In the neighborhood we visited on the Protestant side of
town, there are many murals painted on the sides of buildings, most celebrating
Loyalist “heroes” who fought to maintain British control over Northern Ireland.
Their enemies were those who were fighting for Irish self-rule. There were
militants on both sides, of course, representing many different political and
para-military groups.
On the way back to our hotel, our driver, Eugene stopped at
the Peace Wall – a 45-foot high wall that separates the Protestant and Catholic
sides of Belfast. Thousands of people have written prayers and messages of
peace on the gate and the wall, which runs nearly four miles through the middle
of town.
 |
| School girls in Belfast |
 |
| Sampling the fare in one of Belfast's many pubs |
 |
| Mural in a Protestant neighborhood |
 |
| One of the peace walls |
 |
| Eugene and his cab "Lily" |
 |
| Botanical Gardens, Belfast |
 |
| The Crown Pub |
So jealous of your ice cold Harp. Harp is one of my favorite beers, but in the States we can only get the version brewed in Canada using the Irish recipe...not the same.
ReplyDelete