There was a subtle but nonetheless newly palpable tension in the cab. We had just driven through the gate in the so-called “peace wall” from the Falls Road to the Shankill Road. Our driver/guide for this Troubles Tour was a Republican/Catholic. We had stopped outside the many memorials to those slain, including some time outside the offices of Sinn Fein. Our (excellent) guide had consistently referred to those on the other side of the wall as “them”. So now we were in “their” territory (Unionists/Protestants). And obvious it was. I will not bore you with a history of the terrible war in the Emerald Isle but I will say that it has not completely gone away. The wall exists physically and spiritually today. Our guide was strongly of the opinion that its temporal presence was still quite necessary to prevent bloodshed. The gate is closed at 6pm. Much was made of the slaughter and violence visited upon the Catholics by the various military and paramilitary groups, and we were moved by the stories of oppression. Depressingly, however, no mention was made of the ghastly bombing campaigns costing many lives that were waged against Britain. All those people who perished for really very little. We are informed nowadays that most sensible folk have the philosophy of live and let live.
After our tour was concluded (highly recommended by the way, and very popular) we were deposited, fittingly, at the Crumlin Road gaol in which most major politicial figures of recent times have been inmates. The gaol was decommissioned in 1996 after 150 years of use from the mid 19th century. Children of 12 were imprisoned here and some flogged. Recidivist adults were “hanged by the neck until dead” (17 in total) before being buried in unmarked graves within the prison walls. The last in the early 1960’s (like Australia). We examined the execution and corporal punishment chambers in detail. IRA and Loyalist combatants shared the same prison walls. Today these same ex-prisoners pay to do the tour that we were on apparently.
At the end of this fairly confronting morning the only conclusion for us was that there is no philosophy/creed/ideology/political stance that is worth dying for, particularly when someone else tells you it is.
We decided to wind down with a visit to the Titanic Quarter but found much of it rather too touristy for our tastes. The massive Samson and Goliath cranes of Harland and Wolf, each capable of lifting 4,000 tonnes, dominate of course. The shipyard remains active today more in maintenance and repair than building but is a far cry from the 40’s when it employed 35,000 workers.
Belfast is growing and appears vibrant but its future remains as unclear as ever. Newly reinforced calls for unification of N.I. with the Republic have followed the Brexit vote (Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, 54% vs 46%) but this seems an unlikely outcome at the moment. Loss of EU funding will hit this area quite hard we think. The only thing that is certain is change.