Visit to N.Ireland
While growing up in Greece during the 80's I always remember listening to horrible stories about a war that was taking place in a distant land called N.Ireland. Being interested in international history, I was always keen on visiting. Recently, with the Brexit being a few years away, we thought it might be a good idea to visit now as in a few years time we might require a visa which will
make travelling a far more complicated process. And so we did! In the Easter of 2017 we visited this much troubled part of the UK. Our base was Belfast and rented a car to explore as much as possible of the province. Of course we could not go everywhere but we visited few key places, as described below. One thing we noticed in almost every place we visited, is how well the two communities, -Republicans and Unionists- are separated. In almost every towns and village the Republicans hoist the Irish flag in their neighborhoods and the Unionists the British one. And, of course, colorful murals dot the areas most affected by the Troubles. N.Ireland is much more than the political past as the countryside is beautiful and full of rich history.
Bit of history
While growing up in Greece during the 80's I always remember listening to horrible stories about a war that was taking place in a distant land called N.Ireland. Being interested in international history, I was always keen on visiting. Recently, with the Brexit being a few years away, we thought it might be a good idea to visit now as in a few years time we might require a visa which will
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| Irish countryside |
Bit of history
N.Ireland is one of the four counties of the island of Ireland, Ulster. The other three, that form the Republic of Ireland, are Leinster, Munster and Connacht. For many centuries the whole island was part of the United Kingdom. Irish tried many times to gain their independence but were all unsuccessful. Amidst the 1st world war, they succeeded and therefore in 1921 the island was split into the Republic
of Ireland and the northern part that remained part of the UK. In Ulster (what is now Northern Ireland), the British population (Protestants) was the majority and a large percentage of the was Irish (Catholics). The two communities seem to have lived in relatively peace for some years although Catholics never enjoyed the same status as the protestants did. This caused tensions to built up. Belfast, being the capital of Northern Ireland, was the only city on the island to experience the industrial revolution and it was prosperous (Titanic was build in the famous H&W shipyards of Belfast). Catholics benefited little from this prosperity as the majority of the jobs went to protestants. To make matters worse, in order to get a public paid job, one had to swear an oath to the Crown, which few Catholics were willing to do. This led to virtually no Catholics getting jobs as policemen, judges etc.
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| Peace wall in West Belfast. Notice the lonely tree without fence. |
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| Mural in West Belfast. |
During the 1960, the whole world was changing. From the civil rights movement in the US to the May '68 events in Paris. This did not leave N.Ireland unaffected. According to many historians, the first incident of The Troubles started with the UK elections of 1964. The Catholics (or republicans or nationalists) managed for the first time to elect an MP in Westminster, Gerry Fitt. The Protestants (or unionists or loyalists) did not like that which led to the first armed conflict in 1966 when members of the UVF attacked catholic areas of Belfast killing 2 Catholics and, accidentally, a protestant woman. The catholic people, influenced by Martin Luther King, staged their own civil rights movement, demanding equality, housing and jobs. The center of those movements was the city of Derry (or Londonderry) and of course Belfast.
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| Mural in loyalist area |
The turning point was 1969, when serious rioting broke out in the Bogside area of Derry, the so called Battle of the Bogside. The rioting went on for 3 days and when it was apparent that local police could not handle the situation the British Army arrived on the island to take control. As weird as it may sound the republicans welcomed the army who thought would protected them from the aggressiveness of the unionists. Soon this changed as the army showed their real mighty. Amidst all that the IRA (Irish Republic Army) who had helped with the liberation of Ireland and had been defunct, become active again.
The next few years are marked with killings, bombings and atrocities from both the republican and unionist sides. The peak of The Troubles was 1972, when in a single year almost 500 people were killed, half of them innocent civilians. On a single day, Sunday 30 January 1972, the British Army opened fire to a peaceful march in Derry, killing 13 people. This event is known as Bloody Sunday.
The next highlight in the history of N.Ireland were the hunger strikes of 1981 resulting 10 dead
inmates, most notable Bobby Sands who was elected an MP in Westminster during the strike. Up until 1976 all IRA prisoners enjoyed a special status, similar to that of Prisoners of War (POW). After 1976 they were treated as common criminals, a status they wanted to be reverted. This is the reason that led them to start the hunger strike. The UK government, with Margaret Thatcher as a PM, at first did not satisfy those demands, but eventually gave in to all of them (the so called "Five Demands").
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| Bobby Sands |
In the years between 1981 and 1998, violence continued and was even spread outside N.Ireland, mostly to the UK,
Republic of Ireland and Germany. In the meantime British and Irish government were trying to bring all sides on the same table and end what seemed like an endless cycle of death. The government of Tony Blair, managed to achieve that and the result was the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which led to a multi-party government in N.Ireland and an agreement between UK and Ireland. Still today, among others, the agreement mentions that N.Ireland belongs to the UK until the majority of it's citizens want to unite with the Republic of Ireland. Only then, the UK government will facilitate the reunification process.
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| Mural in Derry |
In all, the violence caused throughout the years of the Troubles left almost 3500 dead and more than 45000 injured, many innocent civilians from both sides. Since the Good Friday agreement, peace has been established and the communities are working together for a better future.
Most recently, and with the Brexit closing in, questions of what is going to happen with the border or the status of the Irish citizens have emerged which might destabilize the region again. Few people I spoke with, told me that no one knows what is going to happen. One thing I read is that the EU gives more money to N.Ireland for development than the UK government does Also the region receives the second largest amount of EU funding in terms of percentage of regional GDP behind Scotland.
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of N.Ireland, the most populous city and the financial center. It is rich in tourist attractions, like the Titanic Quarter, the Ulster museum, the beautiful city Hall. Since we did not have enough days, we skipped all those and focused on the Troubles history of the city. To do that we joined one of the walking tours which took us to West Belfast, one of the areas most affected by the Troubles.
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| West Belfast |
To our surprise, there is still a huge fence separating the two communities, republicans and nationalists which is called Peace wall. It is very sad to see but this is the living history. We walked in both communities and watched the murals, some of which were too aggressive. One went as far as displaying burned bodies and comparing ISIS with Sinn Fein, one of the parties that rules N.Ireland. There was much blood and hate in the past but moving forward, those things need to be forgotten. Some parts of the fence were open but with massive gates and a buffer zone, that close every night or when there are tensions. In the buffer zone, companies operate where people of both communities can work together. The government plans to remove all fences completely by 2023.
Our walk ended in the city center which is pretty much like every other European city center, with lovely shops,
restaurants and pubs. According to our guide, this is the place that the communities come together, if only they are convinced to leave their suburbs.
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| Beautiful wall painting in Belfast |
One thing also surprised us was that we came across one of the so called Orange marches.
These are walks by Protestants commemorating the battle of Boyne in 1690, when King William III (of Orange) defeated King James II and made Ireland part of the UK. Those marches built up on the 12th of July and are much hated by the Republicans. On that day, nothing happened but they marchers where guarded by heavy police force.
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| Orange march in Belfast |
There is a lot of redevelopment going on in Belfast but still the past is difficult to forget.
Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway is the only UNESCO World heritage site in N.Ireland. It is almost an hour drive
from Belfast and a very beautiful site. It is a unique geological formation, on the cliffs of Ireland. We happen to visit on an extremely windy day which made even walking difficult. Around the cliffs few walking trails are available with a variety of difficulty levels. For those with walking disabilities there is even a shuttle bus. The views are amazing and if you happen to visit in good weather, it is well worth taking one of the longer hiking routes. Entrance to the Giant's Causeway is 10.5 pounds.
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| Giant's Causeway |
Derry
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| Famous mural in Derry |
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| The Bogside, Derry |
As mentioned in the history section above, Derry was one of the centers of the Troubles. Nowadays it looks like a peaceful town with the Catholic and Protestant communities still living separately. It is well worth visiting the Bogside where a number of beautiful murals remind of the troubled past. There are a number of walking tours available but as we arrived late in the day, we could not join any of them so we wondered alone. It is highly recommended that you join any of these as they are inexpensive (around 4pounds p.p.) and have a lot to give. Of course murals are also painted on the unionist neighborhoods too which are on the other side of the Bogside.
Derry is also famous for it's well preserved stone fortifications, which are the best in Europe! The city center, completely inside the fortifications, is very modern with lovely pubs and restaurants and good hotels.
Driving around Mourne mountains
Since we had a car, we decided to see some rural part of N.Ireland. One nice route is the coastal road around Mourne mountains, just south of Belfast. Dotted with beautiful villages and typical Irish nature, it made a pleasant drive. We started from the town of Warrenpoint, just on the border with Ireland and drove along the coast all the way to the Newcastle (apparently there are hundreds of Newcaslte's around the world, one of them in N.Ireland!). Undoubtedly, the most beautiful village along the way is Rostrevor.
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| Warrenpoint |
In between the route, we stopped frequently to explore the surroundings. Most of the time, we spent in the so called Silent Valley which is formed around the reservoir providing water to most of Belfast. It is indeed very silent and a number of walking trails can take you around the reservoir of in a dense forest right in front of the dam.
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| Rostrevor |
Our last destination before returning to Belfast was the seaside resort of Newcastle, a beautiful and busy town. What surprised us the most were the number of indoors entertainment centers for kids and the plethora of ice cream stalls and people queuing at them (it was freezing cold and rainy when we were there!).
For more pictures from N.Ireland visit my flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpahas/albums/72157681080758240
References:
- A Short history of The Troubles, by Brian Feeney, 2004
- Wikipedia
- N.Ireland and EU funding: http://bruegel.org/2016/05/northern-ireland-and-eu-funds/
- DK, Eyewitness travel Ireland, 2016
