3/4 BELFAST: The Troubles

Mine is not a political blog, but one cannot tour Belfast without hearing about The Troubles. I was surprised to learn that for many citizens of Belfast, the violence and bloodshed has not directly impacted on their lives. They have been able to either ignore it, or perhaps sometimes deny it. It seems that unless one has been personally involved or affected it is easy to go through life unaware of how the eyes of the world have been on Ireland and its sectarian conflicts.

First of all, I have baggage about Ireland because in September 1972, I started my first year as a teacher being told that besides Senior Literature I would have sections of Modern World Problems. "What's that?" I asked, and then, "What do I teach?" "Whatever's in the news," was the vice-principal's reply.

30 January 1972 is known as Bloody Sunday in Ireland. Fourteen were shot dead in Derry by British Soldiers. 21 July 1972 was Bloody Friday. Two soldiers and seven civilians were killed by Provisional IRA Bombs in Belfast. This was what was in the news in September 1972, so I began teaching MWP with Ireland's history and The Troubles.

Of course I knew about Ireland. I had been in the Republic in 1965--albeit unwelcome--when I arrived as a boy aboard a pulp boat in Galway--naively without a visa--and the authorities put me on a non-stop train to the Dublin ferry and thence to Holyhead in the UK. I had also studied Irish Literature with a wonderful Irish teacher at Acadia University. Family History confirmed that a great-great-great grandfather, William McHenry, had been born in Antrim--probably in Ballymena--in 1789 and became a soldier who ended up in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

(I only taught MWP for a few years. Apparently, I was not biased "correctly" when I taught about Cuba, and Mao's China, and the Middle East. I don't recall that I had a bias about Northern Ireland, and still don't.)

For those unfamiliar with the issue, let me express it as simplistically as possible: Irish Catholics have been in favour of breaking all ties with England and have supported becoming part of The Republic of Ireland in the south--hence, the Catholic Nationalists or Republicans most famously identified with The IRA--the Irish Republican Army and its several forms. There has been a long history of systemic descrimination against the minority Catholic community.

The Protestants--Loyalists or Unionists--have supported Union with England; hence, the Protestant Orangemen and associations such as the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, etc.

The political and sectarian quarrels have historically meant conflict, but these differences culminated in the modern Troubles leading to violence, bombings, murders & assassinations, riots and destruction. The Troubles arguably began in December 1965 with civil rights demonstrations in Londonderry (or L'Derry or often just Derry) and police confrontations. The August 1969 placement of the British Army on active duty in Derry and Belfast further exacerbated the tensions, leading to Bloody Sunday and Bloody Friday in 1972.

I almost didn't come to Northern Ireland this summer: I was due on 12 July--the day that Protestants celebrate the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne, with huge bonfires, recalling the triumphant entry on that date of William into Belfast. Traditionally, violence has stemmed from these provocative celebrations. This year, riots broke out in the Ardoyne district lasting several days. But once the media sensationalism subsided, it seemed clear that while sectarian hatreds and nationalistic versus loyalist sentiments were significant, some of the rioting was not so much civil unrest, but was hooliganism. Some of the participants were children and some were young men who could be seen trying to impress their spectator girlfriends with their bravado.

Nevertheless, the violence and the pain have been vicious and traumatic. 3,700 people have died since 1965, with over 2,000 as a result of bombs or murders by the IRA. There have been 50,000 explosions. One of the worst moments of violence was as late as 15 August 1998, with the Omagh Bombings, in which 29 were killed by a Real IRA bomb. Protestants have also killed and maimed innocents, too. The Troubles have been horrific times for those affected.

I walked among their old haunts, the home ground where they bled;
And in the dirt lay justice like an acorn in the winter
Till its oak would sprout in Derry where the thirteen men lay dead.

-from The Road to Derry, by Seamus Heaney

Belfast is a divided and segregated city. Essentially, the west is Catholic, the east is Protestant but there are pockets or enclaves of sectarian neighbourhoods. The north is volatile, too. Everywhere one goes the tourist sees the sectarianism, famously captured in the hundreds of wall murals. It is only quite recently that buses have returned to some sections of the city, and many visitors are still hesitant to go to certain areas without knowing exactly where they are. Some murals celebrate the heroism of Belfast soldiers in World War I, such as this one in honour of the East Belfast Protestant Boys in 1914.

A mural (just visible) for the Red Hand Commandoes, and the abundance of the Union Jack will make it crystal clear which neighbourhood the visitor is in.

Many murals advocate Peace, a sure sign of Hope.

Freedom Corner, on the Protestant Newtownards Road, below, is one of the most famous Loyalist murals.

The Europa Hotel, Belfast's ritziest, is also "the most bombed hotel in Europe." According to Wikipedia, the Provisional IRA bombed it 33 times between 1972 and 1994.

The infamous Divis Tower overlooks the Catholic Falls Road Area. It is a hated symbol, since the British Army commandeered top floors to use as a military lookout point early in The Troubles. The Army helicopters coming and going were provocative to the Nationalists.

One of the most famous Republican murals is on Falls Road and is constantly changing to embrace separative and nationalistic global issues. For many years the only way to see Falls Road was in one of the so-called "Black Taxis" which provided tours. Buses were the target of bombs.

When we were young and foolish in university, we once consulted with Raúl Castro, who invited us to come to Cuba to pick sugar cane, as Venceremos. We like to say that we were not permitted to go by the Canadian authorities, but I suspect that for college-aged hippies there may have been an element of laziness keeping us from "putting our money where our mouths were!"

In 2010 an open-air tour bus can stop by the mural and let us take photos. That might mean that things are calming done--I did not feel uneasy anywhere in Belfast at all, although I was shocked by the segregation.

This is a Republican Memorial Garden on Falls Road. (I know buses do stop here, but ours did not.) On some Catholic houses were plaques proclaiming that someone from that home had died in The Troubles.

Arguably, the most important Republican mural, on the side of the headquarters of Sinn Féin, the oldest Nationalist Party in Ireland.

The mural is of Bobby Sands, an Irish Volunteer with the Provisional IRA who was elected an MP to the UK Parliament whilst leading the 1981 hunger strike. He died in HM Prison Maze on 5 May 1981. His politicization was in part of his family being forced to move from their homes in Abbotts Cross and Rathcoole (Newtonabbey) because of Loyalist intimidation--a common Loyalist tactic of the time. His martyrdom received international media coverage and greatly enhanced IRA recruitment.

Another major Republican memorial, on Bombay Road, off Falls Road.

Not obvious at first, but when our bus left Falls Road, it went past the Clonnard Monastery onto Lanark Way towards the Shankill Road district. As we entered the Protestant Lanark Way we passed the road barriers (behind the blue car) which close down at 6 p.m. every night and shut off this area from traffic (and potential bombers).

The most dramatic of all my images--looking down Cuper (Cupar) Way with one of the many Peace Fences in Belfast. On this side of the fence live Protestants; on the other live Catholics. One of the fences is called the Signature Fence and includes signatures calling for peace from people as diverse as President Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu, and the Dalai Lama.

I was shocked by the fence--and there are dozens of them--and what they symbolize. One official has said that "one argument against putting up a permanent wall is that it is far easier to put them up than it is to take them down . . . by and large, it looks like we have put up a psychological barrier, and it's the psychological barrier which is hard to take away."

Another wrote: "The wall is a monument to back bigotry and sectarianism. It reinforces the myths, the stereotypes, and powers of bigotry. It is proof to us that civilization is a great veneer, and where that veneer is ripped off, and those powers of destruction surface, you need that bloody wall."

With no trivialization intended, this is what William Golding taught in Lord of the Flies, the novel in my literature course for many years, and a rather pessimistic viewpoint it is!

It is estimated that there are two thousand political murals in Belfast, some celebratory, others provocative.

It is common for a mural to grace the head of a street full of terraced residences.

Some murals are being covered and replaced, sometimes with historical ones, less political than the ones beneath it perhaps. I can only speculate that if civic authorities stepped in and defaced some of the most significant murals, the resultant riots would be catastrophic. Many people of Belfast--those affected by the issues, believe the murals, and the fences especially, should come down: "But not yet," someone said. "It's too soon." There is a feeling it will take another generation.

Nevertheless, Belfast feels safe, and from my Belfast City Blog, one quickly senses that a new Belfast is upon us. In 2010, Belfast does not feel dangerous, nor is it. Attempts are being made in city planning to make the city more open to all of its cultures. But the religious barriers will last for some time. Some believe that the underlying causes are economic and class-based, that as prosperity affects more and more, including the Catholic population which is increasing in number and in economic power, the past differences may someday be forgotten.

When my Canadian friend came to Northern Ireland with her husband and their family so he could study at Queen's University, they first lived in East Belfast, finding the requisite mural disconcerting: this one is for the Ulster Volunteer Force and features balaclava-covered paramilitary soldiers with automatic rifles. Try explaining that to North American children!

Still, Belfast has much to offer families and, speaking with optimism, will see much better days!