Belfast

Last week we took a trip up to Northern Ireland and spent the day in Belfast. Everyone knows about the troubled history that has only recently begun to resolve in Northern Ireland but if you are like me the Irish Republican Army is the only group who's involvement is well publicized. We spent a good portion of our time on a black cab political history tour. I'll do my best to regurgitate the information we learned so maybe you can have a better understanding of what has been happening in N. Ireland.

Back in the 17th century a rich lord was given a substantial amount of land in N. Ireland. The overwhelmingly catholic community was expecting to receive jobs working the land, however the lord brought over Scottish protestants instead which was the beginning of the trouble. Fast forward to the 1972 when a catholic civil rights march to obtain equal rights was confronted by a British regiment that shot and killed 26 unarmed protesters. This was termed "Bloody Sunday" and began the organizations of the IRA which consists of catholics who want to be part of the Republic of Ireland and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) who are protestant loyalists to the British crown. Both groups have been labeled terrorist organizations and have since become heavily involved in organized crime. Western Belfast is still extremely split between a catholic side and a protestant side that are separated by a huge Berlin-style wall that has gates that close at night or anytime trouble starts. You'll see the murals on the houses in the UFF neighborhoods of their heroes and on the IRA side a memorial we visited. You'll also see a photo of a house with a steel screen covering the back yard. People still throw things over the wall and the houses that boarder it are all protected. It was amazing to be somewhere that only a few years ago would have had army patrols to keep the peace. There are also pictures of a now closed down court house and prison reserved for terrorists.

That is the abbreviated history lesson. It was a very educational trip to say the least and one I'm glad I could see myself.