A Community Divided

By Sydney Manners, Cross Cultural Communications student at Danish Institute for Study Abroad, DIS

When looking around this neighborhood, an outsider could easily spot the division. There is a gate that divides two sides. But what are the differences of the two sides? This is Shankill Road and Falls Road. These are two roads in Belfast known for being the Protestant road and the Catholic road in two divided neighborhoods particularly wounded by violence during “The Troubles”.

The gate divides the cultures of the two political groups and the people on either side act according to their religious and political beliefs. There are racial slurs written on the walls of each side of this gate and it seems as though traveling to the other side could be dangerous. When on a tour of each prospective side, we had our own tour guide. The protestant guide did not cross into the Catholic side and visa versa.

The tension between both sides still seem to run high and it has been said that some people do not associate themselves with the opposite religious group. It seems very difficult to understand how an entire city could be so divided, but the strive dates back to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the UK:

The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that began in the late 1960s. This was deemed by many to have ended with the Belfast “Good Friday” Agreement of 1998, although there still has been violence and animosity since then. Internationally, the Troubles is also known as the Northern Ireland conflict and has been described as a war between two groups of people.

This conflict was primarily a political one, but it also has associations with religion. A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, mostly Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, mostly Catholics, want them all to become a united Ireland.

Another key issue was the relationship between these two communities: The Troubles began amidst a campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist-dominated government and police force. The main participants in the Troubles were republican paramilitaries (IRA), loyalist paramilitaries, the British state security forces (Northern Ireland’s police force), and political activists and politicians. The Republic of Ireland’s security forces played a smaller role. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict of the years.

Before visiting Belfast and Northern Ireland the only thing I knew about the Protestant and Catholic animosity was what I had read online. Visiting the city and seeing Shankill Road and Falls Road was eye opening. It is crazy to think that in the 21^st century in Europe there is still conflict that is unsolved and seemingly without a clear plan on how to solve it.

When asking professor in Literature Leon Litvack at Queens University, he said that the unionists and loyalist do not plan on ending their religious and cultural strife any time soon. It is a way of life to them and a way of separating, whom they associate themselves with and whom they don’t.

The Protestant and Catholic tension is therefore much more than religion. When talking to our tour guides on the roads they were biased based on the side they fall on, and we had to switch tour guides when we got on the opposite side of town, because they would have felt very uncomfortable on the other side. On their side of road the tour guides explained how the other side was creating acts of terror against them and tried to sway the participants of the tour on why their acts were valid.

And the divide between the Protestants and Catholics goes even beyond the roads: There are schools, bus stops, pubs, and stores that are specific to each side. Even 20 years after the violence officially ended members of the different group still feel safer when they stay on their own side and associate themselves with the people they have grown up with. The population of Belfast is not very large, thus most of the people know what group someone belong too by their name, their dress or talk.

Integrated schools are up and coming in Belfast but many people are scared to send their children to them. The integrated schools are a great way to teach young children to get along with everyone and to educate them on the cultural tensions.

An example of something that was integrated was the comedy show our group went to. This show was a place of cultural diversity and the crowd there could blow off their steam by laughing at the racial jokes. This comedy club was comprised of all kinds of people, but what was interesting was, that the majority of them were young. After looking around it seemed as though the audience was comprised of ages 20-35 years old.

The tensions in Belfast still run high and it unclear when the political strive will end. It looks like a major hope for the inclusion of both sides in society is the integration of schools and education. Once both sides are educated about their history and why they have been in conflict, they might make sense of the conflict and learn to tolerate each other.