Just have faith...or not (contd.)

Posted by Hooff Cooksey

A follow up to my previous blog entry. 

This past weekend I spent time in Belfast and Derry, two cities in Northern Ireland which have experienced a great deal of violence in the conflict between Catholics and Protestants.  My thoughts from last week still remain the same, but I now have an even better understanding of the religious culture of Ireland.

Peace wall in Belfast.

The visual divide in both cities is very apparent.  In Belfast there is a large peace wall separating the Catholic and Protestants areas of town, with gates open during the day, but closed by 10 P.M. every evening.  Catholic businesses do not operate on the Protestant side and vice versa.  In Derry there are 500 Protestants living on the west bank of the river running through town, surrounded by 75,000 Catholics.  The curbs in the Protestant neighborhood are painted red, white and blue to honor England and everywhere direction you look there is a Union Jack flying. 

After many hours in each town it did become apparent however that the divide seemed to be not only due to religion and freedom from another nation, but also one of tradition.  The young people that grow up in Ireland, and especially in cities like Belfast and Derry, are sometimes embedded with the idea of distrust and opposition to the other side.  There is a consistent push for unity in the country, and specifically this is seen in Derry over Belfast.   

During the build up to my time here in Ireland, I only knew what I had heard of the conflicts during the 1970s in Northern Ireland.  I believed that had all come and gone.  However, I could not have been more wrong.  The violence is down, but the reminders of conflict and the mindsets behind the conflict are still very apparent (see photo album).  There is a large push for unity and constant reminders to let the children of Ireland grow up in peace and the freedom to make their own opinions on the situation.  

Canons on Derry wall overlooking Derry neighborhood; during 'The Troubles' the neighborhood was an IRA headquarter.