Belfast

Fri 22nd Oct

Went into the city of Belfast which is the capital of Northern Ireland. The city centre is actually very small and you can walk across it in about 10-15mins.

First stop was City Hall and there was a free tour.
In 1920 Ireland was split into North and south with an independant south and an English north.
The city hall for Belfast is quite elaborate considering it is for a city council. Each city in northern Ireland has its own city hall so for the number of people that are under its jurisdiction.

coat of arms for Belfast

Then joined a walking tour of the city. My uncle wanted to just take the hop-on-hop-off double decker bus that goes around the city but i'm not so keen on those as they are just too touristy. I mean any tour is touristy but i find walking tours are good because you can ask questions and have time to take photos.

I must admit that i'm not very good at keeping up with the news in everyday life. And perhaps i was too young to understand. A lot of the history of Belfast centers around 'the troubles'. Belfast has had civil troubles since around 1969. On the surface it seems like a religious war but it really isnt. It's more cultural. The irish people who are Catholic are keen on unification with the south and the English people who are protestant are still loyal to Great Britain. So the civil troubles are more cultural than religious and more republican vs loyalist.

We walked past some walls that still had bolts in them. The gates they held have been removed but they are a reminder of the days in which everybody in the city had to enter on foot and be searched. Cars were not allowed as they might contain bombs. (1n 1972 the IRA detonated 22 bombs in Belfast).

The guide did say that people are still for the most part living in the past. The city of Belfast is an area where the Irish Catholic and English protestants must work together. But as for living together.... there is a wall that separates living areas. If you are a protestant and stray a street too far then it is likely that you might be bashed or killed.

The council is trying to change and clean up northern Ireland. They are trying to make Belfast a safer place where tolerance is embraced and so each month has some festival of some kind.
The fish lies along the river. Taking a closer look, it's made of ceramic tiles which have pictures and newspaper articles and drawings of some of northern ireland's history. There are drawings made by children in Belfast which depict the hopes of that generation of peace.

The thing to note with the fish is that there are red spots over the top of it. Symbolic of the fact that blood has been shed in the past.

Noting some of the ignorance and intolerance both in the past and present northern ireland just made me so sad. But the innocent optimism of kids is refreshing in such a depressing city.

the Albert memorial clock tower... that isnt quite straight... it leans

Lagan statue. She holds a ring of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving square was set as a place where people of NI could be unified in thinking about charity and be thankful for things they have regardless of religion or political thoughts. The locals dont think much of this statue but maybe the irony is they are unified in not thinking much of it.

Click here for more photos.