Belfast

After we finished golfing today at County Louth we boarded the bus to head to Belfast . Along the secondary highway the acreages were very nice , the yards and hedges are so well maintained and the grass is so green.

After we checked in a group of us signed up for the Belfast Black Taxi Tour of West Belfast . West Belfast was the main area of the “ Ireland Troubles “
The locals don’t call it a conflict or terrorism but troubles .

The Catholics and Protestants have been fighting for over 400 years.

Our taxi driver was extremely knowledgeable about the times and being a senior lived through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s bombings and shootings.

We toured both the Catholic and Protestant side of the Peace Wall . The Peace Wall was put up to separate the people and is 7.4 km long . It has been raised 3 times and now stands at 45 feet tall. The first section of the wall is over 3 feet of concrete going quite far down .

What probably surprised me the most is that there are 6 gates that cross over between the sides and 4 of the 6 gates still get locked at 9 pm each day and reopen at 6 am. The residents on either side of the wall want this locked every day.

The wall is covered in murals on both sides and there are many memorials to the fallen fighters and innocent bystanders.

The conflict is passed down to the generations and it is never taught in the schools . The Catholics still want a unified Ireland while the Protestants in Northern Ireland are dedicated to the United Kingdom. The Catholics don’t have enough votes to carry a majority vote for a unified Ireland.

Our driver said the peace has been the best he has ever seen. Many people think they should not have a vote since rhetoric peace is so good .

It was a great informative tour

On a side note the weather in the afternoon was extremely cold and we froze on the tour . We found out it was the coldest September 12 in over 5 years.Læs mere