By the Lagan Side

We arrived in Belfast and settled into our dorm rooms at Stranmillis College. The next day we visited the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. Stormont houses the government of Northern Ireland, and has been dissolved in the past during times of trouble in Northern Ireland and was ruled directly from Westminster. We took a tour of the building which is quite an impressive place, and then got to meet with representatives from the Alliance Party, the Green Party, SDLP, Sinn Fein, and the Ulster Unionist Party. It was interesting to be able to hear about the current debate over choosing a minister for Police and Justice, especially because Alliance and SDLP are in a bitter feud over the position. That morning SDLP released an e-mail a member had accidentally received from Alliance party leader and favorite for Police and Justice Minister, David Ford. In the e-mail he called the Bloody Sunday enquiry “pointless”. He said it is pointless not because he doesn’t care about the victims and families of Bloody Sunday, but because he thinks the British State will doctor it up so much that the diluted version they receive will be worthless. His comments still sound very callous, but even more callous was what the Alliance MLA we met with pointed out. SDLP had received this e-mail 4 months prior and waited to release it when it was of political use to them. It is really disheartening when a party born out of the civil rights movement uses people they have sworn to protect as political weapons, and if they truly cared about Ford’s comments they should have released the e-mail immediately so that the families of those lost on Bloody Sunday could here what Ford had to say about an enquiry in search of closure for their loss.

Also on a side not when I asked a guy who worked at the Free Derry Museum (a museum focusing on Derry’s involvement in Civil Rights and the Troubles and run by many Bloody Sunday victims family members) what he thought of David Ford’s comments about the Bloody Sunday Enquiry being pointless he referred to them as “pointless comments made by a pointless politician.” So I don’t think they were as upset as the SDLP thought they would be.

Another poignant moment at Stormont was during our talks with SF and UUP representatives. I was amazed at the consensus between these two parties. Now when I say consensus I mean consensus on approach rather than their vision for the future of Northern Ireland. People throw around the phrase “shared future” a lot in the North, but I don’t really know how you can have a shared future when you have two groups working for completely opposite ends. The SF rep we met said that they were first and foremost dedicated to uniting with the Republic of Ireland and getting rid of British presence in Ireland, but added, we can not do this without finding accommodation for Unionists. The UUP MLA we met said that if SF wants to create a united Ireland, then being the only all Ireland party (they have seats in the Dail of the Republic and Stormont in the North) they need to make the Republic a more appealing place to live. In my opinion it already is a more appealing place because it isn’t part of one of the most brutal empires to ever exist, but the fact that Ireland’s biggest export is people, and they traditionally have a poor economy are more practical arguments for the Union. Anyway, I was impressed at the understanding and ability for open dialogue both men possessed.

While in Belfast we also took tours of West Belfast with former political prisoners. West Belfast consists mostly of two neighborhoods, The Falls which is a Republican stronghold, and houses Sinn Fein’s headquarters, and the Shankill, the epicenter of Loyalism. We met our former IRA tour guide, Joe, outside Divis Tower on Falls Road and he talked to us about his role in the conflict. He was in prison during the 1981 hunger strikes and was in the cell next to Bobby Sands, the first hunger striker that Margaret Thatcher allowed to die rather than grant political status. It was very moving to hear Joe talk about his friend, “Sandsy”, and how the world would be better off he was still alive today. It was definitely an experience I simply couldn’t have gained reading a book about the H-Block Hunger Strike, and gave the people involved a very real and human face. Joe spoke about how the prisoners were not just common criminals and the British Government was way out of line to treat them that way. They were prisoners because they belonged to an armed political movement and should have been treated as such. The fact that Thatcher allowed 10 men to die of starvation rather than allow them the 5 demands they asked for, some as simple as wearing their own clothes is appalling to me (1) the right not to wear a prison uniform 2) The right not to do prison work 3) The right to free association with other prisoners for recreational and educational purposes 4) The right to one visit, one letter, and one parcel per week 5) Full restoration of remission lost through the protest). Joe described the IRA members in jail at that time as never have been in jail before the conflict and never being in jail after the conflict, they simply were not common criminals. Thatcher had to say on this topic, “There is no such thing as political murder, political bombing or political violence. There is only criminal murder, criminal bombing and criminal violence. We will not compromise on this. There will be no political status.” My question for Thatcher would be; was it criminal murder when you allowed 10 people to die rather than even negotiate with them?

On a lighter not Joe showed us the restaurant where Bill Clinton and Gerry Adams shared a hamburger. He talked about how stupid it looked when they tried to act like it wasn’t planned. A convoy of black limos rolled up and out jumps Bill Clinton and who happens to be out for a stroll and also in search of a hamburger? Gerry Adams.

We walked from the Falls neighborhood towards the “Peace” Wall. Belfast is divided by many walls which separate sectarian areas of the city in order to maintain peace. I don’t really have a good grasp on this subject, but in my opinion, there is nothing peaceful about a wall. These are structures that dominate the landscape of Belfast and segregate its people. I hope that I can see the day when there is no such thing as a “Peace” Wall.

Joe left us at the wall and greeted our former UVF tour guide Paul. Paul is a native of the Shankill area, and is very proud of where he comes from. Shankill is the most disadvantaged area of NI and being a community worker, Paul is extremely passionate about changing that. He showed us deserted and desolate blocks of housing that the Housing Authority will not knock down because they claim that they are historic and charming. Although I am very opposed to a lot of Paul’s political views, he struck me as a very funny guy, and I had to agree when he suggested that maybe the members of the Housing Authority should come live in this shanty area and the people of the Shankill could have their cozy estates in South Belfast.

A lot of the deprivation in the Shankill is because with the Civil Rights movement for equal treatment of Catholics came a neglect of the Protestant working class that was also disadvantaged at the time. Another reason for this that Paul didn’t bring up, but many other community workers in the Shankill over our stay in Belfast brought up is that if a Catholic kid from the Falls gets a degree and a profession, he/she will get married, have kids, and live in the Falls the rest of their life and invest in the community. This is the opposite of Protestants in the Shankill, many kids end up leaving as soon as they get the chance, and then their neighborhood never sees a return on its investment of education and resources.

One thing I found particularly sad about Paul’s tour was that he talked about how when ex-combatants came out of jail, they could be a taxi driver, or a community worker. The Loyalist/Unionist community usually looks down on former prisoners, while the Republican/Nationalist glorifies them, and gives them prominent roles in the community. For example Joe from the Falls is a teacher. Not to say Paul’s position of a community worker is not as important and prominent as a teacher, but the fact he is limited in careers within the community he once took up arms to defend is really unfortunate.

Another thing I noticed about the two communities is that if you take away the in-your-face murals of masked men with automatic weapons, deceased combatant’s memorials, and paramilitary insignias, by looking at the Falls and the Shankill, you could still tell they would be high crime areas. That is because they are both inhabited by a neglected working class, and couple this with a political and sectarian conflict, and it is no wonder that the two areas were hot beds of violence during the troubles. Belfast was a truly interesting city and I could go on and on about it but I’m sure no one really wants to read too much more. I will most likely be returning their to do my independent study project and look at the role ex-combatants play in their community now that the armed struggle is over.


Stormont


Sandy Row


the International Wall on the Falls Rd


More of the International Wall, Republicans use a lot of images of solidarity with Palestine and Latin America


another Republican mural on the Falls


Bobby Sands memorial on the side of Sinn Fein HQ, Sands was the first hunger striker to die


"love should know no boundaries" written on the "Peace" Wall



Loyalist UVF mural



our tour guide in front of a UVF mural


Loyalist UDA/UFF mural


Republican mural


mural about the "Peace" Wall, on the "Peace" Wall


such a peaceful wall (sarcasm)

"Bandit Country"- South Armagh

On Tuesday we left Dublin by train and arrived in Dundalk just before the Republic of Ireland/ Northern Ireland border. We were met by former Sinn Fein MLA Jim McAlister who would be our tour guide for the day. Jim was an enthusiastic local of the border area and told us a little bit about himself while we took the short bus ride over the border to South Armagh, an area known for smuggling, and steeped in ancient mythology. It is here that the warrior Cuchulain was said to have defended Ulster from rival tribes, and notorious bandits like Redmond O'Hanlon made life hell for their British colonizers.

Armagh is also a very interesting place to study the political conflict in NI. It is a heavily Republican area, especially in the southern part, and the British Army used to prefer to travel anywhere in South Armagh by helicopter during the Troubles. The reason for this is because of the strength of the South Armagh IRA cell, and anytime they would travel somewhere on the ground, their vehicle would be bombed. This being said it is also the founding place of the Orange Order, a Protestant all-boys club that celebrates dominance over the Catholics of Ireland. So the population in this county is quite diverse and rich in history.

Crossmaglen is a city in S Armagh where the British Army had its headquarters during the troubles. Jim told us there would be fire fights here weekly between Republicans and the British, and sometimes the sight of the "barracks buster" bomb being hurled over the barracks wall. The Army has withdrawn troops from NI, and now a Republican monument of a warrior and pheonix stands facing the sight of the old military base, with clenched fists.

Jim told us the other day he had a substitute teacher for a class he is taking, and he recognized the man. The reason was because he used to be a British Paratrooper in Crossmaglen, and I'm assuming the two men had had a few run ins with each other. The former paratrooper said he came to Crossmaglen a paratrooper in Her Majesty's Army, and left a Republican. I don't exactly know why he had this change of heart, but I suspect it was the way they arrested (without charge) and abused the citizens of this largely Catholic population. Jim recalled being arrested one time and helicoptered away to the Army base just a day after the IRA shot down a helicopter. He recited a poem that he wrote about the experience which basically said that if they shot at the helicopter he was in, not knowing he was in it, at least he would die in the place he called home and the British soldiers around him would die in a foreign land that was simply a coordinate on a map. It is hard to imagine how the people of South Armagh could ever have a normal life after their experience during the Troubles, but somehow they have pulled through and maintain a warm community.

We also met the Quinn family. Their son, Paul, was murdered by Republicans for speaking out against their activities in the area. We were told about how Paul would not allow himself to be bullied by the South Armagh IRA, and this was what lead to his brutal death. Sinn Fein claims that Paul was a part of a criminal fuel smuggling ring, and the IRA beat him up to show him a lesson (even though Republicans themselves in this area are notorious for smuggling activities). Jim McAlister, our tour guide for the day, and former Sinn Fein MLA, is now the spokesperson for the Paul Quinn Support Group. The group puts pressure on the government to find out who murdered Paul, in order for the Quinn family to find closure.

This issue seemed to be one reason why Jim is no longer tied to SF, and he seemed quite disillusioned by their behavior over Paul's murder. When our program director asked him to talk about being SF's chief orator a while back, he responded, "More like nonsense talker and bullshitter." He also spoke a lot about how it wouldn't be right if you didn't change your mind as you grew older, and the most important thing to learn is the phrase, "I was wrong". I think a lot of the issues I have with the Republican movement in NI have to do with some of their hypocrisy in community vigilance. They say they killed Paul Quinn because he was a smuggler, but Jim said that most of the wealth in this community comes from smuggling. Therefore I'd assume there would be a higher level smuggler to "teach a lesson to" than a 21 year old kid. It was clearly a politically motivated murder. This was demonstrated further when the day after we left Armagh, a billboard advocating justice for the Quinn family was burned to the ground. Also a dissident Republican group that refuses to recognize the peace process recently murdered a drug dealer outside Derry city. This sounds like a way to cleanse their community from drugs and other poisons, however if you look closely at the Republican movement, you'd realize that selling drugs is one way they raised money. So one has to ask did this group murder this father of one to rid their community of drugs, or just drugs that they don't see a profit from?

Next it was on to Armagh City, where we saw the Church of Ireland's St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Catholic Church's cathedral in Armagh, and guess what it's named? St. Patrick's. Both the Protestant and Catholic faiths lay a claim to Patrick, and rightfully so. He came to Ireland hundreds of years before the reformation and spread Christianity, not Catholicism.

We also went to the founding place of the Orange Order (named after William of Orange). I hate to even waste time writing about this group because I see them as nothing more than ethnic supremacists who celebrate the victory of Protestant King William over Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne every Summer. They march through Nationalist neighborhoods on their way to Church, and don't understand why the Catholics that live there are offended by the celebration of just another event in the long history of discrimination and defeat against Catholics in Ireland. The representative we met with told me that the marches celebrate how William separated church and state in Great Britain, and guaranteed freedom of religion, and they are not about victory over Catholics. That's an absolute lie. The marches take place on the date of the Battle of the Boyne, marchers carry banners of William defeating the Jacobite Armies, songs are sung commemorating the Boyne, and the freedom of religion part would make sense; but King WIlliam also supported the Penal Laws outlawing Catholicism in Ireland, and of course Catholics are not even allowed to join the order. So I guess their really just celebrating Protestant freedom of religion... which is nice.

We are currently in Belfast now and I am going to have plenty to write about at the end of our stay here. Tomorrow we are taking a tour of the Falls Road, the epicenter of the Republican movement by a former prisoner and IRA man, and tour of Shankill Road, the center of Loyalism by a former Loyalist paramilitary and prisoner. It will definitely be an interesting day.




St. Brigids well




memorial to the hunger strikers


Republican memorial in Crossmaglen


tricolor flying in Crossmaglen, protesting British rule

Tour Guide for the Weekend

This past weekend Jen came to visit along with her room mate Amanda. We had a great weekend and I got to see some parts of Dublin I had been meaning to see for a while. First we went to the International Bar and Comedy Club owned by comedian Des Bishop. We had a great time there, and everyone else had a great time at our expense, because the mc that night seemed like he was awfully fond of jokes concerning the Americans in the crowd. The next day we went to Howth, a small fishing village on the North side of Dublin that is really a great place to go on the odd chance that there is good weather. Luckily there was no rain and we enjoyed the nice views, curious seals, and good seafood. Sunday was spent walking around the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Garden of Remembrance, Grafton Street, and St. Stephen's Green. I had a great time and I'm glad Jen was able to come visit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52bna-tn_dY
This is a link to one of Des Bishops stand up routines about a little bit of culture shock he encountered when he moved to Ireland as a teenager.

Heading North

So tomorrow we leave for Northern Ireland, and we won't be back until late March. We will be stopping briefly in Armagh which is on the border, to study issues surrounding this heavily Republican area of NI. After Armagh it's on to Belfast for a week and then to Derry for 2 weeks.

There have been a lot of things in the news recently concerning the North and I'm excited to be going there at this particular time. First there was the Hillsborough Agreement, dealing with changing the police force around and establishing a new justice ministry, and also dealing with contentious Orange Order parades. Recently there has been isolated incidents of "dissident Republicans" committing violent acts. These are people who have refused to move into the future and accept the peace process and instead prefer to bang their heads off a wall. Sinn Fein (a party who, a decade ago would be encouraging the armed struggle) has condemned these attacks and all the political parties remain fixated on peace and a shared future.

What I found to be telling about one of the recent events was that 4 men were arrested in connection with a planned bombing near the border; these men were all age 40-60. I say this is telling because looking at their ages, these men are probably all ex Provisional IRA members who split with the group after the Good Friday Agreement because they felt that the Provisional leadership sold out. The view of these men is most likely that without the gain of a united Republic on the entire island of Ireland there commrades will have died in vain, but they fail to realize that at this time the only way towards this goal is through the political arena rather than violence.

Since I think it is mostly my family who reads this blog I think it is important to say that this is not something to be the least bit worried about. The recent incidents are extremely isolated and SIT has brought groups to NI when the situation has been far more dangerous, without incident. I'm excited to have this opportunity to learn from both sides of the community in NI, and I'm very thankful I'm here.