Ireland: Belfast

On our 3rd Day in Ireland (it was also Father's Day) we got a new driver, Des, and he would stay with us the rest of the trip. He picked us up at our hotel in Dublin and we left the city. We went to Newgrange (which is 1,000 years older than Stonehenge in England.) We only got to go to the Visitor Center because the rest of the place is not wheelchair accessible.

After Newgrange we went to the Battle of the Boyne site. We toured the museum and saw a woman dressed in a man's uniform on a horse. She described what the riders in the Battle would have done (although historically a woman would never be allowed on a horse in battle back then.)

We then crossed the border into Northern Ireland. There were no signs and the only way you could tell you had left the Republic was that the speed signs changed from kilometers to miles. We drove into Belfast and checked-in at our hotel, the Days Hotel, which was a pretty run-down, disorganized place. We were supposed to have stayed in the Europa (which was heavily bombed during the Troubles), but they were full. Des had a friend who is a native from Belfast and he gave us a taxi tour of the city and highlighted the different areas, memorials and murals from the Troubles.

I have to pause here and say that it was a very one-sided tour. It was obvious the driver was Catholic. While he showed us both sides of the city he basically said the Catholics were the only victims. I think both sides: Protestants and Catholics were at fault. The picture at the top of this entry is from the taxi tour. It is in the Catholic area and shows one of the Peace Walls that separate the Protestant and Catholic areas - they are closed at night. The cage at the back of the house is to protect the garden from bombs being thrown over the wall.

I did not care for the murals painted throughout the city. They seemed to just re-hash what happened 30-40 years ago and call on others to avenge the victims. Both sides had their own murals and I thought that they all did more harm then good. Even though the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed more than 10 years ago you can tell just by seeing and hearing the local people that the hatred is still there, just below the surface and despite what the media portrays there are still religious violence in the city (although very few bombs.)

I felt pretty uncomfortable in Belfast. Our hotel was in the Protestant/Loyalist area (you could tell from all the British flags and red,white and blue painted on the sidewalks - or from the sign at the Days Hotel that said we were entering "Loyalist territory." The fact that people could tell what religion you were just from your last name, your address or the currency you used (Bank of England Pound notes are valid in Northern Ireland and if you use them you are a Loyalist whereas if you use Bank of Ireland Pound notes you are for the Republic.) I had Bank of England Pound notes because those can be used in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England while the Bank of Ireland Pound notes can only be used in Northern Ireland.

We were only in Belfast for one day and that was more than enough for me. The city is pretty dirty (both its politics and the streets.)