At the beginning of February, I took a second trip up to Belfast to visit my mate Ryan. The previous time I had mostly stayed in his native Bangor, where I had an interesting view at the preparations of loyalist bonfires in nearby Donnaghadee, nearly ran into a loyalist mob on a weekend night, and took a long roll down a short hill -- one of Ryan's "initiation" rites for visitors. On the chilly northern night, I didn't fancy the alternative, which was a dip in a fountain!
This time around, my trip was primarily to see Belfast city itself and to meet up with several visiting fellows from my M.A. programme. We all met up and took a "black taxi tour" of some of the hotspots of the Troubles, including a drive around the murals of the Falls and Shankill Roads, and a look at the dividing "Peace Wall." The tour guide was obviously very nationalist and the majority of the commentary was a "history" lesson and basically bashing the loyalist viewpoint. It was definitely educational. As I was with a resident Northern Irishman, two Americans, a South African and the daughter of a Chilean human rights activist, it made the tour all the more interesting.
Possibly the big surprise for me, personally, was the level of prosperity Belfast seems to be enjoying, thanks to a variety of factors, but the Good Friday Peace Accords can't have hurt. But there is a definite buzz around much of the city, with lots of new shopping centres, eateries, and an overall sense of commercial security. Heading out for eats ("pies" as the locals say!) one of the nights in an Irish-style kitchen, I introduced Ryan and his friends to Colcannon and boxty, over a few carafes of Chilean wine. Afterwards we went salsa dancing in an old converted church. Cosmopolitan and fun all around.
Another amazing aspect is how easy it is to traverse the North-South border now in Ireland. For all intents and purposes, there no longer is any border, and a bus will breeze from Dublin to Belfast in just over two hours, nonstop, and for as little as 16 euro round-trip. Speeding along the Republic's modern motorways and under the futuristic "peace bridge" that spans the historically contentious Boyne River valley near Drogheda, it is hard to imagine that this island was embroiled in fierce sectarian violence just a handful of years ago. While the differing political and historical perspectives have not gone away, the climate of fear and militaristic presence has definitely diminished since I used to cross the border as a youngster in the 1980s. Then, there was a long wait as searches were carried out at military checkpoints on winding country roads; now there is free passage on high-speed motorways. There is not yet an entirely harmonious coexistence between the different peoples of this island (indeed there are still cases of sectarian violence and killings, as well as continued bitter political enmities), but at least it is largely peaceable, and a good deal better than only a few years ago.
|  | 
|
