Sunday 21 August: Belfast

We took the Belfast City Tour - a small bus which took us to the various points of interest around the city. It started out driving around the city centre pointing out places such as hospitals, the Queens University, the huge new Odyssey entertainment centre, parliament house at Stormont and so forth. We had a brief look at the famous Harland & Wolfe shipyard, which is sadly almost deserted now. The huge cranes are still very impressive, though.

The tour then proceeded up the Falls Road and across to Shankill Road. These areas have been the main trouble spots in the ongoing catholic - protestant / unionist - loyalist feuds which have torn ths little country apart over so many years. We saw the "peace wall"- a huge brick & concrete wall which divides the two areas and basically stops people lobbing petrol bombs over the back fence. We also saw the famous murals which deliver the message of each of the various factions. Some of these are outstanding artworks.

The most enduring impression is of the senseless hatreds which still fester in this place. Not only between the main groups, but among the factions on each side. However, to be fair, it seems to be only a very small part of the city affected. The great majority of Belfast residents seem to live in a happy and tolerant prosperity.

Sunday afternoon we visited our friends Julie and Johnny in their home at Ballyclare, just north of Belfast. They kindly allowed us to use their laundry and Julie cooked a delicious dinner for us. We owe them a very special thanks for their kindness and generosity during our short stay.