Northern Ireland

We also decided to take a bus tour to Northern Ireland, it was a long day but we all enjoyed it....

Some scenery along the way...

Ireland is very green...

Our first stop was Belfast where we could choose to visit the Titanic Museum or take a Black Cab tour with a local guide. We chose the Black Cab tour as we were interested in learning a bit about " The Troubles".

The Troubles refers to a violent thirty-year conflict framed by a civil rights march in Londonderry on October 5, 1968  and the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998. At the heart of the conflict lay the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.

The goal of the unionist and overwhelmingly Protestant majority was to remain part of the United Kingdom. The goal of the nationalist and republican, almost exclusively Catholic, minority was to become part of the Republic of Ireland.

Connor, our guide shown here explaining the history to Don and Dawn was born an Irish Catholic in 1979 so he lived through this period here in Belfast. Behind them is one of the walls that separates two neighbourhoods, the Catholic one and a Protestant one. They went up during the war and have never come down. 

Here you can see some houses that are near the wall with their balconies caged in to protect them from things being still thrown over the wall...

We started our tour on the Catholic side so the murals represent their view of that time, here is one of the first victims of the violence, a young boy. In the background we could see an apartment building that had the top floors taken over by British soldiers to be used as a watchtower...

There are murals in many of the neighbourhoods...

 

We also visited the offices of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA

This mural on the side of their building remembers Bobby Sands who was the first to die in a hunger strike as a political prisoner...

We then went through a gate to the Protestant side, a gate which is still closed at night to separate the two sides...

Immediately we saw the Union Jack being flown everywhere...

And memorials and murals telling the other side of the story...

This one was particularly interesting as it glorifies the young man pictured as a hero in that he killed a large number of Catholics during that time. One of the young women he killed was a friend of Connor's sister and whose name we saw on a memorial as a victim of the violence on the Catholic side. She worked in a pharmacy at the end of their street and he came in and shot her in the face.

I was saddened by the things we had seen and the stories we were told and wondered if our driver had been Protestant how would they be different. Connor kept saying he hoped the next generation could learn to live in peace and  forgiveness but it was difficult for him and his family. 

Though he said that he now has friends from the other side because of being involved in sport but when  they go for a pint after they don't talk politics! 

But I thought about the children as just around the corner from this memorial was a primary school so young children walked by this every day. I wonder what lessons they were learning? 

The wall on the Catholic side has a peace wall which has been signed by thousands...

Typical neighbourhood in Belfast...

 

Memorials to the victims of the sectarian violence are evident in all neighbourhoods...

During the Troubles, the scale of the killings perpetrated by all sides - republican and loyalists and the security forces  eventually exceeded 3,600. As many as 50,000 people were physically maimed or injured, with countless others psychologically damaged by the conflict, a legacy that continues to shape the post-1998 period.

I think this picture is a grim reminder that the legacy continues...

After the tour ended we went off  to catch the bus by the Titanic Exhibit which is located on the docks in Belfast where she was built. It is a very popular attraction located on the waterfront. 

 

We then drove to an area which is a UNESCO World Heritage site...the Giant's Causeway is a magnificent, mysterious geological formation on the North East coast of County Antrim. It's steeped in myths and legend. The setting is a spectacular, dynamic coastal landscape of Atlantic waves, rugged cliffs, fascinating geographical antiquity, secluded bays and magnificent views. 

Scenery as we drove along the coast...

A castle along the way...

Starting our hike into the Causeway...

 

Lots of up and down...

And beautiful views...

The myth says the causeway was built by the giant Finn McCool trying to reach Scotland...

 

The columns were formed by volcanic heating and cooling over 60 million years...

There were people everywhere...

Taking a break...

Looking backwards...

We then drove further down the coast with spectacular views...

Then another hike...

Along the cliffs...

Across the rope bridge 

And then the rain came...

So we headed back to the bus and the long ride back to Dublin. Just a little glimpse of Northern Island and lots of reasons to return!