Photo Special: The Belfast Peace Walls
Despite weapons decommissioning and devolution Belfast, Northern Ireland remains a divided city.
Not just by religion but 80 permanent barriers dividing loyalist and nationalist areas, some as high as 25 feet and as long as three miles.
The Belfast peace walls or peace lines were constructed in the early seventies to curb sectarian killings and violence, yet despite the ongoing peace process communities are still divided by these barriers.
According to a report by the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland, when the Troubles were declared over in 1994, there were 26 such peace lines, now there are 80 in Belfast alone.
In places the divides have gates, many across roads, which are closed at night effectively shutting off Catholic areas from Protestant ones and if need be, the security forces can close them remotely at any time.
As you look at the wall in the gallery below you can see entire streets have been halved. During the troubles whole streets had been torched as a form of ethnic cleansing. On the Protestant side many of the house just inside the peace line have been demolished due to constant attacks.
On the Catholic side, whole back gardens located behind the wall are enclosed in metal fencing.
The wall itself is a huge structure; first a large section, maybe 12 -14 feet high, then metal sheets and atop that more fencing. High enough to stop most missiles from being thrown over.
The wall is peppered with bullet holes and scorch marks from petrol bombs and other explosive devices. On the Shankill side, visitors are encouraged to add their messages and signatures to those of the Dalai Lama and former US President Bill Clinton.
While the Berlin Wall came down after 28 years, Belfast’s continue to stand, and there is little likelihood, at present, of them being demolished.
A large number of the images included in this gallery show the wall dividing Shankill Road (Protestant) from that of the Falls Road (Catholic).
Posted on February 23, 2010 | Filed Under Life
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