In Belfast Catholics and Protestants are still physically segregated in some areas. The murals in Belfast are a sign of the former conflict because of their political contents. There are also many memorials which commemorate those who took part, and died, in the Troubles and they are clearly a leftover from the conflict. Schools and institutions are still segregated but nevertheless the younger generation is better at mixing with people with a different religion. There are bulletholes and ruined buildings in Belfast and that clearly shows the conflict between the two groups. The colours in the streets are also different. On Falls Road (Catholic) green, orange and white, as in the Irish flag, are the most popular colours . The most popular colours on Shankhill Road (Protestant) are blue, red and white as in the British flag. In the neighborhoods many houses also have either an Irish or a British flag. We even saw some burned flags.
On Shankhill Road we interviewed a woman who knew the father of the police officer who was killed by a car bomb a few days before we arrived. She told us this made her fear the conflict was starting all over again and she had reacted by keeping her children close to her so nothing could happen to them.
We also talked with two elderly ladies who preferred not to talk to us about The Troubles because they feared getting into trouble for having given outsiders information.
Still most of the people we met in Belfast felt safer now and weren’t as segregated as in the past. They have nothing against people with a different religion and almost all of them had friends with a different religion. Everybody we talked to wanted the Peace Lines to remain because they made them feel safer.
- Camilla A, Eline, Peter, Martin, Simone Kær, Gustav, Mark, Mikkel, Mathilde K.
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