We took in a 2 hour Black Cabbie tour of Belfast’s history of the “Troubles”. Our guide was an Irishman, Peter, who has lived his entire life in Belfast and lived through those troublesome years.

He was very knowledgeable about this history and careful to present both sides of the issues that contributed to the Troubles.

We drove through the neighborhoods that were segregated and separated by tall Peace Walls as they are called here. These areas of Belfast were the center of the violence that occurred here and still to this day are totally segregated by these neighborhood walls, that would dwarf the Berlin walls we saw a few months ago. There are gates through these walls open in the daytime, but closed at night to prevent mischief or violence by the youth in these segregated communities toward each other.

The memories of the violence and bitterness on each side is obviously still strong even today. Peter felt that maybe within the next generation or so that maybe the peace will help make that bitterness fade and overcome these walls of segregation and hate.

We have learned that the issues really began back hundreds of years ago, when the British defeated the Irish in war and colonized Ireland. In the north, the Irish were driven their homes and lands, their properties were then given to loyalists from England and Scotland. This plight sounds very similar to the history of our Native Americans in the USA being driven from their lands by our forefathers that colonized our country. In fact we have seen numerous historical events of a shared understanding and support between the Irish and Native Tribes in America.

This is really the root of the Troubles, because for many years the Irish were denied civil rights by the British colonialists and that led to deeply held hatred, discrimination and eventually violence.

Peter asked us to sign the Peace Wall as many thousands before us have done, including leaders and our President’s. We left messages of a lasting peace for all the peoples of Belfast and Northern Ireland!