A lot has happened in the past few days.
Originally, I thought I would give you my impressions sequentially, but I am not sure such a recitation would be helpful.
I am going through culture shock on a daily basis. Starting with Americans and Irish are separated by a common language. Our accents are very, very different. I had experience with some accents in the Republic of Ireland, but the Belfast accent is harder for me to understand. Belfast residents speak fast to each other, the vowels are swallowed differently, and the word structures are different than the ones we use in the States. Some use "All right" as a hello. Something done right of your own initiative gets the reaction/lable, "fair play". The trunk of a car is the "boot". Lumber comes in "four by two" or "six by two" dimensions. And a ton of other small things are said differently.
The people are courteous and friendly and love a good laugh. Drivers will blink their headlights to let someone coming toward them turn across their path. Yah, they actually slow down or even stop to let the other person turn. Everyone wants to know how we are "getting on here" and what we think.
Some of the people are peace makers. Some in little ways, and some in large ways.
To understand what has gone on here let me divide the recent history in three parts. Pre Good Friday Accords, Post Good Friday Accords, and Recent Years, like the last three years, maybe.
The Pre Good Friday Accords generally have been called "The Troubles". This was a time of assassinations, attacks using automatic weapons and mortars, kidnappings and tortures. All sides were victimized and all sides committed violence. This is the part the American media covered fairly heavily. How did it start up? Some say the Catholics saw the peaceful protests in the American civil rights struggle, they tried to copy those protests, and for a variety of reasons, probably including the length and depth of the prior conflict, the violence escalated rather than resolved.
Various politicians take credit for the Good Friday Accords, but the regular people tell me the regular people became tired of civil war and didn't want another generation of children to be raised in such horrendous conditions. Also, the clergy transmitted this grass roots ground swell from the people to the politicians. The clergy and other peacemakers took real risks to press for non-violence.
After the Good Friday Accords were signed the level of violence decreased bit by bit. But certain features have stubbornly remained. The people live in different areas with people of their own economic means and religion. We think of the conflict as religious but there is a whole social class component.
Then comes the most recent period, which again is filled with contrasts. There are huge walls that chop up and separate these neighborhoods. People cross through gates, but the gates often close at night. Some people choose to live in intentionally mixed religion areas, but this has just created another group that is shunned by the polar opposite groups.
In the last 2 or 3 years, people are walking on the street. Kids can walk home from school without being picked up by their parents. Kids can play outside and do not spend all of their time indoors. There are young people who didn't directly experience "The Troubles" during the period of their lives which they can remember.
On the other hand, people stay or in their own areas and if they go to a neutral or mixed area, they walk on the side of the street which is "correct" for Protestants or Catholics, depending on which they are. Teenagers text one another to get together at preplanned locations for "recreational rioting" which involve taunting, serious stone throwing, and more.
I guess one of the strangest things is what the government calls "The Peace Wall". Our little group saw it in multiple locations. It is high and impenetrable. Last night my Volunteer In Mission group signed the wall with magic markers and left our messages of peace. I can't believe our media in America ignores this wall and doesn't have the time to help ensure hatred on both sides decreases to the point such a wall isn't needed.
Showing posts with label Peace Wall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace Wall. Show all posts
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Community Centers Versus Bombings in Northern Ireland Today
I haven't been to Belfast yet.
To transmit some of what it must be like, consider these words from some people who've been there, Mike and Pat, the leaders of this trip, who have said:
“What we expected and the reality of the trip were very different. We expected to do work and meet people and probably learn more about "The Troubles".
We were not aware of the extent of the continued division between the Protestants and Catholics. The so called "Peace Wall" is huge. There is over 27 miles of fortified wall/fence that is between 30 & 50 feet tall dividing the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods.
Springfield Road Methodist Church straddles the Wall. It has been firebombed 4 times (2 times by each side) because it serves as a safe meeting place for people from both sides.
What we didn't expect was to meet some of the bravest people we have ever known:
The "Golden Girls" a group of Protestant and Catholic women have been meeting together since WWII because they are friends and it is the right thing to do. They have experienced violent altercations and had their lives and families threatened and killed because they continue to seek and live lives of peace for all sides.
Fr. Jerry Reynolds, a Catholic Priest, and Re. Dennis Cooke, Methodist Theologian, who risked their lives to visit with families on both sides who had family members killed during The Troubles.”
Unfortunately, despite the work of these heroes, others in Northern Ireland are still bent on violence. A group that calls itself the Real IRA has recently engaged in violent attacks. For instance:
Three injured in Armagh bomb attack
Friday, 23 April 2010 Belfast Telegraph
Three people were injured after a bomb exploded outside a police station in Northern Ireland, police said.
The blast happened at the Newtownhamilton police station in County Armagh at around 11.25pm on Thursday night.
Three people were taken to hospital in Newry, but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Police were alerted by a call to a Belfast hospital that a vehicle had been abandoned in the area and were en route to the scene when the device exploded.
Homes in the area were evacuated and Newtownhamilton High School was opened up for residents.
A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "Police were made aware that a vehicle had been abandoned in the area after a telephone call was received by a Belfast hospital at around 10.30pm.
"Police were en route to the scene at the time of the explosion."
Nearby properties were damaged in the blast and the town centre was cordoned off.
Ten days ago, a device inside a vehicle was defused outside Newtownhamilton police station.
It came soon after a Real IRA car bomb exploded outside the regional headquarters of M15 in Holywood, Co Down.
After that attack, this news came out:
Monday, 26 April 2010 Belfast Telegraph
Police officers intimidated out of their homes by republicans, police chiefs say
Over 20 police officers and their families in Northern Ireland have been intimidated into leaving their homes by dissident republicans since January, it has been revealed.
The policy of pushing ahead with downsized security despite the danger has seriously weakened the capability of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to respond, a group which represents rank and file officers said.
Last week a barracks at Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, was attacked for the second time in a fortnight.
Police Federation chairman Terry Spence said: "The attacks reflect a growing confidence and competence among dissident republicans and that they are aware that the police are not responding sufficiently robustly to deter them.
"Unless there is a massive step change in the security response we will gradually sleepwalk into a renewal of a full-blown, murderous terrorist campaign."
Since January there have been 18 bomb and mortar attacks, 18 gun attacks, an officer seriously and permanently maimed, and 24 officers and their families intimidated from their homes, the vast majority by dissident republicans.
Mr Spence added: "The latest incident last week, when Newtownhamilton Police Station was attacked for the second time in two weeks, illustrates all too clearly the ineffectiveness of our response as a police service to protecting the community."
I am not meaning to take sides here. These just happen to be two recent news posts and I feel they show significant amounts of hatred, anger, and violence persist in Northern Ireland.
A church and a community center are important anywhere in America. They can be life savers to individual people and can provide critical guidance and connection to their communities. However in the backdrop of past and ongoing violence in Northern Ireland, the Springfield Road Methodist Church and the Forthspring Community Group are vital components to spread tolerance and grace among these separated communities who both worship the same God.
__________________________________________
For more about peace and reconciliation in Ireland, especially Northern Ireland, check out this talk by Reverend Harold Goode.
To transmit some of what it must be like, consider these words from some people who've been there, Mike and Pat, the leaders of this trip, who have said:
“What we expected and the reality of the trip were very different. We expected to do work and meet people and probably learn more about "The Troubles".
We were not aware of the extent of the continued division between the Protestants and Catholics. The so called "Peace Wall" is huge. There is over 27 miles of fortified wall/fence that is between 30 & 50 feet tall dividing the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods.
Springfield Road Methodist Church straddles the Wall. It has been firebombed 4 times (2 times by each side) because it serves as a safe meeting place for people from both sides.
What we didn't expect was to meet some of the bravest people we have ever known:
The "Golden Girls" a group of Protestant and Catholic women have been meeting together since WWII because they are friends and it is the right thing to do. They have experienced violent altercations and had their lives and families threatened and killed because they continue to seek and live lives of peace for all sides.
Fr. Jerry Reynolds, a Catholic Priest, and Re. Dennis Cooke, Methodist Theologian, who risked their lives to visit with families on both sides who had family members killed during The Troubles.”
Unfortunately, despite the work of these heroes, others in Northern Ireland are still bent on violence. A group that calls itself the Real IRA has recently engaged in violent attacks. For instance:
Three injured in Armagh bomb attack
Friday, 23 April 2010 Belfast Telegraph
Three people were injured after a bomb exploded outside a police station in Northern Ireland, police said.
The blast happened at the Newtownhamilton police station in County Armagh at around 11.25pm on Thursday night.
Three people were taken to hospital in Newry, but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Police were alerted by a call to a Belfast hospital that a vehicle had been abandoned in the area and were en route to the scene when the device exploded.
Homes in the area were evacuated and Newtownhamilton High School was opened up for residents.
A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "Police were made aware that a vehicle had been abandoned in the area after a telephone call was received by a Belfast hospital at around 10.30pm.
"Police were en route to the scene at the time of the explosion."
Nearby properties were damaged in the blast and the town centre was cordoned off.
Ten days ago, a device inside a vehicle was defused outside Newtownhamilton police station.
It came soon after a Real IRA car bomb exploded outside the regional headquarters of M15 in Holywood, Co Down.
After that attack, this news came out:
Monday, 26 April 2010 Belfast Telegraph
Police officers intimidated out of their homes by republicans, police chiefs say
Over 20 police officers and their families in Northern Ireland have been intimidated into leaving their homes by dissident republicans since January, it has been revealed.
The policy of pushing ahead with downsized security despite the danger has seriously weakened the capability of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to respond, a group which represents rank and file officers said.
Last week a barracks at Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, was attacked for the second time in a fortnight.
Police Federation chairman Terry Spence said: "The attacks reflect a growing confidence and competence among dissident republicans and that they are aware that the police are not responding sufficiently robustly to deter them.
"Unless there is a massive step change in the security response we will gradually sleepwalk into a renewal of a full-blown, murderous terrorist campaign."
Since January there have been 18 bomb and mortar attacks, 18 gun attacks, an officer seriously and permanently maimed, and 24 officers and their families intimidated from their homes, the vast majority by dissident republicans.
Mr Spence added: "The latest incident last week, when Newtownhamilton Police Station was attacked for the second time in two weeks, illustrates all too clearly the ineffectiveness of our response as a police service to protecting the community."
I am not meaning to take sides here. These just happen to be two recent news posts and I feel they show significant amounts of hatred, anger, and violence persist in Northern Ireland.
A church and a community center are important anywhere in America. They can be life savers to individual people and can provide critical guidance and connection to their communities. However in the backdrop of past and ongoing violence in Northern Ireland, the Springfield Road Methodist Church and the Forthspring Community Group are vital components to spread tolerance and grace among these separated communities who both worship the same God.
__________________________________________
For more about peace and reconciliation in Ireland, especially Northern Ireland, check out this talk by Reverend Harold Goode.
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