During a recent stay in Belfast, I had the opportunity to spend time with some local families from one of the Presbyterian churches in the city. Determined to provide a crash course on the culture of Northern Ireland, the men arranged a variety of experiences for me including a professional rugby match, a visit to the dry dock where the Titanic was built, and a hike up Cavehill overlooking the Belfast Lough. In the evenings we would meet in some of the families’ homes and share home-cooked meals while discussing the issues of the day and relaxing. It was very enlightening to hear their take on world events, but it was the regional politics that truly garnered my attention. The entire weekend was educational and the local hospitality was charming, going above and beyond my expectations, but it quickly became
apparent that some of the cultural differences were not as innocent.
Belfast was a rather comfortable transition for the inexperienced traveler. The primary language is English, many of the idioms are the same –though there were quite a few laughs when I first discovered that “suspenders” are the term used for garters in Ireland –and there seemed to be little risk of accidentally committing a major social faux pas. Despite the ease with which I adapted to this new way of life, a few hastily read pages hardly provide sufficient knowledge for one to be fluent in the local culture. Past troubles are rarely as far removed as we like to believe, and the history of Northern Ireland proved to be no exception.
I was aware of some of the past incidents that had plagued Northern Ireland in the 20th century, and thought that this knowledge would leave me with a reasonable understanding of the state of matters today. Since the 1700’s, Ireland has been at odds with the British Empire. In various attempts to retain control over the island, Britain imposed a wide variety of laws restricting the Irish people, predominantly Catholic, from gaining too much power. These laws ranged from limiting voting rights to the owning of land. The Irish became understandably upset by these prohibitions, and struggled to gain the full rights of citizens; many felt the only way to truly achieve this would be to become a sovereign nation. As a result, political factions in Ireland warred with the British, both through legislation and physical conflicts. Ireland seceded from Britain in 1922, and the Republic of Ireland that we have today was formed in 1948.
Although the majority of Ireland wanted freedom from the British, several counties in the northern part of the island preferred to continue the attachment to Britain. Fearful of rule by the Catholic majority, these six counties, which had primarily Protestant populations, chose to remain part of the United Kingdom. Today they make up Northern Ireland, separate from The Republic of Ireland. Unfortunately for Catholics living in these counties, the Protestant rule was no less gentle than it had been for the Ireland of old. Guided by fear of each other, tensions between religious adherents continued to rise dramatically. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), a group dedicated to uniting the entire island of Ireland, felt that the six counties belonged in The Republic of Ireland. Coupled with Catholic sympathizers in Northern Ireland, the IRA and similar factions led a resistance against the Protestant controlled counties.
In the 1960’s, tensions began to escalate between the two parties, and civil rights protestors found themselves attacked by citizens and off-duty police who favored Protestant power. Riots broke out among many of the cities with heavy Catholic populations and military troops were sent in to restore order on several occasions. By the early 1970’s, the violence had reached its highest point. Although the fighting gradually diminished, it wasn’t until the Belfast Agreement of 1998 that people felt the majority of the troubles were over.
I had the opportunity to speak with Derek, the minister of the Presbyterian church that my host families attended, about the Catholic and Protestant segregation in Belfast; the largest city in Northern Ireland, Belfast hosted the most deaths and violent acts in the country. Derek shared memories that he had of the struggles and commented on the status of Northern Ireland today. He recalled friends of his, all local citizens with no political connections or leanings, who had been murdered in the terrorism of the 1970’s. One young couple that he had married was in a hotel when an incendiary bomb, intended for political heads, detonated and destroyed the entire room. Another member of his congregation was a successful business owner who dealt in lumber. One day, several men rushed into his office, shot him in the head, and ran out laughing. Members of my host families related stories of being checked at every border, sometimes being delayed for hours, while they were searched for bombs or other terrorist materials. Although the situation has improved drastically in past years, Derek explained that there was still some mistrust between Protestants and Catholics.
Despite the improved conditions and civil rights in Belfast today, some remnants of the earlier troubles still linger. Protestant churches typically are located on better land that Catholic ones, and the city is still divided up into quarters where the inhabitants are primarily Protestant or Catholic. At the borders between these divisions, high walls have been erected to help minimize the damage done by thrown bricks and bottles wielded by those who find it difficult to move on from bitter memories. In light of this recent history, certain references are still far from politically acceptable in a land that is still healing. Peter, a member of one of the host families, told of a trip he had taken to the United States of America during St. Patrick’s Day. While spending the evening in a bar, several Americans offered to buy him drinks because of his Irish heritage. At one point that night, they insisted that he must try an Irish Car-Bomb, an alcoholic drink made from Guiness and Bailey’s Irish Cream. A popular beverage among college students, few would think of the name as insulting, but to someone who lived in a place where terrorist car-bombs were a common occurrence, it can be a painful reminder of a less than peaceful time.
Perhaps the nearest comparison that we could relate to would be the racial segregation that was prominent in America during roughly the same time period. Ironically, Europeans still find it hard to believe that America could be so backwards as to allow something as innocuous as race to become a divisive factor. While talking with locals about politics, it wasn’t until I pointed out the parallels between the racial segregation in America and the religious segregation in Ireland that they realized the similarity between the people of their own country and the people of mine. Likewise, people back in the states expressed shock that religious differences would embroil a modern country in violent demonstrations.
As patriotic citizens, we often like to think that our country is a step above the rest, and that any unfortunate events in the past should stay in the past. It is easy to look at the problems in another country and completely miss the resemblances to the problems in our own. In this case, the people of both nations suffered because of a fear and mistrust of those who were different. Rather than harshly weighing each other by a standard that we can’t measure up to either, we should learn from the mistakes that were made by both. Those who believe that America is by far the greatest country in the world, would do well to remember that only a few short decades ago we were struggling through an outrageous amount of discrimination against people whose only difference was a few shades of color. At the same time, those who deprecate America need to realize that there is no Utopia out there, no perfect country, and that other nations have wrestled with the exact same enemy that we have, just under a different name.
Spending time in Belfast was a wonderful experience that allowed me to try and see things that I had never been able to before. My first rugby game was a fantastic experience, and the delicious meals provided left me with a fuller stomach than I’d had in a long time. The greatest things I received though were a renewed appreciation for the cultural differences of other countries, the friendships made, and an understanding that we share the problems of other places around the world.
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