Stabekkmedia: Breezing through Belfast

When we woke up this morning, we were in Dublin. When we went to bed, we were in Dublin. But the rest of the day we spent in another country.

Apart from the 5 hours spent on the bus today, we have used the day learning the ins and outs of the current situation in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, we only had time for two guided tours today, since we needed to fill up the tank with energy from the local taverna. Pub food around here basically consits of one color: yellow fries, chicken and heaps of custard for dessert. It does the trick, though.

The first stop of the day was visiting the republican (Catholic) graveyard in Belfast to put some flowers on the graves of people unjustly imprisoned during the troubles (70s and 80s). Giueseppe Conlon (from the movie IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER) and Bobby Sands, who starved himself to death in a hunger strike in 1981 along with 9 others.

The republican street "the Falls" is lined with murals depicing injustice and important historical events (from their point of view.) He was elected to the parliament while in jail! Here is Bobby Sands commemorated:

What made this tour memorable were the guides, who were all former IRA-members. They had all served time in jail, and now, thanks the the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998, they were here telling us their side of the story. You listen to someone who has spent 16 years in jail. They were not too optimistic about the future of Northern Ireland, but things have certainly come a long way since the troubles.

Yours truly and one of our guides.

Our guide also showed us a primary school where the first gunfight broke out between British soldiers and IRA men. You can see the bullet holes in the wall. The aftermath was that many of the surrounding houses were burnt down by angry protestants, according to my guide.

Next on the agenda was Stormont, an enormous castle on a grassy hill outside the city. This is where Parliament is located when it is not closed because of a hostile atmosphere. Now it has been functioning since 2007. We learned a lot about how Stormont and its politicians fit into the big picture in a surprisingly captivating tour and lecture.