Belfast city wall
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Duration: 3:27 | Images: Images: Olivier Clairouin / The Monde.fr
Fifteen years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement for the first time to Republicans and Unionists in Northern Ireland to work hand in hand, Belfast is scarified by numerous "peace walls" scars of civil war. Scattered throughout the capital, they resist time and remain firmly defended by most of the people living on both sides.Patiently, some organizations try to demolish the psychological barriers before perhaps, one day, to address the barbed wire and brick walls.
Fifteen years after the peace agreement, Belfast remains walled
The Monde.fr | • Updated
By Alexandre Pouchard
Belfast, special envoy. whoever comes to Belfast, they are inevitable scars that slash neighborhoods of the capital of Northern Ireland. That stare streets, bristling with barbed son. Parks that cut through a big pile of metal. Mal-called "peace walls" separating Catholic and Protestant are ever present in the streets of Belfast, with their share of fences, gates, window bars, a school here, where a centersocial .
However, fifteen years ago, April 10, 1998, the "Good Friday Agreement", signed by the British government - along with the "unionists" Protestants - Catholics and Republicans, who want the attachment of Ireland North the Irish Republic, put an end to thirty years of civil war that has claimed more than 3,500 lives. And paved the way for the hope of a peaceful coexistence between the Protestant and Catholic communities in this province of 1.8 million people.
Fifteen years later, the walls are still there, at number 99, according to a recent statement of the organization Belfast Interface Project. Some of them have been built over the last decade, others have been enhanced a few meters. This is the case of the wall that darkens the courtyard behind the house of Stuart Tould in the Protestant enclave neighborhood Catholic Short Strand in east Belfast. The Wall, already composed of bricks and plates, was "completed" by a fence in 2003 toreach a total height of nine meters. "We regularly stones, bottles and firecrackers we fall over , regrets painter in search of employment . Especially during July parades. "
This summer, during which each community through the streets, exacerbating tensions and is therefore feared by all residents of the walls. Thus goes he to Tim (the name has been changed). His house is on the other side of Duncairn Avenue(west), which passes the Orange march of 12 July, which commemorates the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic Jacques II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 . A brick wall and plate rises at the end of his little court.Not enough, according to a devout Catholic, whose house is lined with icons of the Virgin Mary. "Last summer, they threw stones at night. This is very dangerous, the wall must remain , it is thanks to him that we are safe. "
"BOTH PRISON AND PROTECTION"
These are episodes like this, or like the riots that erupted after the removal of the Union Jack from the pediment of the town hall of Belfast in January, which feed among the residents "need" walls. Catholics and Protestants share the feeling of protection provided by these, and ideally postponed to a distant future, a city without walls. "It is both a prison and a protection" , says Stuart Tould. " Each stone's throw can revive violence " , regrets MacGabhann Sean , a native of Catholic Short Strand area.
It is understandable when the result of a study by the University of Ulster (PDF),published in September 2012, that only 14% of the residents with a "peace wall" want it to be destroyed in the near future.
"DELETE PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS"
"It is only by removing the fear factor that can happen to destroy these walls" , says John McQuillan , Belfast Interface Project. This organization intends neutral"regenerate" the territories where the walls rise by social work improving the quality of life. "In these areas, the standard of living today is often the same as thirty years ago , says Mr. McQuillan. plays social misery for many in the current situation and the feelings of everyone. " It is only the fighter, he assures, "the psychological barriers fall, and after them, physical barriers " .
The partitioning of communities - by neighborhoods, schools (5% of them are only confession mixed) by club sports - obviously not only promotes these developments. "Only the work is not segregated, unlike the rest of social life , says Neil Jarman, director of the Institute for Conflict Research . But things have improved: the riots of the Union Jack remained confined to a few districts when they are extended to the entire city, would Are there ten years. "
This is partly the result of the work of associations working for many years tostrengthen community relations. The International Fund for Ireland, created twenty-five years and funded European and American in particular, has launched in 2012a program whose ultimate goal is the destruction of some walls. But it starts with a phase of consultation. "We want people to feel confident , says Billy Gamble, a member of the board of the organization. We initiated discussions very positive about what would be a future without walls., but we can not go faster than the communities themselves. they alone must decide and mark the rhythm. "
"This is a very slow process , confirms Jonny Byrne , co-author of the study from the University of Ulster. separations have been there so long that they have created a 'natural environment' for the inhabitants. Whether this would environment without walls is difficult of imagine and change is scary. "
A REFERENDUM "WITHIN SIX OR SEVEN YEARS"
Political parties urged to act primarily on this issue - including the inhabitants of the rest of Northern Ireland, who abhor the "wall of shame" tainting the reputation of the province - are measured. "Everyone would like to see the walls being slaughtered, of course , assures Peter Weir, DUP MP Unionist Party in Northern Ireland Assembly. But this requires the support of communities, residents must feelcomfortable with this decision if it is taken. "
"It's only fifteen years there has been a peace agreement after dozens, hundreds of years of conflict between Protestants and Catholics , tempers Niall O Donnghaile, advisor Municipal Party Republican Sinn Féin and former mayor of Belfast. Everything is not going to solve a snap. ago has been progress, society has changed, I'm sure the conditions will be fulfilled one day. "
Unless events such as the crisis of the Union Jack, is reviving tensions. Sinn Féin retains its ultimate goal of integrating Northern Ireland in the Irish Republic. The old window policy of the IRA, which has now laid down their arms, now focusing toachieve its goals on the organization of a referendum on self-determination, authorized by the Good Friday Agreement. This position is also based on demographic change underway in Northern Ireland according to the latest census figures in December, the proportion of Protestants (mostly unionists) fell for the first time below 50% with 48%. Catholics, they represent 45% of the population ."We hope that [vote] is organized by six or seven years , announced Alex Maskey, a member of Sinn Féin. opinion We have a comprehensive and mature who would not let intimidate by threats of violence. Talk about anything before. "
Alexander Pouchard
Wednesday April 10, 2013 18:23
by The Undertaker
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Jump To Comment: 1A crowd assembled in Glasgow's George Square where in 1989 protests to the introduction of Thatcher's poll tax took place.Some wore party hats and streamers while a bottle of champagne was cracked with a toast to the deathof Baroness Thatcher.
The Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Working Party, the International Socialist Group, were also joined by the public to mark the occasion. People also gathered in Brixton, south London the scene of fierce riots in 1981 two years into her first time in office.
In British Occupied Ireland a crowd gathered in Derry to 'celebrate' the death. Many waving Tricolour flags gathered at the famous Free Derry Corner in the city's Bogside. Chinese lanterns were lit as families gathered in the area. Crowds also gathered on the Falls Road in west Belfast. TH he left did little to disguise their jubilation at her death.
However there was one notable in Martin McGuinness, who after attending the last Tory conference, the courtisied to the Queen while embracing her white glove with his naked commoner flesh he then ordered all celebrations of Thatchers death to cease.
George Galloway, ex-Labour , denounce her policies on apartheid and Ireland. “May she burn in the hellfires. She was a witch.” Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, when the Greater London Council was abolished by Lady Thatcher, said “She created today’s housing crisis, she produced the banking crisis, she created the benefits crisis. Every real problem we face today is the legacy of the fact she was fundamentally wrong.”
Musician celebrity, Morrissey, long a critic of Baroness Thatcher, berated her as "barbaric, without an atom of humanity". His creations include, tracks such as Margaret On The Guillotine. He claimed she was "charged by negativity" and said she "closed" rather than opened the doors for women as the first female PM.He further said: "Thatcher is remembered as The Iron Lady because she possessed completely negative traits with as persistent stubbornness and refusal to listen to others.
"Every move she made was charged by negativity; she destroyed the British manufacturing industry, she hated the miners, she hated the arts, she hated the Irish freedom fighters and allowed them to die, she hated the English poor and did nothing at all to help them, she hated Greenpeace and environmental protectionists, she was the only European political leader who opposed a ban on the Ivory Trade, she had no wit and no warmth and even her own Cabinet booted her out.
Thatcher will only be fondly remembered by sentimentalists who did not suffer under her leadership, but the majority of British working people have forgotten her already, and the people of Argentina will be celebrating her death. As a matter of recorded fact, Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity," he said.
Film director Ken Loach described her as "an enemy of the working class. Margaret Thatcher was the most divisive and destructive Prime Minister of modern times. Mass unemployment, factory closures, communities destroyed – this is her legacy. She was a fighter and her enemy was the British working class. Her victories were aided by the politically corrupt leaders of the Labour Party and of many Trades Unions. It is because of policies begun by her that we are in this mess today.
"Other prime ministers have followed her path, notably Tony Blair. She was the organ grinder, he was the monkey. Remember she called Mandela a terrorist and took tea with the torturer and murderer Pinochet.How should we honour her? Let’s privatise her funeral. Put it out to competitive tender and accept the cheapest bid. It's what she would have wanted."
Provisional Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said Thatcher caused "great hurt to the Irish and British people. Working class communities were devastated in Britain because of her policies..Margaret Thatcher will be especially remembered for her shameful role during the epic hunger strikes of 1980 and 81.Her Irish policy failed miserably."
The general secretary of Durham Miners' Association said Baroness Thatcher's death was a "great day" for coal miners.Ex-miner David Hopper, 70, spent all of his working life at Wearmouth Colliery, said: "It looks like one of the best birthdays I have ever had. There's no sympathy from me for what she did to our community. She destroyed our community, our villages and our people. For the union this could not come soon enough and I'm pleased that I have outlived her. It's a great day for all the miners, I imagine we will have a counter demonstration when they have her funeral. Our children have got no jobs and the community is full of problems. There's no work and no money and it's very sad the legacy she has left behind. She absolutely hated working people and I have got very bitter memories of what she did. She turned all the nation against us and the violence that was meted out on us was terrible. I would say to those people who want to mourn her that they're lucky she did not treat them like she treated us.
Darren Vaines, 47, a former miner who worked in West Yorkshire and was on strike for 12 months said: "It's a very strange emotional feeling because her death brings back a lot of memories and opens up a wound that has never really healed. The cut went so deep people have never been able to forget about it. It's something they can never get out of their system." His friend and colleague David Jones was killed at 24 when violence erupted on a picket line at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire in 1984, also said many communities have never come to terms with Mrs Thatcher's actions.
Baroness Thatcher’s divisive legacy continues with not just old political foes who appeared to welcome her death. When the news reached National Union of Students (NUS) conference, it was met with applause and cheering.
The Guardian with an article titled "Martin McGuinness tells republicans to stop celebrating Thatcher's death" stated :
"Martin McGuinness has called for an end to republicans organising parties to celebrate Margaret Thatcher's death, even though she was the IRA's No 1 target when he was the Provisionals' chief of staff during the 1980s.
In a move that surprised many republicans, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister said on Tuesday that people should not celebrate Lady Thatcher's death.
Celebrations were held in McGuinness' home city of Derry: dissident republicans held a party close to the spot of the Bloody Sunday massacre on Monday, the night of her death.
In republican West Belfast, people gathered near a mural dedicated to the memory of the IRA hunger strike Bobby Sands to celebrate the former prime minister's death. People drank beer and released Chinese lanterns into the air, while passing motorists on the Falls Road honked car horns.
But McGuinness, who was once one of the most powerful figures in the Provisional IRA, implored republicans and nationalists to "resist celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher". Sinn Féin's chief negotiator during negotiations for the IRA ceasefire and the peace process said: "She was not a peacemaker, but it is a mistake to allow her death to poison our minds."
Unionist politicians denounced the partying as ghoulish and disgusting. Further celebrations in republican redoubts of Northern Ireland are planned for Lady Thatcher's funeral next week.
Jim Allister, a hardline Traditional Unionist Voice member of the Stormont Assembly, said: "What an insight into the depravity of IRA supporters: their ghoulish street parties to celebrate the death of Mrs Thatcher."
Jonathan Bell, a Democratic Unionist Assembly member for Strangford, said: "While many will differ on policy, such is the nature of the democratic process, all right-thinking people will regard the carnival celebrations following Baroness Thatcher's death deeply inappropriate. At a time of bereavement there should be human compassion for those in mourning."
Unionist politicians were not the only ones denouncing the street parties. David Ford, the leader of the centrist Alliance Party and the justice minister of Northern Ireland, said that while many people disagreed with Baroness Thatcher's policies, "this is no cause for the scenes we have witnessed".
Ford added: "There can never be any justification for the celebration of the death of another human. It is wrong and they should not have taken place."
Alan Shatter, his counterpart in the Irish Republic, also criticised Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin president, for claiming Lady Thatcher caused huge hurt to the Irish people. Shatter said Adams should remember that the Provisional IRA caused a great deal of hurt during the Troubles.
Shatter said: "I think those who comment critically on Margaret Thatcher, in particular those in Sinn Féin who do so, shouldn't be allowed to forget that they were directly responsible, and the Provisional IRA, were responsible for a murderous bombing of a Conservative Party conference that resulted in the death of a number of people."
The Irish Justice Minister was commenting on the IRA's attempt to kill Lady Thatcher and her cabinet in the 1984 Brighton Bomb. Following the explosion at the Grand Hotel during the Tory Party conference, the IRA warned that it "only had to be lucky once" in its bids to kill the prime minister. The IRA blamed Thatcher for the deaths of 10 republican prisoners during the 1981 hunger strike. Brighton was seen by many, both republicans and their enemies, as a revenge attack.
Republican leaders have subsequently claimed that it was Lady Thatcher's stubborn refusal to bend to the prisoners' demands for political status that prolonged the 1981 hunger strike. However, some republicans, including Richard O'Rawe, the former press officer for the IRA inside the Maze prison in 1981, have claimed there is evidence that the Thatcher government offered a compromise on the prisoners' demands in early July 1981 that could have ended the hunger strike and saved six lives.
The suggestion appears to be that Thatcher, while instinctively pro-unionist, was far more pragmatic than ideological in directing Northern Ireland policy. Four years after the hunger strike, she stunned unionists by signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement which gave the republic a say in the running of Northern Ireland. Her decision provoked widespread anger within the unionist community, who accused her of betrayal. Later at a mass protest involving more than 200,000 unionists at Belfast City Hall, her effigy was burned alongside that of the Irish tricolour. For that reason, while the union flag will fly half mast next week during her funeral, there is likely to be no mass outpouring of grief, even in unionist strongholds, where many have never forgiven her perceived treachery."
Cill Dara Shinn Féin Poblachtach staement :
"Thatcher dies: memory of Hunger Strikers lives on
The announcement of the death of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on April 8 immediately brought to mind all of those who were victims of her policies and unrelenting right-wing ideology.
It affects us here in Ireland as well but around the world both directly and indirectly by her unstinting support for fascist regimes such as that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
In Ireland we of course think at once of the 1981 hunger strikes and the stonehearted response of Thatcher’s government to any appeal to a common humanity. The Patron of Republican Sinn Féin Ruairà Ó Brádaigh says that one of his abiding memories of the 1981 election campaign in support of the prisoner candidates is that at the very mention of the name Bobby Sands people would raise their heads whereas when Margaret Thatcher’s name was uttered people’s heads would drop.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News At One programme on April 8 the former deputy-leader of the SDLP Séamus Mallon stated that Thatcher viewed the 26-County State as merely a colony of Britain.
Under Thatcher a vicious war of terror was waged on the nationalist people of the Six Counties, which included a stepping up of the collusion between British State forces and loyalist death squads.
Human rights lawyers such as Pat Finucane, assassinated by a British-backed loyalist death squad in 1988, became prime targets of a British State determined to crush all opposition to its hold on Ireland.
To understand Thatcher you must grasp that she was an unreconstructed colonialist who could not imagine the sun ever setting on a fast-diminishing British world dominance.
Her imperialist adventure to wrest Las Malvinas back from Argentina in 1982 seemed more like something from 1882 but was very much part of the image she wished to cultivate.
Cloaking herself in jingoism and intolerance she was prepared to murder over 323 young Argentinean sailors on the Belgrano in order to bolster her grip on power in Britain.
Within her own State she had no scruples about waging war on entire communities and almost the entire trade union movement, openly declaring that the miners were “the enemy within”.
The scars of the social upheaval caused by Thatcherism are all too evident in the Britain of 2013. As one commentator noted she was prepared to sacrifice two-thirds of her people in order to satisfy one-third. Her legacy was one of polarisation and increased inequality.
From an Irish perspective she epitomised a British political establishment that had failed to learn from its experience by continuing to implement the same polices of coercion and oppression in response to the Irish people’s demand for national freedom. Sadly her successors seem as blinkered in their approach to Ireland.
The continued repression directed against Irish Republicans simply prolongs the conflict while internationally Thatcher’s faith in an unregulated market helped sow the seeds of the present world economic collapse with its dire consequences for working people throughout Europe and around the world.
So on this day we do not mourn her passing but here in Ireland we proudly remember those who died in defiance of her attacks on freedom and democracy.'
Party Pooper Grieving McGuinness