SAOIRSE32

Over the years the peace line has become higher, but in the last year murals have softened its appearance

By Arthur Strain and Peter Hamill
BBC
02 July 2009

Over the years the peace line has become higher, but in the last year murals have softened its appearance

The first one went up eight years after construction started on the Berlin Wall, but 20 years after that wall went down, Northern Ireland still has its so-called peace lines.

For people living in the shadow of a concrete wall topped with fencing the peace they bring can help cement divisions rather than heal communities.

Wall number one, which divides the Falls and Shankill roads at Cupar Street, went up in 1969 following rioting and house burnings in west Belfast. Over the years it has risen to more than six metres.

The last one went up last year in the grounds of a north Belfast integrated primary school following a period of local tension.

There are 53 Northern Ireland Office maintained peace lines in four towns and cities in the region - 42 in Belfast, five in Derry, five in Portadown and one in Lurgan.

However, community relations groups say these are not the only peace lines, with other structures and land being used to keep communities apart.

In a survey for the Community Relations Council the Institute for Conflict Research listed a total of 88 peace lines as well as 44 police CCTV cameras.

Some are listed as wasteland being used by housing authorities as buffer zones, others include derelict houses as well as walls and vegetation to the rear of homes in interface areas.

They still make some people feel safe, but others want more work on taking them down.

Tony Macauley used to live under the Shankill peace line and last year he produced a consultancy paper on a process to remove them.

He said that while they initially made him feel safe he quickly realised that they did not stop people crossing over to carry out killings.

He now lives in a seaside town and said that for younger people in interface areas the peace lines have become part of the fabric of their area, as accepted as the murals that adorn gable walls.

“I can remember when the peace walls went up, but there is an entire generation who have known nothing else,” he said.

“People who grew up in some of those areas and are under 40 have no idea what it was like before them.

“But they used to be mixed areas, the communities used to live side by side.”

The CRC lists some of the peace lines as fences around enclaves and swathes of scrub used as buffers in interface areas.

Others cannot be mapped, as Mr Macauley explained.

“It happens in urban areas, but also in rural ones, where people know they should avoid a certain route to get somewhere or there would be some park they would not go to,” he said.

He said that until communities could agree to live without them the walls would have to stay, but his hope is that talking about removing them will eventually lead to them going.

It takes an outsider to be shocked by the sight of the a peace wall and what it is - a means to stop people living in a western democracy at the start of the 21st century attacking each other.

But even on the walls change can be seen. Murals and graffiti art expressing hopes for peace and a brighter future feature on the Belfast wall now.

Photographer Les McLean is a regular visitor to Belfast and has been capturing its people for years.

He said that the peace murals and messages that have been appearing on the walls have helped soften their harsh look, but there is no disguising what they are.

“I like what they are saying now - the message that’s coming out of there,” he said.

“I’ve been photographing them for the last two or three years and I have always felt I couldn’t understand why they were called a peace line, I’ve always thought they were more about division,” he said.

News Letter
02 July 2009

An Orange Order parade in Coleraine passed off peacefully despite high tension in the town in recent weeks.

Kevin McDaid, a Catholic, died after an attack by a loyalist mob last month in the mixed Heights area of the town.

An estimated 2,000 participants and supporters and 12 bands turned out on Wednesday night for the annual Somme Commemoration parade in the town, which first began in 1960.

Robert Mclreavey, secretary of hosts Killowen LOL 930, said only his lodge and one local band had passed on the parade’s traditional route through the Heights area, as a mark of respect to the McDaid family. The band played no music as they passed by and joined up with the rest of the parade at a later part of the route.

“It was a very successful and peaceful night,” he said. “It was not a celebration, it was a commemoration of those that lost their lives at the Battle of the Somme and in other theatres of war such as Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Irish Republican Socialist Party — Derry
30 June 2009

The Irish Republican Socialist Party condemns the attack on the Patsy O’Hara memorial in Bishop Street (Derry) which occurred we believe on Monday morning at or around 3.30am.

IRSP spokesperson Martin McMonagle described the attack as pointless but sinister.

“Presently we do not know who carried out the attack on the memorial and we would appeal for anyone who seen anyone in that area at that time to get in touch with the IRSP.

“This attack was carried out by cowards under the cover of darkness. To attack a memorial to one of our hunger strikers is absolutely deplorable. Members of our party have already spoken to residents in Bishop Street and there is a very real feeling of anger at this attack on the memorial.

“This is the second time that this area has come under similar attack. Last year the accompanying mural nearby was paint bombed.

“Patsy O’Hara was and is held in the highest regard by the people of Bishop Street and the entire city and as such we would view this attack on the memorial as an attack on the entire republican community of Derry. Anyone with any information can contact the IRSP on 71353090 or derryirsp@gmail.com.”