Walls will stay until divisions tackled
IT will come as no surprise to anyone that communities living near peacewalls are still evenly split on whether or not they should be removed. The first temporary walls were erected in Belfast around the time of the formation of Northern Ireland, but the edifices with which we are most accustomed were creations of the most recent Troubles.
It may be 22 years since the Good Friday Agreement heralded, optimistically as it turned out, a new inclusive and peaceful society. The ending of violence was the easy bit, but the fear and suspicion bred by 30 years of violence has proved much more resistant. A survey carried out for the Department of Justice found that 42% of local residents wanted the walls to stay in place. Concern over safety and effective community policing were cited as significant factors.
Divisive politics are not mentioned but it is obvious that polarised policies of the DUP and Sinn Fein do little to foster closer community relationships.
Those who live far from the shadow of the peace walls may well decry them as blots on the landscape which should be torn down but then they did not live in areas like north Belfast which saw two thirds of all sectarian killings during the Troubles and in response is pockmarked by peace walls and gates.
There were 18 barriers in the city in the early 1990s but this rose to 59 barriers, gates and blocked roads by the year 2017 indicating how communities still feared the consequences of living cheek by jowl with each other.
Much money has been poured into seeking a resolution to the problem of peace walls — the NI Executive set 2023 as the date by when all should be removed — and it has borne some fruit with opinions softening but still far from reaching any consensus of tearing down the edifices.
People living beside the walls accept that they blight their communities and are a deterrent to inward investment — factors which lead to a cycle of despair, despondency and disadvantage. Indeed the major economic activity in the areas dominated by walls is terror tourism with visitors keen to see the most walled city in Europe. Londonderry and Portadown also have barriers but these are of a minor nature compared to Belfast. Images of the walls and barriers — some reaching great heights — create a poor image of Northern Ireland but they are a potent symbol of the divisions which still exist in people’s minds as well as on their streets. Sadly the walls will remain until those divisions are tackled and agreement is reached by all on both sides of the barriers to take them down.