Time seems to be going past quickly and it hardly seems possible that I will be home in less than three weeks. I am excited to see my daughter and friends. At the same time, however, I will be concluding something that has great experience and leaving behind new friends. Thankfully, the friendships will continue. I feel good about what I have experienced and done here and will leave with a thirst for more of Corrymeela and Northern Ireland.
More on Belfast & the Murals
Belfast is easily accessible from Ballycastle via bus (except on Sundays), so it is an attractive place to go on a few days off. In addition to exploring new things, it is great to be able to spend time with friends. A couple of weeks ago, I was back there and decided to take one of the Black Taxi tours of the murals in the Shankill (Protestant) - Falls Road (Catholic) area of West Belfast. This is where I previously took a walking tour guided by a couple of friends. However, our walk was cut short by rain and darkness.
This time, the weather was fantastic - sunny and quite warm. In an earlier post, I wrote a bit about the murals and don`t have a lot to add. In many ways, the pictures below speak for themselves. I would like to note that there are more murals in the city than the ones I have seen. While many of the murals are loaded with strong political statements, I find them an attractive form of accessible public art. It is important to note that there are a number of murals that have themes related to human rights, racism and injustice outside of Northern Ireland
One of the highlights on this tour was stopping at the Peace Wall. This 8 metre high and 5 km long wall separates the Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. Just the name `Peace Wall` is ironic because of the way in which it divides the city. It sits as a constant reminder of the separations and divisions between people of these areas.
The Red Hand of Ulster (depicted in the picture below) is a symbol used to denote to denote the Irish province of Ulster, which is Northern Ireland. Its origins are said to be attributed to a mythical Irish figure and is strongly rooted in Irish Gaelic culture. According to one myth (also told by the taxi driver), the kingdom of Ulster at one time had no rightful heir. To rectify this, it was agreed that a boat race should take place and whoever's hand was the first to touch the shore of Ulster would be the king. The legend is that one potential king so strongly desired the kingship that when seeing he was losing the race, he cut off his hand and tossed it on shore, thus winning the kingship. The hand is most likely red to represent the fact that it would have been covered in blood. Apparently, there are other stories about the origin of the Red Hand, but this one seems to be the predominant one.
The familiar London-style cabs (picture below) were brought to West Belfast at the height of the Troubles when public buses did not serve this area of the city. The taxi service provided a hop-on, hop-off service when regular bus service were severely disrupted. While they originated during a troubled time, the black taxis continue to provide a hop-on, hop-off service and remain an identifiable part of the local community.
I very much enjoyed the tour and appreciated the running commentary by the taxi driver who had grown up in the Falls Road area. He was very entertaining, told excellent stories and certainly had the gift of talking.
Ernie
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