Travels with my Wallet

[Roos Demol]

Last weekend, we( me and my two eldest sons) went to Antrim, Northern Ireland to attend the Irish Juvenile Athletics championships.
We had booked a hotel in Belfast, and we were a little nervous about going there, having heard for years how violent the place was. Now we knew about the peace process and the good Friday agreement, but still, Belfast keeps reminding us of bombs, murders and nothing much else.

It was a long drive up there from Cork, after about five hours in the car, we passed the Northern Irish border. The only way we knew that was the sudden appearance of Union Jacks and Ulster flags along the motorway.

Those flags adorned the express way every 50 metres, as if we had to be reminded constantly that we were now on British territory.

Arriving in Belfast, we saw more and more Union Jacks, we had obviously entered on the loyalist side of the city.
We couldn't enter the street of our hotel, because there was an Orange parade going on. The PSNI was there in pantsered cars, ready to intervene in any trouble.
We got out of the car, and could hear the flute and the drums of the parade, but didn't see anything.
Everything went very peacefully, and half an hour later, the police drove away.

The car park of the hotel was barb-wired, which made us feel intinidated, but secure as well. Irish cars are not so welcome in loyalist areas.
We settled and went for a stroll in Belfast.
Sipke didn't want to speak, he feared his Irish accent could cause trouble.
But we didn't come across any more signs of troubles, on the contrary, all we saw was people out partying.
Every pub was full and everyone was drunk.
The city was packed with pink limousines filled with girls on a hen night, guys out for stag-nights, and just loads of people having fun.
That is the result of the peace process. Belfast has, apart from some hard-headed individuals, stopped fighting and as a reaction to the hard times, now parties hard.

Sipke and Fintan didn't like the sight of drunk after drunk after drunk, so we made it back to the hotel. The next two days we spent at the athletics track. We had one more walk through Belfast.
I can't say I liked it. There is an unpleasant athmosphere around the place. As if you can feel the tension that there still is between the two communities.

I was happy to leave, and, unless I have to, I won't be going back.

[Jon]

It sounds so Disparate. I am sorry you had to witness it and feel it so strongly.