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Belfast ancora divisa dai muri dopo 40 anni

Belfast divided backs still to the wall 40 years on

Peaceline | LInea della PaceThe euphemistically named ‘peacelines’ are as old as the Troubles themselves – originally makeshift structures erected by Catholic communities to stave off sectarian attacks in 1969, they were intended to be temporary safety measures. However, by the early 1970s the British army set about building more permanent divides to separate the two communities as violence escalated on the streets.

There has been much debate as to when and how they might eventually come down but more than a decade after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement the walls remain.

The majority are in Belfast – with 42 official peacelines, it is still very much a city divided by bricks and mortar. There are also five security divides in Derry, five in Portadown and one in Lurgan. In recent times the walls have became an unlikely tourist attraction, with murals, artwork and graffiti adorning the base of many of the structures.

Fear of what might happen should the walls come down ensures they continue to exist with the backing of both communities. British army engineers erected the first major peaceline across the Crumlin Road in north Belfast June 1970.

Today the largest of the walls stretches the length of the Springfield Road, keeping the predominantly nationalist west Belfast separate from neighbours in the Shankill area. With several access gates, the wall -–which is made up of over one million bricks – has been a focal point for violence over the years, in recent times centring mainly around the Orange Order Whiterock parade.

And while its purpose was to save lives by forming a buffer zone, the wall has been used as a crossing point for loyalist assassins over the years.

In April 1994 Paul ‘Topper’ Thompson was shot in Springfield Park by UDA gunmen just yards from the giant peaceline which divides the Catholic Moyard from the loyalist Springmartin estate. Earlier that day a female resident had reported to the RUC and the Northern Ireland Office that a hole had been cut in the security barrier.

It was through this hole that the loyalist gunmen entered the Catholic area and made good their escape after murdering 25-year-old Mr Thompson.

The majority of Belfast’s peacelines are interspersed across the north of the city, the most recent of which was built following the 2001 Holy Cross blockade.

The demographic of north Belfast means that communities continue to live back to back with the walls acting as a visible buffer zone.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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