Peace walls: 40 years on
It is 40 years this year since the first peace walls went up in Belfast.
In July 1969, soldiers moved in to erect the first official barriers.
Many more have gone up in the post ceasefire years, and at the last count the number of barriers in the city stood at 88.
This week on UTV Live we have a special series looking at the history of the walls and the issues, and local communities have their say on whether it is time to knock them down.
They went up as supposedly ramshackle temporary barriers as a quick fix designed to replace street barricades erected amidst bloody secarian clashes in Belfast in 1969.
But 40 years on the peace walls are still there, 40 feet high in places, and looking every inch permanent pieces of the fabric of a still divided society.
In Belfast, a survey has shown that a huge majority of people living on the interfaces want the walls to come down but they don’t believe the time is right, just yet.
The survey found that 81 per cent of residents were in favour of the walls coming down, but 60 per cent said they didn’t believe the time was right at the minute.
Only 21 per cent of them wanted them to come down now, and 17 per cent said they didn’t care if the walls never came down.
In Belfast, one woman who opposed the demolition of a wall on her doorstep said that not only did she not know anyone who lived just yards from her across the fence, but she also said she had never seen what was on the other side.
Watch the special series on peace walls on UTV Live from June 15th – 17th.
