The Peace Wall

Although peace lines were erected as early as the 1930s, after the Good Friday Peace Agreement the zone separating the Catholic neighborhoods from the Protestant neighborhoods were built higher and stretched about 20 miles. Along the walls of the zone, people create murals. Some of the murals are beautiful creations, some are quite political. The area between the walls is a "demilitarized zone," where gates are closed every night. One part of the wall is neither Catholic nor Protestant, and people leave their signatures on the wall, but in areas where the wall is distinctly Catholic or Protestant, signatures are not allowed. Our guide took issue with many of the murals, because he felt that they glorified either the IRA or the UVF, and he said both groups are terrorist groups, killing innocent people just to kill.

Most recently (just a few weeks ago) the 3-D mural above was dedicated. It is a lovely, colorful mural, and our guide is hoping it could lead to some unification. Several groups have been trying to take down the walls, thinking they are no longer needed, but they are still up and apparently working.