The Troubles

Frank was steeped in the Troubles, the unrest in Belfast in the 70s and 80s. The conflicts between Protestants and Catholics was ramping up, and daily killings, kidnappings, and fighting occurred. In his own block a sniper shot and killed a young boy and shot three times at Frank - he showed us the bullet marks. He showed us where numerous innocent people were killed. He explained how he and his family had gone to drop their daughter off to meet a friend, and two minutes after they drove away, a bomb exploded, killing his daughter's friend. And he showed us the factory where he was working when the IRA came inside, pushed him and three others into a room, holding them at gunpoint and ultimately killing one of them because he could not move fast enough, and attempting to blow up the building (the police defused the bomb inside). That was when Frank decided to join the Protestant defenders, but his mom intervened and had him join the British military. Frank realizes that all groups were responsible for the Troubles. The attack on him was in retaliation for an attack by the Protestants on the Catholic factory across the street. Car bombs, snipers, brawls were equally used, and innocent people were murdered. The Peace process was brokered by the US, in secret on the floor above our room in our hotel which was then an office building. Frank took part in the negotiations for Peace, and all parties had to come to the table. The government impounded all guns, a peace wall was created separating Catholic neighborhoods from Protestant neighborhoods, and the peace has held. And Frank is friends with people who he never could have associated with years before.