Belfast 101

Belfast may have had a peace accord for the past ten years, but they certainly haven't forgotten the war, witnessed by these images I snapped on my "terror tour". The gentleman who picked me up at the airport for the Belfast Film Festival had been a hunger striker in support of the IRA; the other gentleman who worked for the festival who kindly took me on a tour of the amazing murals in the Repbulican (Catholic) neighbourhoods of the city gave me a crash course in their struggle against the Loyalists (Protestants).


Thou Shalt Not Kill Protestant Boys

These are what they call "Peace Walls", still segregating the Catholics from the Protestants to this day. Looks a little bit like Palestine to me.

Sinn Fein headquarters. My guide informed me that they were blown up once by a gay Loyalist cop whose lover, another gay Loyalist cop, was killed in the conflict. Sounds like a movie to me, although it would be better as a Romeo and Romeo story if one was Republican and one was Loyalist.

The Belfast version of the Berlin Wall.




Viva Cuba!