Separation

I see the Queen is visiting Northern Ireland and I was struck byy something: though I've often seen mention in the British press of the separation wall in Jerusalem, I don't think before today I've seen mention of the UK version of same - the separation barriers in Northern Ireland.


- An 18-foot-high (5.5 m) barrier along Springmartin Road in Belfast, with a fortified police station at one end - Wikipedia

Here's a bit from the article I saw today, Belfast's 'peace walls' treble after ceasefires

The number of so-called "peace walls" separating Catholic and Protestant communities in Greater Belfast has trebled since the IRA and loyalist ceasefires, research has found.

There are now 80 permanent barriers dividing loyalist and nationalist areas of the city, according to a report by the Community Relations Council (CRC) in Northern Ireland. In 1994, when the Troubles were declared over, there were 26.

Interviewed in tomorrow's SocietyGuardian, Duncan Morrow, CRC's chief executive officer, is critical of the "terror tours" of the city that include the structures as must-see destinations .... "The walls went up because people didn't feel safe, and the tragedy is that once they are up people hardly imagine feeling safe without them. So we do have a big issue about not just taking walls down but how to make people feel safe after all that we went through," he said ...