dreaming in fields of green.: Northern Ireland...so we're in a different country?

Well, I was completely ignorant of Irish history while living in the U.S. Actually, embarrassingly ignorant! I spent the second half of my spring break in Northern Ireland...which is part of the UK. I'm actually taking three different classes relating to the Northern Irish Troubles and feel like I could write a text book on it now, so I am now well aware of the situation and feel much better about myself(: I mean, you can't learn about every country's history...but the Northern Irish Troubles is a HUGE deal! It really saddens me how not many of my friends back home have heard of it either, and I would say it is arguably still going on today. The Troubles have only recently come to an end, but violence still occurs occasionally and the hearts of Irish people are still hardened. The first two days of my trip were purely academic, and extremely overwhelming. We began by taking a tour of Stormont, the Parliament in Northern Ireland. Here we got to meet with two political figures on each side, the unionist and nationalist side, that is. (Unionist support Ireland as uniting with the UK, nationalists want a united Ireland. There's literally a dozen political parties and factions on each side though, it hurts my brain sometimes!) While each speaker was obviously biased, it was interesting to see their point of view. I always ask questions when given the opportunity, and they both were more than willing to answer. I'm not going to go into detail about what they said or the questions I asked, because that's not what I got from the trip (considering I don't really remember the details...).

But after only the first day, I was more confused than ever. A war of propaganda was being played, a battle for hearts and minds. While there may have been a peace process, it was still clear that discrimination still existed. The murals in Northern Ireland were a testament of that. The murals were a force of intimidation during the Troubles. They served other purposes also, acting as memorials and political campaigns. These were some of the murals I saw on a "black cab tour." These tours are a part of dark tourism, people coming to see the remnants of a time of violence and destruction. We also went to the "peace wall," dividing the Catholic and Protestant communities. There's even a gate that closes at night! People throw rocks over the wall, and it used to be petrol bombs that were thrown, knowing that it would hit someone on the other side - someone of the opposite faith. The peace wall was covered in graffiti, and we even got to add our own comments! I chose to put 1 Corinthians 13:13. It seems crazy to me that Catholics and Protestants have been in such a bitter war against one another, when they are both of Christian roots and believe in God. It hurts my heart to know that God's people, living across the road from each other, experience such hatred that they are willing to kill. It seems that religion is only a label, but a label that will get you murdered. Hundreds of innocent civilians were murdered for carrying that label, but we are all God's people! I even stood next to sights were bombings occurred. I stood at the place where 4 innocent people were murdered in a shooting - two moms with their two kids at a furniture store. How is that justified?! At each site, I knew all I could do was pray with all my heart. For the victims, their families, and most of all - tolerance and peace.

On a more lighthearted note, I also got to be a tourist in Northern Ireland and experience the beauty of the coast in Portrush. The Carrick - a - Rede Rope Bridge, the Bushmills Distillery, the Giants Causeway, the Dunluce Castle, and the Glenariff National Park were all just as amazing as they sound! A picture speaks louder than words in this case...