The peace walls
Barriers first put up as "temporary" measures in 1969 to separate Catholic and Protestant streets multiply through the Troubles, and many still stand decades after the peace.
- Making Sense of the Troubles — David McKittrick and David McVea, Blackstaff Press (2000)
- Together: Building a United Community — Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (2013)
- Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction — Marc Mulholland, Oxford University Press (2002)
After the riots of August 1969, the army put up barricades of barbed wire and corrugated iron between Catholic and Protestant streets in Belfast, starting with the line between the Falls and the Shankill. They were meant to be temporary. Over the Troubles they became steel, brick and mesh walls, some taller than a house, with gates that are still locked at night.
- Making Sense of the Troubles — David McKittrick and David McVea, Blackstaff Press (2000)
- Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction — Marc Mulholland, Oxford University Press (2002)
Counts vary depending on what is called a barrier, but there are roughly a hundred “interface structures”, mostly in north and west Belfast, with others in Derry, Portadown and Lurgan. In 2013 the Executive pledged to remove them all by 2023. That target was missed: some have been taken down or opened, but many residents, especially older people who lived through attacks, want them kept.
- Together: Building a United Community — Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (2013)
The walls reflect a wider pattern. In Belfast most public housing is still largely single-identity, and most children go to schools that are mainly Catholic or mainly Protestant. Only a small minority, well under one in ten, attend the “integrated” schools set up to educate them together, though polls consistently show most parents like the idea.
- Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction — Marc Mulholland, Oxford University Press (2002)
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey — ARK (Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University)
Why it matters today
The walls are the starkest sign that peace has not meant reconciliation everywhere. Many of those who live beside them say they still feel safer with them, and the communities on either side are among the poorest and most affected by the conflict. They are also, uneasily, a tourist attraction.