NORTHERN IRELAND

It's now April 13, as we cross the Irish Sea.  We arrived in Belfast close to 5 p.m.  A local guide met us at the dock to take us on a quick tour of her town.  Our first stop is Queen's University with 21,000 students.  We went past a few segregated neighborhoods (there are about 25 of these neighborhoods with fences and some with barbed wire).  We did stop occasionally to take pictures of a few of the murals from both the nationalists (Irish Catholics) and the unionists (English Protestants) who want to remain under British rule.  Unemployment is about 20%, with poverty and discrimination against the Catholics at a high level.

The government (now under self-rule) permits the murals since in the past each group defaced the others which led to more tension and fighting.  Our guide told us the six northern counties in Ireland voted (65% Protestant) to remain under British rule when the Republic of Ireland was formed in the early 1920s.  The problems can be traced back to King James II in 1650 when he made the decision to "import" lowland people (Scottish Presbyterians) as permanent residents.

Our hotel was only a few blocks from City Hall.  We stopped briefly because of a large crowd and police presence.  We were told that Prince Albert and Sophie were to visit.  We decided to return to the hotel and just as we were exiting the bus at the hotel we saw the motorcade drive by.  We did walk the main street around our hotel.  Many buildings were abandoned or boarded up.  The street was busy with pedestrians and we saw no problems.

The next morning we went north and stopped at Ballycastle, a small fishing town.  Traveling along the coast we next stopped at Dunluce Castle which has the distinction of part of the castle sliding into the ocean.  We then spent a few hours at the Giant's Causeway.  Then it was on to Londonderry with it's old city wall.  When we were walking the city wall, we had a clear view of Bogside and the fortified police stations with about 20 foot walls and huge camera towers to watch the segregated neighborhoods.  Bogside is famous for the Uprising in 1971 when 16 Catholics were killed.

St. Columb's Cathedral was inside the old walled city.  There is an interesting peace monument that features two people extending their hand across an open area with hands almost touching - but not quite. 

We then journeyed south to the town of Belleek to visit the Belleek Pottery Factory in business since1857 manufacturing heavy earthenware and progressed over the years to become the highly acclaimed creator of fine Parian china which is known the world over.  We walked across a small simple bridge that marked the border of the Republic of Ireland - no sign, no police, no customs or immigration.  If our tour guide did not tell us, we would never know we were entering another country.

We then traveled south west to Sligo, Ireland to spend the night.

Now in the Republic of Ireland