Jim White was just 14 years old when he lost his best friend due to an eight-meter high wall that divided Belfast’s Protestant north from its Catholic west. Now, at the age of 69, Jim can revisit the once notorious Catholic Springfield Road in west Belfast, but he prefers not to. Although he acknowledges that a lot has changed since the troubles, he still values the Peace Wall gate on North Howard Street being closed overnight as a precaution.
Half a kilometer away from Jim, Michael Culbert works with his association Coiste, offering political tours along the Peace Wall. As a former IRA member who joined the organization at 23 after witnessing Bloody Sunday, Culbert’s mission is to make things visible and stand up for politically condemned people like himself. He takes around 16,000 people to central points in Belfast to explore the history of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.
Tour guide James Ellison leads tours through Belfast’s conflict hotspots, sharing stories of pivotal events like the Abercorn Restaurant bombing and the emergence of spaces where young Protestants and Catholics could socialize together. Despite the city’s dark legacy, tourism in Belfast has thrived since 1998, surpassing a billion euros in revenue. However, Ellison emphasizes that peace remains fragile as evidenced by recent incidents of violence related to Brexit concerns.
While older generations remember Northern Ireland’s turbulent history, younger residents like Gemma Gabbie and a group of teenagers are more focused on moving forward. Gabbie believes that the Good Friday Agreement has served its purpose while teenagers advocate for keeping Gates of Peace open longer to bridge community divides in Belfast. The future of Northern Ireland rests on finding peace between its troubled past and hope for a peaceful future where walls no longer separate friends.