This post was originally published on the MSU Mass Media 2017 blog.
My last day in Belfast was cool and informative. I’ve even picked up a bit of an accent. In the beginning, my friends, Troy and Myself were a we bit confused. We didn’t know if Belfast was considered apart of Northern Ireland or just Ireland. I’ve overheard some of my friends being corrected by natives.
Today, all of that was cleared up. There seems to be a division between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. The Catholics self identify as Irish and consider Belfast to be in “Ireland.” The Protestants consider themselves British and loyal to the Queen. They are the ones who consider Belfast to be in “Northern Ireland.”
The peace wall is what separates Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. Things are not as bad as they were when the separation first started back in 1969. However, the war between the two are similar to the race war in America and has yet to come to a complete end. The purpose of the peace wall is to minimize violence between the two neighborhoods.
By Devinnia Marie (aka "Sparty")