After staying the night in Letterkenny in the Republic of Ireland we set off (again in the rain) and within minutes were crossing into Northern Ireland.

Our first stop was in Derry Londonderry, where we engaged a walk-on local tour guide who began to tell us of the "troubles" that Northern Ireland had endured. He guided our coach thru a number of the troubled areas including the site of the "Bloody Sunday" murders. We started to understand the origins of the unrest between the Protestants and the Catholic's. Back in the 1600's the reigning King William (Billy) at the time, hated the Catholics (who were the bulk of the existing citizens) and wanted Northern Ireland to be under rule of England.. He decided to bring a number of Protestants in from Scotland to infiltrate the region and drive the Catholics from their homes. This caused some unrest then, and a large wall was built around an area in Derry to protect these immigrants who swore allegiance to England.

The Catholics felt they were there first, yet they were basically overpowered by the Protestants. Then came the obvious discrimination, the Protestants got the jobs, they developed a power system whereby if you owned property you could vote. As the majority of homes where owned by Protestants issues arised. Things settled down over the war period, however after the war the IRA was formed and the unrest drew. Many of the slogans along the walls depicted words such as "one man, one vote" which was the fight for equality that erupted in the 70s.

The tour guide was, I would guess around 35. He has young children and has lived his life in Northern Ireland. He told us that whilst there was a peace treaty signed in recent times, it will take a long time for all to be forgiven. There are many parents and siblings still mourning the loss of loved ones who were taken meaninglessly. He felt that the majority of people that now lived in Northern Ireland didn't care about the religious aspect. He encouraged his children to accept and integrate but he definitely felt there was still a lot of healing to be done.

He believed that the "troubles" weren't just religion driven, and that there are many other factors involved.

When we arrived in Belfast we were dispatched into small groups and sent out in Black Cabs. The idea of this tour was to tour us around the "troubled" areas and the areas that were significant to the "troubles". However, with the fact that many "Orangemen" were already marching and many of the fires had been lit already, they advised us that our tour might change. Our driver seemed very jittery and was constantly on the look out for any concerns. David rode in the front with him and felt his anxiety first hand. We hadn't gone too far before we saw streets lined with armoured Police cars and evidence of road closures and trouble ahead. Apparently, last year was the first peaceful 12th July march,…. And it was the obvious the strong police presence was going to ensure the same for this year. With the 12th fallening on the Sunday, the main march was scheduled for the Monday as they cannot march on the Sabbath. The "Orangemen"(protestants) march to celebrate when King Billy of Orange won the battle to secure Northern Ireland under British reign. This of course was not a great day for the Catholics. The current issues arise as Protestants march thru Catholic areas. We looked down streets, where large iron gates with barbed wire were pulled closed across the streets, ensuring that one group couldn't pass into the others region. The walls that were erected throughout the city were very evident. The height of the walls has been increased 3 times[DB1] over the years, and now they are some 45 feet high. The walls, are not just one wall, there are some 48 walls in the city, as the areas are likened to a checker board across Belfast. We stopped and visited the Peace Wall and were able to write on the wall, there were thousands of signatures from many people who had visited before us, but it felt poignant that we were writing on a possible day of unrest. We visited Bombay street where in 1972 the clash erupted and many lives were taken. Both parties set lights to each others houses, driving them from their homes. There is a memorial to all the lives that were taken, many of them children. The memorial states " murdered".

We were shown the "plastic" bullets that were used by the police and considered "non lethal" yet they are larger than your hand. If you take a look at our photos, you will see me holding what looks like a vibrator… its not….its a bullet. (unless our photos have got muddled J) One young mothered was shot by the police as she took her children off the street, she was shot in the back of the head.

Whilst we stoop on the Catholic side of the fence, we were told that the reason the fences had been increased inside is that still today, things are hurled from one side to the other. Stating that each side is as bad as the other. We looked at the houses closest to the side of the fence and each had another fence protecting their windows and houses from such missiles that came their way, which could be anything from bottles to fire.

Our driver told us that in his street, which is some 1.5 klms long, there are14 churches. Belfast is reknown for the most number of churches anywhere. Religion certainly seems to play a big part of their lives. He tried to demonstrate to us, that his generation (this guy was mid 40's) didn't care what each other's religions where, but by doing this, I think he demonstrated the fact that it did. He knew which drivers were protestant and which were catholic, and whilst stating they all got along, and they all joked along with him, the very fact that he was identifying their difference, actually said the opposite.

As we tried to leave the city we were stopped as a parade came directly towards us, our cab driver quickly did a u-turn but after being assured by phone that this parade, whilst unregistered, was a peaceful demonstration, we were able to turn back towards it and were able to exit the cab and watch them march past us.

The thing that hit me here, was the fact that many of those marching were elderly men many in their 80s, surely many of these men had played part in the violence in the 70's. There was an air of hostility mixed with pride as they triumphantly marched pass, young children lined the streets and many joined the marching.

We returned to our hotels and I have to say the entire group have been moved by what we have learnt and seen today.

This morning we witnessed the gathering of even more marchers and supporters, thousands upon thousands were lining the streets, deck chairs out, lots of orange clothing and British and protestant flags evident. A fleet of Armoured police cars past our coach, and I can now see why our driver was concerned that we got out of Belfast before 12 noon when the marchers will start. It was 11.30am and there was so much swelling of the groups, many lining the streets and drinking heavily. Our coach was full of excitement and trepidation as we drove thru the roads that clearly the marchers would soon be parading down.

As we leave Belfast behind us now and drive from the city, I pray that peace is retained. However its very very clear that this city has a long way to go till all is forgiven and forgotten and that the two groups will be able to live as one.

[DB1]