Belfast, Northern Ireland

Although we had visited Ireland previously, we did not visit Northern Ireland. So we were thrilled to note that this tour included an overnight visit to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. It was a beautiful sunny day on arrival, but it turned out to be the coldest August overnight temperature on record. Thankfully we were snug and warm in our hotel room, so no complaints from us! As Belfast is part of the United Kingdom, we were still using British Currency. Unlike our next destination in Dublin (Republic of Ireland) which is part of the European Union and uses the Euro.

In the city is the old Sinn Fein HQ and there were numerous wall graffiti paintings to depict the actions and also to signify the end of the protestant - catholic aggression or 'the Troubles' as they are known. 'The Troubles began in the late 1960's and despite occasional outbreaks of violence, the Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998 saw the end of that era. Basically the protestants (see themselves as aligned with the British) want to stay with the United Kingdom, and the Irish Nationalists and Republicans (see themselves as Irish) who are mainly catholics and want Northern Ireland to leave the UK and join a United Ireland. 

The people just want to get on with their lives, but there are a handful who keep stirring the pot. Some protestant villages in the county still taunt the Catholic Irish by painting their footpaths in the British red, white and blue colours as seen in this photo. 

You may recall that Belfast is where the ill-fated ship The Titanic was built. It hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, resulting in the deaths of 1500 people. The slipway that it was launched from is still preserved in Belfast.