Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack of blogs the past few days. We were without internet in Belfast, so this blog will be for the past few days and also will be the last blog for the trip.
Friday morning we all got up quite early to head to Belfast, which is in Northern Ireland (or just North Ireland depending on where you’re from). We went to Stormont, which is the Parliament building in Belfast. We got a tour of the beautiful building, and some lectures from an educational lecturer and a member of the Sinn Fein party. We were supposed to get a lecture from the other party of Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party, or DUP, but due to a recent scandal involving some infidelity, the members of the house were instructed to speak to no one.
In Stormont, we got a very informational tour, and also got to sit in different rooms where they hold their meetings. We got a history of Northern Ireland and the different political parties, and learned that the hostility between their two main parties is about 100 times as aggressive as that between the Republicans and Democrats in the US. Wow. It’s probably a safe bet to assume that politics are never discussed over the dinner table…
Some of us were very excited to learn of some of visitors to these rooms included the band Snow Patrol and Hilary Clinton. After visiting the Parliament building, we checked into our hotel and finally got out of our dress clothes (which by this point are very used). We had dinner in the oldest tavern in Belfast. We got treated to some Irish music once again, which all of us enjoyed. Some of the tunes we all recognized were Galloway Girl (from the movie PS I Love You) and the song played in the movie Titanic by the Irish band in the third class when Jack takes Rose to a ‘real party’. Everyone was quite exhausted and we all had a night in.
Yesterday, we had a tour of the two different sides of the city by a Catholic and a Protestant ex-political prisoner. It was an emotional tour. To see 30 foot high walls separating different sides of the city was breathtaking. First we had the tour by the Unionist (DUP) ex-prisoner. The DUP party is loyal to Great Britain and supports remaining part of the United Kingdom. He showed us around the Protestant side of the city. It is covered in art on the sides of buildings and houses. Everywhere you look, you can see portraits of someone who was killed in the conflicts Northern Ireland has faced, or memorials, or political statements of wanting peace. He told us stories about how it was during the conflicts, and the tour was extremely eye opening. He even felt comfortable telling us that the reason he went to prison was for building bombs and how he’d seen his friends get shot to death.
Our next tour was with the Catholic ex-prisoner and part of the Sinn Fein party since he was 13 years old. The Sinn Fein party is loyal to the Republic of Ireland, and argues that Great Britain has no right to govern the northern 6 counties of Ireland just as they have no right to govern any states in the United States. (He compared the creation of Northern Ireland to the US war for independence asking us how we would have felt if, when Great Britain lost the war, they had maintained control of the eastern 6 states in the US). The Catholic side of the city was less artistically designed, but still had very serene memorials to victims of the conflict. The day was emotionally and mentally exhausting, and we were all left with deep and strong memories on the situation. The rest of the night was spent with a group meal with the Drake students and SUNY students, and then a little pub hopping. Even in the pubs, talking to residents of the city, they watched what they said, afraid to offend anyone of the opposite religion. The after dinner pub experiences and conversations really cemented in the feel and aura of the division and hostility of the city.
This morning, we headed out to Giant’s Causeway. It is an amazing sight of rock formations that are over 60 million years old. It was one of the most northern places on the island and walking along the coast was awe-inspiring. Pictures cannot portray the wonder we felt being there. It is hard to explain the beauty of this place. It is old Irish folklore that tells the tale of two giants who battle it out, and the battle is what formed this amazing place. It was the perfect way to end a trip like this.
Tonight, we shall spend our last night in Ireland back in Dublin, most likely packing and having a last round about the city. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for the states—so early in fact that our hotel won’t be serving us breakfast. The Irish like to sleep in. See you all soon!
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