By Tom Shelley
I was going to make a trip like this sometime this Spring, partially just from a general desire (I hadn't been there in 3 years) and also to confirm my views with some "on-the-ground" observations and conversations. When I heard that the National Congress of Ogra Shinn Fein, as Sinn Fein Youth are known, was to be held March 1-3, I knew I had to be there.
After I made my travel plans, Duanne Campbell of the DSA Anti-Racism Commission asked me to represent the Commission, at the the Congress, although in a very limited sense I also acted as a representative outside of that (see below).
This report is mostly a description of my trip, the Congress, and my observations and conversations at the Congress. Also some thoughts on the Abortion Referendum which took place the day I left for home, and the dramatic increase in non-European people living in Ireland.
I realize this might not fit exactly the writing style appropriate for such a document, but I'm just going to go with it as is. I hope you find it easy to understand and most importantly, informative.
(Unionist/loyalist- Protestant, pro-British; nationalist/republican- Catholic, pro-Irish)
Dublin 2/21-2/22
O'Connell St., a major area Dublin, was covered in posters about the abortion referendum.
One thing that struck me was how many people of color there were- they were about 3 times as common as 3 years earlier. Although Ireland as a whole is still something like 95% of Irish descent, Dublin is as multi-cultural as most American cities. It seems like mostly African refugees/asylum seekers and Chinese students. One interesting thing was that almost ALL the people I saw working in several different fast-food places were people of color, as were a lot of those working in convenience stores (many of which act as small grocery stores and in commercial areas are at least 1 on each block). It's not too surprising that they would get low-paid entry-level jobs, but it's still somewhat worrying. It would be important to know if they are being exploited the same way immigrants in America are, when they are threatened with the INS if they unionize; or if there is scapegoating (actually I know there has been some of that, but not if it has reached the levels in the US).
Dublin-Belfast 2/22
Took bus to Belfast. For various reasons I couldn't make it to a hostel and so stayed in hotel near the bus station.
Belfast 2/23
Finally got to the hostel, just north of downtown. Didn't do much else that day, apparently still had jet-lag.
Belfast 2/24
Walked around north Belfast for about 3 hrs. This area is where almost all of the recent violence has been, including a 12 week blockade of a Catholic primary school by loyalists last Fall. Although I'm not as familiar with the local political geography as I should be, I think most of the areas I walked through were loyalist and largely working-class (although it's difficult to tell- even middle-class homes are small and sandwiched together with no real yard). Pretty early on I saw two British Army (BA) landrovers (small, semi-armored personnel carriers, kind of like European vans) drive past me into north Belfast, and about 10 minutes later I approached about 4 soldiers who were sort of manning a road-block without actually stopping cars. I walked right past one who smiled at me and said hi. Although I had told myself I would, in such a situation, say "have a horrible day," (from a documentary I saw) I told him to have a nice day and kind of meant it. First, I realized I shouldn't antagonize him; second, they haven't killed anyone for a while; and he was black-British and I'm sure working-class, so I thought he didn't need some American punk trying to be tough by harassing him.
In this area I found what must be the regional head-quarters for the Amalgamated Engineering Union. (Safely) assuming it was a loyalist area, I imagine this is a small problem for the few Catholics in the engineering sector; certainly at night they would hesitate to go there.
(during the day, and especially as an American, I have always felt pretty safe in loyalist areas, as long as I didn't do anything stupid)
Surprisingly I also found a very positive mural in this area (most loyalist murals are incredibly violent), which featured Bob Marley. Also surprising because many loyalists, at least those associated with paramilitaries, are aligned with British right-wing groups like the National Front.
Towards the end of my walk I found myself in Ardoyne, just outside of which is the Catholic school that was blockaded in the Fall. As I approached the street which I think led to the school, I saw two BA landrovers drive up the street and then soldiers take up positions like it was road-block. It probably wasn't dangerous, but combined with the fact I had been walking for 2 hrs, I decided to head back to the city center for a break and something to eat.
That afternoon I went into a part of west Belfast I mostly hadn't seen before. First I went through the loyalist Shankill Rd., which is known as a strong hold of the loyalist paramilitaries. West Belfast is mostly working-class and this is no exception. After the Shankill I entered an area that I hadn't been in before and thought was nationalist but was actually loyalist. The rest of the walk was uneventful.
On the Shankill I saw some graffiti which read "loyalist Shankill supports Colombian direct action against Provos," a reference to the death-threat from Colombian right-wing paramilitarities against three Irish Republicans in prison there.
During my stay at the Linen House Hostel I was able to have several conversations with people who worked there. They were foreigners but had been living in Belfast for a year or two. I can't remember a lot of details, but I remember us agreeing on the class dimension of the conflict and the need for dialogue between working-class loyalist and nationalist communities.
Unfortunately I must admit that I only had a small number of conversations with locals and they were all non-political (except for at the Sinn Fein Youth conference) In general I'm not the most out-going person, and, especially in Belfast, I'm concerned about saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. In Derry I made a little bit more effort, but I had developed a problem with my knee which made me feel a bit awkward. Anyway, I was more comfortable than the last time and I left feeling very comfortable so next time I'll probably talk to people about politics a lot.
That night I did something that was a little bit stupid but ended up being uneventful. I decided that instead of just reading about street violence between nationalists and the police/BA and/or loyalists, I should witness some with my own eyes. I went into north Belfast, walked up a road that I quickly learned went along a peace line (a wall dividing loyalist and nationalist communities) and I was on the wrong side. I saw a BA helicopter shining a spot-light on a street about 200 yards ahead but it turned it off before I got even close. Fortunately the street I was going up seemed deserted, the houses abandoned (pretty common along a peace line) and I didn't see anyone until I got to a cross street which marked the beginning of the nationalist area. I turned that way and headed back to the city center.
Continued....