Ballyclare-Belfast

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Left at 8.10am and arrived very easily at Titanic at 8.40am. Sat and waited for carpark to open and we were one of the first in the doors. For £25 we bought a White Star Ticket which entitled us to a photo, entry to the galleries, a discovery tour and then entry to the Nomadic, the tender ship for the Titanic in France.

"Today, the area of Belfast Harbor that once housed the RMS Titanic has been renamed the Titanic Quarter and is dominated by the towering silver façade of the Titanic Belfast, a remarkable building fashioned from four ship-hull-shaped wings. The futuristic building is home to the state-of-the-art Titanic Belfast exhibition, which spreads over 6 floors and includes interactive discovery zones, full-scale reconstructions, real-life accounts and mind-blowing special effects.
From the first talks of building an unsinkable ship to her construction by Harland and Wolff and subsequent launch in early 20th-century Belfast, to the tragic events that unfolded on 15th April 1912, the Titanic Belfast unveils the all-too-short history of the notorious ship, step by step. Highlights include the Ocean Exploration Centre, with live links to modern under-water explorations; a display of artifacts pulled from the wreckage of the Titanic; and the luxury Titanic Banqueting Hall."

The experience was amazing. The building itself was incredible and the galleries and displays were so well thought out and created. We spent from 9am-4pm there and still probably didn’t read everything. Do not go to Belfast without a visit.



Then off to find our B&B for the night. Three story house and we were in the attic, clean and comfortable and great location. Decided we would do a taxi tour around Belfast to get the lay of the land.



Our diver was Jimmy. I don’t know that I have words to say how powerful, overwhelming and emotional this 2 hours was. Jimmy was a catholic and once he worked out we were too, he relaxed. I have never been so aware of my religion in all my life and the fact that I converted from protestant to catholic, created so interesting thought processes for me.



The history of Northern Ireland is so complex, violent, seemingly unjust and unfair and overall so very, very sad that yet again so many lives have been lost and destroyed over power and religion. We learnt about the history both older and more recent, saw the political murals on both the Catholic and Loyalist sides of the “Peace Wall”. The Peace wall is a very high concrete fence, that turned out not to be high enough as “things” were still finding their way over so another few metres of wire fencing was put on top of that.

"The peace lines or peace walls are a series of border barriers in Northern Ireland that separate Irish nationalist and unionist neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast, Derry, Portadown and elsewhere. The stated purpose of the peace lines is to minimise inter-communal violence between Catholics (most of whom are nationalists who self-identify as Irish) and Protestants (most of whom are unionists who self-identify as British).

The peace lines range in length from a few hundred yards to over three miles (5 km). They may be made of iron, brick, and/or steel and are up to 25 feet (7.6 m) high. Some have gates in them (sometimes staffed by police) that allow passage during daylight but are closed at night.The first peace lines were built in 1969, following the outbreak of the 1969 Northern Ireland riots and "The Troubles". They were built as temporary structures meant to last only six months, but due to their effective nature they have become wider, longer and more permanent. Originally few in number, they have multiplied over the years, from 18 in the early 1990s to 48 today; in total they stretch over 21 miles (34 km), with most located in Belfast. They have been increased in both height and number since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

In recent years, they have even become locations for tourism. Black taxis now take groups of tourists around Belfast's peace lines, trouble spots and famous murals.

The most prominent peace lines in the past few years separate: the nationalist Falls Road and unionist Shankill Road areas of West Belfast; the Catholic Short Strand from the Protestant Cluan Place areas of East Belfast; and the Protestant Fountain estate and Catholic Bishop Street area of Derry.

In 2008, a public discussion began about how and when the peace lines could be removed. While, on 1 September 2011, Belfast City Council agreed to develop a strategy regarding the removal of peace walls, a study was released in 2012 indicating that 69%!o(MISSING)f residents believe that the peace walls are still necessary because of potential violence. At the end of 2011, several local community initiatives resulted in the opening of a number of interface structures for a trial period.

In January 2012, the International Fund for Ireland launched a Peace Walls funding programme to support local communities who want to work towards beginning to remove the peace walls.

In May 2013, the Northern Ireland Executive committed to the removal of all peace lines by mutual consent by 2023."

This separates the Catholic parts of Belfast from the Loyalist side. As soon as you pass through that fence there are British flags EVERYWHERE and pictures of the Queen in house windows. The feeling was also quite different in the streets and I must say there was a small amount of apprehension at one point. But the Taxi Tours have an understanding and the tours are important so both sides are fine for the taxis to be around and get out to look at the murals.



The main thing I can say from experiencing Belfast and Derry is that yet again I am so grateful to live in Australia and have the blessed lifestyle we have there.



Jerry dropped us off for dinner at an Indian restaurant near our B&B so Andrea could get her fix before potatoes several ways each meal at Drumalis!

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Photos

The Titanic Experience
The gates the shipyard workers came through each morning

The Titanic Experience
The draft room where the Titanic plans were drawn

The Titanic Experience
Photo of the workers

The Titanic Experience
Photo of the draftroom