We're in the Black Cab tour in Belfast
Let's see what we see.
The black taxi political tours are a great
way to learn about Northern Ireland's turbulent
history
Where the catholic and protestant conflict
ended just 20 years ago.
The main Protestant neighbourhood is Shankhill Road
and the main Catholic neighbourhood is the Falls Road
And these are the areas we'll visit here today.
But you'll find that a lot of our working
class areas are still quite segregated.
Many of the drivers actually lived through
the turmoil of the 80s
And have many personal stories to share
The tour begins in the Protestant neighbourhood
of Shankill Road
Here we had the chance to walk through the
community viewing the painted murals
Portraying pivotal moments in history.
The murals commemorate those who fought and
died in the conflict
I'm sure you've heard of all the troubles
here Ireland.
Guys see the Freedom 2000.
That's in reference to a prison.
When the conflict was on here we had two types
of prisoners.
We had what were known as political prisoners
and then we had what was known as ODC
That stood for ordinary decent criminal.
The second half of our tour took us to the
Falls Road Clonard Martyrs Memorial Gardens
It's surprising to see just how close these
two communities are.
They are side by side divided only by the
long concrete wall known as the Peace Wall.
The memorial pays respect to the IRA volunteers
who fought and lost their lives during the
troubles.
The IRA carried the title of Volunteer.
The troubles of Belfast are now in the past
but the
Working class communities are still segregated
The Wall still stand and even today there
is a curfew at
Falls Road where the barriers close daily
at 10pm
If you are looking for a different city tour,
We highly recommend the Black Taxi tour of Belfast.
