Why do we have the walls?

Why do we have the walls? Initially the walls were erected to prevent access to communities by armed groups at the height of the conflict. They restricted the movement of vehicles entering or exiting the community. They created a sense of relative safety at the time, growing into a type of comfort zone. This allowed a type of apartheid living arrangement that segregated and divided communities for the past forty years. Day to day living could go on without having to engage with anyone on the opposite side of the wall.

As the conflict changed, the walls became the focal point for community clashes during periods of community tension such as during the 1981 Hunger Strike, Drumcree & the Holy Cross Blockade. Since the 1994 ceasefires the violence at the interfaces has ceased to be any longer an inter-communal conflict and has become a problem of youth based anti-social activity.

The walls allow a sectarian mindset to go unchanged, drawing young people to them to organise rioting as a type of boredom relief, an adrenalin buzz with no sense of consequence. The walls are often the target for attack and residents living there are left to endure the consequences. Therefore the walls do not prevent trouble.

The sense of fear and mistrust that was present when the walls were erected has changed to a degree, while the likelihood of being shot or murdered by has been practically removed, the fear of physical attack is still residual. The walls still demarcate the perceived places where it is or isn’t safe to be.


An Roisin Dubh