More Ireland...does it ever end?

I feel like I have toured so much of Ireland...but in reality I have only see maybe half of the country...
I was trying to think of a tour to take and Gary and I had watched the movie "In the name of the father" which took place in Belfast, Ireland and I thought, that might be a cool place to see.  So I booked it and headed North to Belfast.  Northern Ireland is part of the UK not Ireland so there is still a bit of anomosity between the Catholics (want to be a part of Ireland) and the Protestants (want to be a part of the UK).  They have their own "Berlin Wall" in a sense.  It spans 3 1/2 miles and divides the 2 groups who to this day (according to the local tour) do not mix other then in the "netural zone" which is their city center.  The gates along their dividing wall are closed every night at dark to avoid and teenagers starting fights between each other (which is obviously a learned hatred from their parents).  There are still many terriost groups in the area and the police station is surrounded by a stone wall and barbwire (as if it were a prison) due to the amount of debris and other objects thrown in at them.  It blew my mind thinking this still goes on (well other then in the middle east).  They aren't divided because of religion (Catholic & Protestant) it is more political (Catholics are more for the Irish way and Protestant are for the British).  Anyway, it was a rainy day (which generally is any day in Belfast) and not a very pretty place to view but I loved hearing the history!

Some of the graffiti on government owned buildings...this is of a member of one of the terrorist groups who died in his apartment but is thought to have been killed rather then an overdose.  It is illegal to paint these but the authorities do nothing about it in fear of an uprising.

This is the famous Black Cab tour of Belfast I did...pretty interesting information.  The drivier wouldn't tell me which side he was on...the Protastant or Catholic.  I have my hunches though...



The "Berlin Wall" of Belfast dividing the 2 groups. People also write peace messages on the wall...

All in all it was a very interesting tour...not much to see but lots of history.