Tourists and Peace are Returning to Belfast

by David Wilkening, Freelance Writer

There was a time when this city was known for the Titanic. It was built here. But today, the word more often used for Belfast is "bombs."

My own 84-year-old mother was among those concerned. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked.

Mom, and folks, I made it back safely to tell you: Belfast is not only safe but it is thriving.
The tourists are starting to come and the number of hotel rooms has tripled in just five years. There are cranes everywhere and the city's finally getting around to building a museum to promote the Titanic.

You don't see British soldiers anymore. The police stations are being built with windows again. And the once-filthy Lagan River is so clean the salmon have returned, a feat commemorated by a large riverside statute of a fish.

Tourism officials are hungry for visitors to replace the city's once thriving industrial base that more than a century ago included Irish linen-making and shipbuilding. At one time, Belfast had more people than Dublin.

In modern times, of course, it's "The Troubles" that have characterized Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland.

"It's a mixed blessing. The good news is that everyone knows Belfast, but often for the worst of reasons," says Rosemary Connolly, a popular Blue Badge Tour Guide.

While long-time Belfast residents such as Connolly point out that many people here went on with business as usual with little or no inconvenience from The Troubles, the events here grabbed the world's attention for decades.

The images pile up: bombs...hunger strikes. British soldiers shooting into crowds...tear gas...machine-gun menacing IRA members.

From the 1960s on, Protestants battled Catholics. But this was not a strict religious war but a convoluted tangle of politics, economic issues and patriotic fervor -- for and against Great Britain. Casualties mounted up to more than 3,000 people, but there's only one reported tourist death (from a bomb).

Of course, there were not many tourists coming here in those days.

"Why would they want to come here other than to say they survived a trip to Belfast?" asks Connolly with the usual trace of Irish sardonic humor.

The period of unrest came to an end, partly with the help of President Bill Clinton, when all sides signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

The signs remain on walls throughout Northern Ireland ("Shankill will always remain British: No surrender"), and guides such as Connolly often take visitors first to Falls Road and other sites made famous during the "period of unrest."

Tourists can find many good reasons for coming here, including the centuries-old castles, ancient buildings and the country's long history. Those of us who remember The Troubles also appreciate revisiting the areas we used to view on the 5 o'clock news.

How safe is Belfast? That is always a difficult question to answer because crime can be found anywhere, but tourism officials like to quote a United Nations study that found Northern Ireland's present-day crime rate is lower than any country worldwide but Japan.
Its shipbuilding and linen-making past behind it, Belfast today has two airports, two universities, two cathedrals and a Grand Opera House with velvety red seats and gold elephants.

Belfast is not a huge city; it only has a population of about 600,000. But that makes it a fine place to walk where you can get anywhere downtown with a 10-15 minute, often wet stroll from City Hall in the heart of Belfast.

One reason to visit Ireland is that it's like going to see a first cousin. Many of our first presidents such as Andrew Jackson were born in Belfast.

This is not a big city such as London or New York offering endless things for tourists to do. But Belfast should not disappoint someone on a short trip (direct flights are available; I came here via Newark, NJ). And since Northern Ireland is also small, day trips from Belfast are easily reached if you don't mind navigating often narrow, winding streets.

During a five-day stay, I revisited The Troubles, found a variety of literary sites and a made a pilgrimage to "Saint Patrick's country" and his grave. I also braved chilling rain to walk along the roaring and romantic Irish coastline, visited Dunluce Castle, a romantic ruin that teeters on the edge of a cliff, and spent more than one night in lively pubs such as Fibber McGee's listening to sometimes mournful Irish music.

Dublin, twice the size of Belfast, is the Irish city associated with Irish culture. There's even a Writer's Museum there. But Belfast has its own literary claims.

C.S. Lewis, perhaps the most famous writer in the world in the early to mid-20th century, lived and died here. Visitors can find his home and haunts, including statutes that amusingly label him as a "Christian Apologist."

In addition to his religious themes, Lewis was the author of the Narnia books, which were dramatized in the recent movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe." Some tours trace the hauntingly beautiful Irish coast and countryside on Lewis's childhood writings.

Another person influenced by the country was Van Morrison who was born here and is a frequent visitor. You can find his home at 125 Hyndford Street.

The "brown-eyed girl" he sings about lived in this modest neighborhood. City officials wanted to mark the songwriter's home with a billboard but the unassuming Morrison wanted only a small plaque.

In addition to culture, Northern Ireland has some important spiritual stops.

Millions of people celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but how many know where he is buried. His church and grave, merely a large granite slab, of are perhaps an hour's drive from Belfast in the small town of Downpatrick, where there's also an award-winning international cultural stop called St. Patrick Centre. Not a lot is known about St. Patrick, but today he is the most celebrated saint of any age.

He did not chase the snakes out of Ireland because there aren't any but he performed a much more valuable service. At a time when pagans worshipped the sun, this former slave named Patrick came to Ireland around 430 AD and spent the reminder of his life spreading Christianity throughout the country. He single-handedly kept the religion alive.
There are also many natural attractions in Northern Ireland. Another stop I made about an hour's drive outside of Belfast was the Giant's Causeway, sometimes said to be Northern Ireland's most famous sight. It's a series of 40,000 stone columns that form steps leading from the cliff and disappearing into the sea.

Geologists say this startling site of crashing sea waves over huge rocks is the result of intense volcanic activity about 60 million years ago when molten rock poured over the landscape.
But the inventive Irish have a better story. Legend has it the stones were created by two giants, the Irish Finn McCool and the Scottsman, Benandonner, who taunted each other from their shorelines. Benandonner decided to come to Ireland to fight his rival. Finn built a causeway of stones across the water. But when Finn saw up close how big the Scottish giant was, he had second thoughts. His inventive had a suggestion: put him in a baby crib. The upshot of the story was that Benandonner had tea with McCool's wife. When he saw how big the "baby" was, he feared facing a grown and presumably much bigger Finn and fled back to Scotland. He tore up the rocks to keep Finn from following him.

Another less natural site that seems inevitable on a visit to Northern Ireland -- a place where it is sometimes said "God invented whisky so the Irish would not rule the world" -- is the Old Bushmills plant. Licensed in 1602, it's the world's oldest licensed distillery. After an informative tour, visitors sample a wee drop of Old Bushmills, distilled three times to make it as smooth and mellow as an Irish tall tale.

**All Photos by Sharon Miller

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