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How walls can divide neighborhoods within cities

In Belfast, the 'Peace Walls' that began as a stopgap measure to prevent clashes between Catholics and Protestants are becoming a permanent presence.

Walls can divide cities as well as countries. While the Berlin Wall marked a geopolitical fault line, the 鈥淧eace Walls鈥� of Belfast, Northern Ireland, had a simpler goal: to separate Catholics and Protestants during the uprising against British rule that began in the late 1960s. The British Army began erecting iron fences and brick walls to stop sectarian rioting. Today nearly 100 such barriers remain.

In 1998, Northern Ireland reached a peace agreement. Yet the number of walls and fences in Belfast has since increased. Calls to dismantle them have been largely rebuffed by communities that voice fears of crime and disorder as well as sectarian rivalry. What began as stopgap measures have become a permanent presence in the city of 281,000.

Along one wall on the Shankill Road, murals reflect partisan loyalties: 鈥淔reedom fighters鈥� on the Catholic side, Unionist paramilitaries on the other. Foreign visitors arrive by taxi to take photos of the iconic wall.

Stephen (who didn鈥檛 give his last name) works on the Protestant side. He sees the barricade as necessary. 鈥淩elations have improved with the peace process, but there鈥檚 still an element that would come over鈥� and cause trouble, he says.

Billy, who is walking a child in a stroller nearby, disagrees. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an eyesore. I think it should come down,鈥� he says.

Jonathan McKee, a pastor at a Pentecostal church that services both communities, says the answer lies in outreach to at-risk young men so they don鈥檛 riot. The wall is 鈥渁n encumbrance.... Walls and gates actually contribute toward mental health disorders.鈥�

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