Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Now I have been to Northern Ireland



A night in a pub and a tragedy have cemented my Northern Ireland experience. Thankfully they are not related.

In case the news hasn't reached the US, for the first time in 10 years two British soldiers were shot and killed here in Ireland. The group taking responsibility are an extremist group off shoot of the IRA. It happened on Friday in a county about 20 mins from here. On Sunday a police officer was shot 10mins from there, by another extremist off shoot, of the IRA. The original IRA involved in the troubles whom now runs 1/2 the government, has been VERY against these shootings.

If you are interested look up the town name where the shooting occurred, it is a town the government built and put both Catholics and Protestants in together ( government housing makes up 60% of the homes). It has no history, no roots creating a very fascinating dynamic.


Some small riots have broken out, but most of the country and leaders are united in seeking peace. It does make the reality of the work and this place more real. I have had really enlightening conversations with the LTV's who are from countries that have unrest and conflict as well, like El Salvador and Sri Lanka about the similarities and their experiences.


On the more positive end I had the greatest night in a pub! 3 of the volunteers and I went to a local pub ( one of the 5 oldest in Ireland). The Guinness here is incredible, it is smooth and tasty. We talked up the bartender who showed us how to Irish dance and much later sang us some Irish ballads, with the Irish group that was playing. They were a collection of locals who had a pint, joined in with their instruments and then moved on, it created a constant flow of people and Irish music. I ended up talking to the owner for quite some time. The bar had been in his family since the 1600's! I asked him what has changed since he took over, he said he had to allow women in the bar! and having beer on tap. He showed me a beer he bottled in 60's when they use to bottle the beer from the barrel at his bar. It was great to hear his stories and opinions of Obama ( every one wants to talk about Obama here!!!!!).


Being here while the conflict is occurring makes all that I have learned so relevant, and meeting locals and being in a real pub was a taste of Ireland at its heart; good resiliant people.

























2 comments:

  1. I read about the shootings and wondered how far they were from you. Not so far, as it turns out. So now you're really seeing the two sides of Ireland.

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  2. I wrote you an email just making sure you were ok which I knew you were but it is in the DNA of a MOM to care about her chicks near or far! Glad to know you were not in town and not joining any sides just doing a very good job of observing

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