Oral History Abroad: The Youth of Belfast

Ireland has been terrorized for the past century by political separatists, the Irish Republican Army, and guerilla warfare. Though the direct combat has died down since the turn of the century, the danger still remains and is prevalent in the everyday lives of Irish citizens. Religous warfare and political terrorism manifest themselves annually during riots that are widely publicized around the globe. Racial relations have taken a back seat in Northern Ireland as segregation based on religion increased in frequency. For William, a 21 year old Catholic student living in Belfast, having diverse opinions can be dangerous. William's life was shaped by his cultural upbringing in the Belfast area, his social interactions with peers, and the history of the warfare in Belfast.

William was born in the district of Glengormly, in the Greater Belfast area. Looking back, William thought it was a nice area to grow up, yet the people had different mindsets from his own. Glengormly is a very sports-oriented small town where everyone followed Gaelic League football that William was less than interested in as a child. Around the age of 10, William had a selectively small group of friends who were also not included in the football craze. When he was old enough, William decided to leave Glengormly and the sports oriented people behind and retreated into a secluded world of video games and movies.

To further distance himself from his fellow townspeople, William looked forward to grade school, which in Belfast is composed of the seven years of primary school and seven years of secondary school. In Ireland, students are divided into classes based on their proficiency in certain subjects. William's class, however, was separated by age and last name. His core classes, such as english and mathematics, were taken with the form class, the original people he was lumped together with at the start of the first year. Unfortunately, William was placed in a class with a group of other students who were not interested in learning. This was the only year this system applied to. The following year, the school administration realised their mistake and reinstated the old system for future classes. William's class was rated the worst in his school for ten years, but during the final two years, as the college years approached, the mood of his class changed. Students were finally interested in learning, non-sports extra-curricular activities were offered, and William thoroughly enjoyed the topics he learned about. In fact, when his class participated in a mini-business venture as a project, they won the Northern Irish regional competition and were invited to participate in the main event in the Savoy Hotel, London. He described the venture as selling "random stuff, having a laugh doing it, and raising £400." Half of their profits were donated to charity.

After graduating from secondary school, William felt immense pressure to attend a university immediately. According to a study by the Minister of Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empley, Northern Ireland has the highest participation rate in higher education in the United Kingdom (2010). This statistic can be explained using William's expereince during his final year. Secondary schools pressure all of their students to gain acceptance to a university immediately after graduation to raise their status. It is marketed as the logical next step in education, and William did not want to deviate from that social norm. Additionally, William didn't think he could afford to take a year off before continuing at a university. Most of the jobs available require experience. Experience is learned with higher education. Higher education required money, and William had very little. According to William, he chose to the wrong university first and then took a half year off to recollect his thoughts and spent the time working full time at a supermarket. Even though William has returned to school, part of him thinks its a waste of time. During his time between univeristies, William developed a back-up plan to open a cafe in downtown Belfast. In his own words, "a degree in biological sciences won't get me a job and I now have about £18,000 of debt." Robin Wilson, who wrote an article on the student debt for the Chronicle of Higher Education, a vast majority of college students feel the same sense of hopelessness about their debt situations. Most college students do not, in fact, borrow much money to pay for their college education. Only one third of college graduates leave with no debt at all, and 65% of graduates will owe upwards of $20,000 (Wilson, 2009). Sometimes, William thinks his choice to attend the university was a mistake. "I just continually think about saving up and opening a business so I could have started earlier on that. However if I hadn't went (sic), I wouldn't have met the most interesting people, had the random experiences and generally arsed around that led me to come up with my awesome business idea."

When William moved from Glengormly to Belfast city, he made the transition with ease. However there was a strict line dividing the natives of Belfast from the rest of Northern Ireland. Since Glengormly is only a fifteen minute bus ride from the center of Belfast, William posessed the modern Belfast accent. Just beyond Glengormly, the accent drastically changes and those residents of Northern Ireland are known as "culchies." These "out of towners" stand out in a crowd and are generally not respected by the citizens of Belfast. They are, in a sense, the "rednecks" of Northern Ireland.

William experienced religious oppression when he was still in his teens. He was hanging out with a group of friends when he met a young woman. From the instant they met, they were inseparable. For two years their freindship blossomed into a young romance. Unfortunately for William, this young lady's father did not approve of their friendship. In the police database, certain areas of Northern Ireland are blacklisted as the most dangerous for police officers. Her father was a high-ranking police officer, and their Protestant family was accustomed to living in a rather rich neighborhood. William happened to live next door to one of those highly Catholic blacklisted areas. Previously, when violent riots occurred rather often, there were a great number of police officers killed in the line of duty. For the safety of her family, William and his girlfriend agreed to stop seeing one another. While this may have seemed unfair at the time, William now recognizes the danger of the situation and is thankful that his girl friend's family would not be in danger because of his actions.

In the Belfast area, one Protestant tradition is marching in the Orange parades. Not all Protestants participate, though even a small amount will cause public outcry. The Orange Order was originally established to suppress the Catholics. One area was called Ardoyne, where the orange men always march, and unfortunately, is extremely Catholic. William further explains: "Riots traditionally break out most years, but this year was particularly bad. Some kids, kids being the operative word here, dropped a breeze block on a police woman's head and nearly killed her." The riot began in Northern Belfast on July 12 and continued for three days. The news confirmed that the police woman was in stable condition in the morning. Children as young as 8 years old were videotaped participating in the violence. The Orange Order rejected a new route proposed by groups attempting to mediate during the annual march, and William plans to avoid the blacklisted areas during that time.

Religious prejudice is not just located in the urban areas but has permeated the Irish culture right down to the pubs. Though some pubs are separated by political factions of the religious groups, two have polarized businesses in Belfast. The Republicans are typically Catholic followers and would prefer Norther Ireland to separate from Britain and return to the political unit of Ireland. Unionists, on the other side of the spectrum, are typically Protestant and want to keep the link with England. William has noticed that in certain areas where the beliefs are very strong in one way or the other, the bars tend to be marketed toward that group. However, the vast majority of bars are neutral which accounts for their popularity, and only a select few enforce the separation.

A recent study by the Journal of Youth Studies used a 2006 Life and Times Survey to update their findings about the adoption of a Northern Irish identity and a positive view of community relations is increasingly common among Protestants. The surveys also showed that 36% of young Northern Irish adults considered themselves Protestants where as 17.8% identified themselves as Catholic. Adults, on the other hand, were more evenly split, 25% Protestant and 23% Catholic (Table 1). Studies further show that the Protestant religion is a rising trend, particularly among teenagers (Figure 2). When questioned on how importantly they value their national identity, 51% of the Northern Irish surveyed responded "very" or "quite important," while only 40% of the Protestants responded the same. Therefore, even though the young adults of Northern Ireland are primarily Protestant, they are not as positive about their national identity.

There is a strong sense in Northern Ireland that anyone outside of the group is "bad" or "dangerous." This violence is not as widely publicized as the sectarian killings. However, there may still be hope for younger generations. According to William, "I hang out with Protestants because they're the nicest guys you'll ever meet, even though I'm from a Catholic background." The origins of the conflicts are barely mentioned in school around grade 3, and William describes it as learning how the roles were reversed, yet most students and parents argue that it was a lie. At the annual Fresher Fair on campus, each political faction has a booth, but otherwise the students are not bothered by the propaganda. All political and religious groups do not receive funding in order to promote a unified front so the university is not seen supporting one arguement or the other. If a society requires more funding, the bursaries are based on needs rather than an automatic budget. By down-playing the differences between separate groups and treating them the same from the school-age up, William predicts that more of his peers will agree that there is a rational way to heal the differences between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant Irish populations.

William has maintained a positive attitude towards the separate religous and political factions. The militant leaders he read about in the news as a young boy have reformed and joined the peace process. William, while not personally affected by the riots or the violence, has learned to value his friends for their company rather than their ancester's religious beliefs. Once he graduates from the university, he is prepared to enter the professional world of Northern Ireland. He is a self-proclaimed Catholic British citizen, but more than that, he is a student and a friend. Religious intolerance has no place in the next generation of William's peers.





References

Empey, R. (2010, October 18). Northern Ireland’s higher education participation rates are best in UK. Department for Employment and Learning. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from http://www.delni.gov.uk/index/press-releases/press-releases-october10-december10/northern-ireland-s-higher-education-participation-rates-are-best-in-uk.htm.

Hayes, B., & McAllister, I. (2009). Religion, identity and community relations among adults and young adults in Northern Ireland. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(4), 385-403. doi:10.1080/13676260902866504.

Wilson, R. (2009). A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely. (Cover story). Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(37), A1-A22. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.