Communities here are skeptical of the celebratory mood as President Biden and other luminaries descend on Belfast this week.
Despite the power-sharing provision enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, there is no functioning government today in Northern Ireland: no executive, no assembly. The latest shutdown was triggered by the Democratic Unionist Party, which objected to Brexit trade deals negotiated by British prime ministers. Many say the DUP is also reeling after having lost its status as the largest party in Northern Ireland.
“The fear is still in me,” she said. “It’s not the bombs anymore, but there is still this fear, and the bigotries and sectarianism.”Her classmate Katrina Hamill, 50, an unemployed barber, said children who grew up after the Good Friday Agreement don’t know how fragile this peace is.Though McCabe and Hamill have friends on the other side of the separation barriers, they say they wouldn’t linger, and they wouldn’t go there to shop.
“It’s way better now,” Carlisle said. But still: “It’s a peace process, and we are still in the process part.”One sign of progress here — how the peace has been maintained — is the thriving tourism industry. One of the most popular attractions in Belfast is an interactive exhibit about the Titanic. The slipways where the ship was built now host music concerts.
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