November 14, 2019

This past Saturday we all went in to work to tell our funders what it is we do up here. We are under the umbrella of a religious service organization, but as often happens there are disconnects between the ethos and mission created by well-intentioned persons, and the people who are actually doing the work. 

We sat together in a large room welcoming people from the Republic and Northern Ireland, answered questions, and shared stories and anecdotes. Although I had heard several of the stories already, I was moved by them again, and I thought I’d share some of them here.

When this organization started 30 years ago, it was the only group that served mothers and children across the divisions created by The Troubles. Each day, several times a day, they would drive their vans from Protestant areas, into Catholic areas, and back again, zigzagging across Northwest Belfast. As winter descended and it began getting dark earlier, the drivers found themselves having to find different routes to drive families home, as the gates on the “peace walls” would be locked and guarded by police, military and paramilitary. Mobs were known to hijack cars, forcibly evacuating the occupants, only to burn these vehicles on the streets. At that time, there were often several car fires in Belfast every night. 

One evening the group was stopped as they drove into opposition territory. A volunteer was driving the van and forced to pull over by an armed mob. The van’s occupants were told to get out, as the van was to be burned; the volunteer begged to be allowed to drive the mothers and children home, causing the mob to become angrier and more aggressive. From within the crowd a man stepped forward, clearly in charge, and asked the driver to confirm what group he was affiliated with. When the driver confirmed who they were, the leader of the mob stated “Ah… these people helped us during the famine, too. They’re good to us, let them go”. 

The very beginnings of this work grew out of the understanding that the most underserved community members in Northwest Belfast during The Troubles were women and mothers. As the true “first responders” in their communities, women were often responsible for children, elders, partners and homes while dealing with extreme poverty, the violence of war, systemic isolation, with no representation or protection from governing bodies. Deep seated and generational trauma made women victims in their own homes and communities. Our group quickly became recognized for their good work, and their reputation [by affiliation with the religious service organization] of being “neutral”.

When the buildings that we are currently in started to be built, our group was visited by the leader of a paramilitary organization from one side of town. He came to inform everyone what protection prices were, and to offer them a “good deal”. It was pointed out to him that the building site was literally in the middle of “both territories”, to which he responded, “Ah that’s ok, we’ll work out the deal with the others, and yuse can pay us each half”. 

One our group’s workers got in touch with a colleague who worked in the prison and let him know what had happened (our umbrella organization also serves within the prison system). This message was somehow passed on to the paramilitary’s leader who was in jail at the time, and nobody demanding protection money has visited our site since – not once. 

There are many stories of how a divided Northwest Belfast and The Troubles have affected the work that happens up on the mountain.

Our buildings stand on what was once private property, donated to enable the vision of a neutral and safe place for families to come together; to support the recognition of commonality, rather than difference. We literally sit at the convergence of two roads – one leading into a Protestant neighborhood, the other into a Catholic one. 

During The Troubles no garbage company would come up the mountain to empty the bins, as neither side wanted to be seen “crossing the line”. Protestant businesses didn’t want to be accused of being sympathetic to Catholics, and Catholics didn’t want to be accused of being sympathetic to Protestants. There was no convincing any of the garbage companies, and so the staff here had to drive the week’s garbage to the refuse yard on their own – only one of the many jobs they had to take on, as sectarian division kept daily life from functioning effectively.

Through all of this dysfunction and threat of violence, the workers never wavered in their commitment to families in their care, and never once shied away from picking them up and dropping them back home. Again, the only organization to cross sectarian lines, and to have integrated groups of women and children together, during The Troubles.  

Long-term Belfast residents are quick to point out how much life here as improved but are also quick to admit that so much more still needs to change. Northern Ireland has been without a government for over 1000 days. It seems impossible but it’s true. How can a society move forward in constructive ways, when there is literally no way to make it happen?

https://howlonghasnorthernirelandnothadagovernment.com

The individuals I work with continue to commit themselves to the families they serve, despite the not-knowing that Brexit stirs up, the lack of government stability, and the systemic poverty. I am in awe and have the deepest respect for each of them.