Northern Ireland Tour
In September 27 members of RTA Galway and
eleven of my friends from Oughterard travelled with Marathon Coach Tours,
Dublin for a 4day trip to Northern Ireland. En-route we stopped for morning
coffee/tea and freshly baked scones at Tyrellspass Castle before turning north
through counties Meath and Louth to Belfast.
We visited ‘Titanic Belfast’ the much acclaimed
waterfront project which opened to the public in March 2012 on the centenary of
the sinking of the Titanic on April 14th 1912. This
was one of the greatest sea-faring tragedies of all times with a huge loss of
lives. Inside this magnificent building we got a sense of the vibrant life of
Harland and Wolfe shipbuilding yard, the linen industry, tobacco production and
rope making when Belfast was at its peak. You listen and hear the sounds of the
workers and machinery that forged Titanic. We were introduced to
the deep history of the story of the Titanic by visiting
different galleries which depicted in detail - the Fit Out, Maiden Voyage,
Belfast City Tour
Marthon Travel arranged a guided tour of Belfast city the following morning which took us to the troubled spots of the Northern Ireland’s conflict during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. We cruised down the Falls Road, saw Sinn Féin headquarters and the Gaeltacht Quarter on the Falls Road which promotes the use of the Irish language. The long high imposing segregated wall – peace lines which divide the two communities is a stark reminder of times past. Along Sandy Row and the Shankill we were amazed to see so many English flags and bunting. Despite a period of relative peace districts still reflect the divided nature of Northern Ireland as a whole. Many areas are still highly segregated along ethnic, political and religious lines especially in working class neighbourhoods. These zones Catholic or Republican on the one side and Protestant and Loyalists on