Alexandra Park is tucked in the heart of North Belfast between the nationalist New Lodge community and unionist Tiger's Bay community. The interface between the communities physically manifested itself in a Peace Wall after "peace" was found in Northern Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement.
Shortly after my arrival in Belfast in September, a gate at the center of the park that had been closed for years was opened during certain hours of the day, marking the end to the last public park divided in Europe. However, during my subsequent visits to the area I hadn't experienced the park opened because the gate closes at 3pm on weekdays and is not open over the weekends.
Just a few weeks ago I finally passed through the park when it was open in the early afternoon. There were very few people using the park at that time and, unfortunately, the people we did see using the space turned around when they came to the wall. Essentially, each group continued to use the area of the park that they felt most comfortable with. Even though the gate is open, the peace wall still completely bisects the park and clearly defines whose space you are in. Until the opening is more permanent and people can regularly move throughout the park this will probably remain. However, strengthened mutual trust and diminished (perceived or real) fear in the surrounding residents must first be achieved.
What a unique situation to see in a park. Are the efforts to maintain the park shared? Would/does the "competition" of ownershp enhance or deter the effort to have the most well-kept side?
ReplyDeleteI believe both sides are kept up by the park service in the Belfast City Council, therefore neither community is directly responsible for the clean up but have equal interest in maintaining it appropriately because the nice people that clean up their side of the park clean up the other side as well. It has been very well kept each time I visited.
ReplyDelete