City Trip Belfast

On one of the houses on Falls Road is a massive mural of Bobby Sands, an IRA supporter who went on a hunger strike in 1981 to protest prison conditions. Her death brought more sympathy for the IRA worldwide. A nearby convent stands right on the fault line between neighborhoods. A six-meter-high wall behind it was erected by the British government in 1961 to separate rival communities and prevent attacks. The Conway Mill, a former linen mill from 1842, stands innocently in the Catholic district. The factory has witnessed much of the neighborhood’s history. Today, it houses artists and cafes. There’s also a small museum on Irish history. A tiny cell shows where IRA activists were imprisoned. A guide from a Belgian tour group approaches me. When he hears I’m from the Netherlands, he immediately links it to William of Orange. “Your William is the cause of all our troubles here,” he says.