Northern Ireland

Work towards dismantling around 67 of Northern Ireland's peace walls is quietly continuing

DESPITE recent interface violence sparked by tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol, work towards dismantling around 67 of the region's 108 peace walls has been quietly continuing over the last 20 months.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, IFI Chair Paddy Harte and First Minister Paul Givan pictured at an IFI conference at Girdwood Hub in North Belfast. The event looked at need for collaboration to deliver long term solutions to the removal of Peace Barriers in Northern Ireland.
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, IFI Chair Paddy Harte and First Minister Paul Givan pictured at an IFI conference at Girdwood Hub in North Belfast. The event looked at need for collaboration to deliver long term solutions to the removal of Peace Barr Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, IFI Chair Paddy Harte and First Minister Paul Givan pictured at an IFI conference at Girdwood Hub in North Belfast. The event looked at need for collaboration to deliver long term solutions to the removal of Peace Barriers in Northern Ireland.

THE Peace Barriers Programme - formerly known as the Peace Walls Programme - had pretty modest ambitions when it was launched in 2012.

Created by the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), its goal was to help interface communities reach "a point where they feel comfortable to talk about" the removal of the `security' barriers in their area, with more than £7.5 million pumped into the initiative to date.

However, the final removal of barriers was made an explicit target of the executive a year later, when it pledged that they would be consigned to history by 2023.

As 2021 draws to a close this timeframe now seems highly improbable.

Read more: What is a peace wall?

DUP First Minister Paul Givan, Alliance Justice Minister Naomi Long and Sinn Féin Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey sought to manage expectations at a conference at Girdwood Community Hub - itself repurposed from a former British army base in north Belfast.

Describing how peace barriers "not only physically constrain day-to-day lives, they also limit the hopes, ambitions and life chances of the families and children who grow up in their shadow", Mr Givan also referenced their removal requiring "a deep understanding of the complex of issues at play".

Their removal will be "all about collaboration and ensuring that the views of those most impacted are listened to and acted upon".

The justice minister said "a number" of the department's `interface structures' have been removed, but only "where local people have made the decision that they no longer want to live in the shadow".

"Often, such decisions are a reflection that interface violence is no longer the feature of life that it once was, or that community relations have improved to the point that no one feels threatened by such change."

Likewise, while Ms Hargey said the executive's "vision" is that "a truly united society has no place, and no need, for barriers", it will be "in partnership with communities to create the conditions for the removal of all interface barriers in the right way".

Their collective caution is understandable. With the notional deadline just two years away, 2021 has seen violent scenes at west Belfast's Lanark Way peace barrier reminiscent of the most turbulent periods of the Troubles.

Data shows there is some appetite for change - but not in the short term.

In a 2019 survey commissioned by the IFI, 76 per cent of interface residents said they were strongly in favour of barriers being removed within the lifetime of their children or grandchildren - compared to 68 per cent in 2017.

However, just 19 per cent said they wanted the walls "down now", a moderate increase from 13 per cent in 2017.

Despite recent setbacks, the work is continuing on the ground - with quantifiable results.

Recent progress milestones include the removal of a high solid peace wall behind homes between Hillman Court and Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast.

It has seen improvements in views, the extension of gardens and new garden walls and followed lobbying by residents since 2015.

Also in the area, at North Queen Street the Housing Executive has installed new security glass to windows and doors of homes ahead of the removal of the high peace fence in front of the properties beside the interface.

It has been "transformative" for residents who had never been able to use their front doors and gardens. New lighting and garden walls/fences have been put in to give them access to the front of their homes onto North Queen Street, with work finally being completed this month.

Black Mountain Shared Space project and Belfast City Council, have secured £6.4m of Peace 1V funding to develop a shared space community facility on the vacant Finlay's site between Springfield Park/Ballygomartin/ Springmartin areas.

With cross-community and cross-party support, it is expected to be on-site soon and "will result in the designing out of several peace barriers in this interface area".

In Derry, dog-leg gates at the Fountain estate and Bishop Street are now opened 24/7, "enhancing safe pedestrian access, social interaction generally at this site".

Before this pedestrians, including young school children, had to walk into the middle of a busy road to pass the site, causing a major health and safety issue, but the gates were opened following "resident consultation/agreement".

IFI chairman Paddy Harte said the programme has been delivering a range of initiatives "within and between interface communities to support residents to reach a position where they feel it is safe and appropriate to proceed with the removal of peace barriers".

He believes the ambition to remove them remains crucial.

"It is well documented that communities living in the shadows of peace barriers suffer from multiple and overlapping issues in relation to socio-economic disadvantage, educational under-attainment, access to services, and poorer levels of mental and physical health and well-being," he said.

"It is vital that any programme of removal takes these factors into consideration and a major part of this is the delivery of regeneration opportunities alongside a tailored aftercare package that gives confidence to these communities that they will be supported before, during and after the process of removing barriers in their area."

Mr Harte hailed "the commitment" from the ministers and "their acknowledgement that deeper collaboration and partnership is vital if we are to succeed in delivering real change for communities who have been impacted by peace barriers for too long".

But he acknowledged that any perceived time lag is damaging to the process.

At Belfast's Flax Street, the gates leading from Ardoyne onto Crumlin Road have been blocked by a harsh solid peace barrier for around 40 years, with residents and community workers lobbying for the barrier removal and installation of vehicle access for many years.

A new housing development at Brookfield Mill beside the site had intensified the need for access along with a new supermarket development close by.

While new automated vehicle and pedestrian access gates have been installed by Department of Justice, the peace barrier remains in place. It is hoped that this scheme will proceed soon.

However, on the opposite side of Crumlin Road, the Housing Executive has completed environmental improvement works in the Woodvale/Columbia Street area.

A new red brick peace wall has been installed on Crumlin Road, including new decorative peace gates to replace the previous solid barrier.

The IFI says "negotiations are ongoing" with residents about "aftercare for homes closest to the gates prior to any phased pedestrian opening".

Mr Harte warns it is "vital that the growing frustration and lack of trust and confidence in the overall process is addressed, supporting those communities that are deeply affected by the mental and physical barriers peace barriers can bring".