Belfast and Derry are good places to learn first hand what “The Troubles” were like in Ireland and that is where I wanted to start. These are also good places to learn how people are moving on and making peace work. Peace is not a linear process, especially if you throw in joining the EU and then Brexit.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK but the Republic of Ireland (in the south) has been independent since 1921. It is one big island, but the northern tip had a line drawn around it so the English could keep it while releasing their grip on what is now the Republic of Ireland. Hanging on to Northern Ireland was also prompted by the large loyalist population in the north who identified themselves as being British.

That act of separating the Emerald Isle into two Irelands set up terrible violence and conflict that lasted generations. 3500 people died in a horrible and protracted 30-year civil war. That word “civil” seems incongruent with the ultra-violence that has so traumatized Ireland, especially in Belfast. But that story is too long to retell here, so I won’t and leave you to Google each of “Ian Paisley”, “Martin McGuiness”, “Bobby Sands” and “The Troubles” in quotes if you are not already familiar.

My tour guides in both Belfast and Derry emphasized that many acts of unity and kindness have been exchanged since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an end to the sectarian violence. There is still a sense here that Catholics and Protestants each have their own intimate communities but there are countless ways that the communties have mingled into one people. That said, both of my guides noted that no one has forgotten – and no one wants to go back.

I found a great fish and chips shop (a chippie) in the Bogside of Derry called Andy’s Sit-in or Takeaway. This is a solidly Catholic area on the west side of Derry. It is also where the violent events of Bloody Sunday (the Bogside Massacre) occured. This chippie was thriving, perky and people were welcoming. In addition to the normal takeaway style fish and chips, they have a lovely cafe where you can sit down and eat to eat your takeway. They even served me tea which I found very civilized indeed. My point here is that in the same neighborhood where people where barbarically gunned down by British Military troops in 1972, I walked around at night, had a fantastic fish and chips, and even visited the big beautiful Cathedral.

Mind you, there were tri-colour flags of the Republic of Ireland everywhere. This flag means even more now that the Republic is part of the EU and the Northern Irish have been granted and are often electing to have an EU passport as well as their UK passport. So, in some ways, the “Tri-Colour” is also becoming symbolic of an EU identity. Obviously, after Brexit, that gets complicted. It is an important fact that 85% of Catholics in Northern Ireland voted to Remain and not Brexit while the entire UK majority voted differently. So, this odd compromise of a Northern Ireland nation within a sort-of EU territory was born. I’ve been driving back and forth across the border from the UK-Ireland to the EU-Ireland for days and there is hardly any “border” to be detected.

For every Tri-Colour, there are many more Union Jacks. Clearly, Northern Ireland is in the UK and the currency is the pound (GBP). But, more than a few people were willing to take Euros as well. This all gave me a sense that the merger is ongoing and that perhaps the wider context of the EU and UK cooperation had shifted the sectarian polarity into a bigger picture. Perhaps I am beling too hopeful but I am happy to be so. There was a wonderful quote on a wall in Belfast that I’ve shared here to make this point about the importance of context. Hemingway understood.

While driving around Ireland, I was listening to the Nobel Prize winning poetry of Seamus Heaney. I visited his gravesite on my way to Derry and I love the quote on his headstone. This is appropo. In truth, 1968 is practically yesterday but there is somehow a sense of peace and there are many peacemakers who want to defend what Ireland has earned. I say then, outrageously, the Irish truly are walking on air.