Northern Ireland - a legacy of division | FT Film

Summary

Este documento explora la complejidad de las divisiones en Belfast, donde las 'paredes de la paz' segregan comunidades más de lo que unen. A pesar del Acuerdo de Viernes Santo, las barreras físicas, políticas y económicas persisten, afectando la identidad y oportunidades. La educación, el desempleo y el Brexit son retos que enfrentan los jóvenes, mientras que la inmigración y la integración educativa ofrecen esperanzas. La narrativa destaca la resiliencia y la creatividad de los habitantes, quienes buscan superar el legado del conflicto y construir un futuro más inclusivo.

Takeaways

• 🕍 La barrera física conocida como 'paz wall' en Belfast separa a dos comunidades y hay más ahora de lo que había en 1994.
• 🏗️ Desde la década de 1960, se han construido cerca de 100 muros de paz en Belfast, que van desde rejas simples hasta grandes muros de metal.
• 🤝 Estos muros de paz parecen contradictorios, pero han existido por décadas y son parte de los retos que enfrenta Northern Ireland para superar sus divisiones.
• 🏭 Las industrias de la sábana y la construcción naval, que pusieron a Belfast en el mapa, han desaparecido, dejando a la región rezagada en comparación con el resto del Reino Unido.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 La educación en Northern Ireland sigue siendo dividida, con el 92% de las escuelas siendo católicas o protestantes, y solo un 8% de escuelas completamente integradas.
• 👶 La segregación y el sectarismo son factores que llevan a la juventud a abandonar Northern Ireland en busca de mejores oportunidades.
• 🇪🇺 El Brexit ha vuelto a ser una cuestión divisoria en la región, que votó abrumadoramente para permanecer en la Unión Europea.
• 🏡 La segregación residencial y la identidad religiosa siguen marcando las vidas de las personas, afectando incluso sus perspectivas laborales.
• 🥊 La historia de Belfast está marcada por conflictos y divisiones, pero hay esfuerzos por promover la integración y la educación mixta, como lo demuestra la excampeón de boxeo Carl Frampton.
• 🌐 La identidad y la cultura en Northern Ireland son complejas y a menudo cargadas de política, lo que se refleja en aspectos como el deporte y el idioma irlandés.
• 🌱 A pesar de los desafíos, hay una sensación de optimismo y un deseo de cambio, especialmente entre los jóvenes, que buscan superar el pasado y construir un futuro mejor para Northern Ireland.

Q & A

¿Qué es un 'muro de paz' y por qué se considera una contradicción en términos?

Un 'muro de paz' es una barrera física en Belfast que separa comunidades católicas y protestantes para evitar conflictos. Se considera una contradicción porque, aunque su propósito es mantener la paz, su existencia resalta la división y el conflicto entre las comunidades.

¿Cómo ha cambiado Belfast desde los Acuerdos de Viernes Santo hace casi 25 años?

Belfast ha cambiado significativamente desde los Acuerdos de Viernes Santo; es ahora una ciudad vibrante y dinámica. Sin embargo, sigue lidiando con problemas profundamente arraigados en el pasado, como la segregación, el bajo crecimiento económico y la emigración juvenil.

¿Cuáles son algunas de las razones por las que los jóvenes están dejando Irlanda del Norte?

Los jóvenes están dejando Irlanda del Norte debido a la segregación, el sectarismo y la falta de oportunidades laborales. Estos factores están empujando a las nuevas generaciones a buscar un futuro mejor en otras partes del Reino Unido o en el extranjero.

¿Qué papel juega la educación en la división entre comunidades en Irlanda del Norte?

La educación sigue siendo una fuente de división en Irlanda del Norte, con solo el 8% de las escuelas siendo completamente integradas. La mayoría de los estudiantes asisten a escuelas predominantemente protestantes o católicas, lo que perpetúa las diferencias entre las comunidades.

¿Cómo ha afectado el Brexit a las tensiones en Irlanda del Norte?

El Brexit ha reavivado antiguas divisiones, poniendo presión sobre los logros obtenidos con el Acuerdo de Viernes Santo. La creación de una frontera aduanera en el Mar de Irlanda ha generado incertidumbre, llevando a algunos a adoptar posiciones más binarias y divisivas.

¿Cuál es la importancia de la educación integrada según las personas entrevistadas en el guion?

La educación integrada es vista como una herramienta clave para superar las divisiones sectarias. Personas como Paul Caskey y Carl Frampton destacan que las escuelas integradas ayudan a los niños de ambas comunidades a interactuar y a construir un futuro más unido y pacífico.

¿Qué desafíos enfrentan las mujeres en las comunidades protestantes de Irlanda del Norte?

Las mujeres en comunidades protestantes enfrentan desafíos como tasas de empleo persistentemente bajas y la falta de oportunidades. Esto se debe en parte a la falta de educación y a una paz que no ha traído los beneficios económicos esperados.

¿Cómo ha influido la inmigración reciente en Irlanda del Norte?

La inmigración a Irlanda del Norte ha aumentado en los últimos 20 años, especialmente de trabajadores en la industria de procesamiento de carne y servicios de salud. Sin embargo, la población inmigrante sigue siendo pequeña y no compensa el número de personas que se van cada año.

¿Qué simbolizan los murales en los barrios lealistas y cómo están cambiando?

Los murales en los barrios lealistas de Belfast han simbolizado durante mucho tiempo las divisiones políticas y sectarias. Sin embargo, ahora están siendo reemplazados por imágenes menos divisivas como parte de los esfuerzos de reconciliación y reimaginación comunitaria.

¿Qué representa la poesía de jóvenes como Benji Wallace para el futuro de Irlanda del Norte?

La poesía de jóvenes como Benji Wallace representa una nueva generación que no está interesada en las divisiones del pasado. Su trabajo refleja una actitud optimista y creativa, con un enfoque en avanzar y construir un futuro mejor para todos en Irlanda del Norte.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ Muros de paz en Belfast

El guion comienza en un parque victoriano de Belfast, donde a las 7 de la mañana, mientras los padres llevan a sus hijos a la escuela, un warden abre las puertas de un 'muro de paz' que separa dos comunidades. A pesar de que han pasado casi 25 años desde el Acuerdo de Viernes Santo, el narrador descubre que hay más muros de paz que nunca. Estos muros, construidos desde los años 60, van desde rejas simples hasta grandes muros de metal. El objetivo del documental es entender por qué Northern Ireland tiene dificultades para superar estas barreras físicas, políticas y económicas, hablando con personas de diferentes generaciones y roles en la sociedad.

05:02

🏫 Educación integrada en Northern Ireland

El guion sigue a Jim, el director de la Hazelwood Integrated Primary School, una de las pocas escuelas mixtas en Belfast. Jim explica que hace 45 años, un grupo de padres tuvo la visión de una educación no segregada. A pesar de las tensiones y la presencia policial armada en los años 80, la escuela ha logrado integrar a niños de ambas fe y comunidades nacionalista y unionista. Se destaca que la educación en Northern Ireland sigue estando dividida, con solo un 8% de escuelas completamente integradas, y se explora cómo la educación puede ser un paso hacia la integración y superación de las divisiones del pasado.

10:03

🤼‍♂️ De boxeadores a educadores

Carl Frampton, un campeón mundial de boxeo, comparte su historia de crecer en Tiger's Bay, una zona unionista, y cómo el deporte lo ayudó a encontrar su camino y a conocer a católicos por primera vez. Carl, quien promueve la educación integrada, ve la diferencia en su propia familia, donde su hija no distingue entre católicos y protestantes. A pesar de los avances, reconoce que hay áreas que no han cambiado tanto y que la paz no ha traído cambios rápidos para todos.

15:05

🏘️ Barreras y divisiones en la vida diaria

El guion explora cómo las divisiones en Northern Ireland se manifiestan en la vida diaria, desde la vivienda hasta la identidad de género y las oportunidades laborales. Se habla con Pauline Hegney, cuya historia personal refleja las tensiones de la comunidad, y con Eileen Weir, que trabaja en un centro comunitario para mujeres. Se discute cómo la falta de empleo y la escasa inversión en educación y habilidades están ralentizando el crecimiento económico de la región.

20:05

🎨 Identidad y cambio cultural

Este párrafo aborda la complejidad de la identidad y la cultura en Northern Ireland, y cómo la confusión entre lealtad política y identidad cultural ha causado problemas. Se presentan historias de personas que trabajan en la comunidad para promover el diálogo y la integración, como Robert Williamson, quien trabaja en la transformación de murales paramilitares, y Bill Wolsey, un empresario que ha luchado por la inclusión y la diversidad en su negocio. El guion también destaca la relevancia de la juventud y su deseo de cambio, alejado de las divisiones del pasado.

🎤 La voz de la juventud

El guion termina con la poesía y la música de Benji Wallace, un joven poeta y rapero que representa la voz de la juventud en Northern Ireland. A través de su arte, Benji expresa la frustración y el deseo de una generación que busca superar las divisiones y aprovechar el potencial de la región, buscando un futuro más prometedor y unido.

Keywords

💡Muro de paz

Los muros de paz son barreras físicas que separan comunidades en Belfast, como entre protestantes y católicos. Aunque se supone que promueven la paz, en realidad refuerzan la segregación, una contradicción evidente. El video menciona que existen más de 100 de estos muros construidos desde la década de 1960, y aunque algunos consideran que proporcionan seguridad, son un recordatorio constante de las divisiones que aún existen en Irlanda del Norte.

💡Acuerdo de Viernes Santo

Este acuerdo, firmado en 1998, puso fin oficialmente al conflicto en Irlanda del Norte, conocido como los 'Troubles'. Aunque ha habido mejoras desde entonces, como la reducción de la violencia, el video destaca que todavía persisten barreras políticas, sociales y económicas que dificultan un progreso completo hacia la paz y la unidad.

💡Segregación educativa

En Irlanda del Norte, la mayoría de los estudiantes asisten a escuelas que están segregadas por religión: católicas o protestantes. El video señala que solo el 8% de las escuelas son totalmente integradas, lo que refleja la persistencia de las divisiones sociales y culturales en el sistema educativo, a pesar de los intentos de unir a las comunidades a través de la educación.

💡Brexit

Brexit ha reavivado las divisiones en Irlanda del Norte, ya que la región votó mayoritariamente a favor de permanecer en la Unión Europea. El video menciona que el Brexit ha generado incertidumbre y ha puesto bajo presión muchos de los logros alcanzados con el Acuerdo de Viernes Santo, lo que ha exacerbado las tensiones entre las comunidades.

💡Integración

La integración se refiere a los esfuerzos para unir a las comunidades divididas, especialmente a través de la educación mixta. El video muestra ejemplos de escuelas integradas como la Hazelwood Integrated Primary School, que acoge tanto a estudiantes protestantes como católicos, demostrando que es posible crear espacios comunes a pesar de las divisiones históricas.

💡Industrias tradicionales

Belfast solía ser un centro de industrias como la construcción naval y la fabricación de lino, que dieron forma a su economía y su identidad antes de la partición de 1921. Sin embargo, el video resalta que estas industrias han desaparecido, contribuyendo al declive económico y al bajo rendimiento económico de Irlanda del Norte en comparación con el resto del Reino Unido.

💡Sectarianismo

El sectarianismo es la división entre comunidades basadas en la religión y la identidad política, principalmente entre católicos y protestantes. A pesar de los avances en la paz, el video indica que estas divisiones aún afectan aspectos de la vida en Irlanda del Norte, como la educación, el empleo y la vivienda, y son una de las principales razones por las que muchos jóvenes deciden emigrar.

💡El Conflicto de Irlanda del Norte

Conocido también como 'The Troubles', fue un conflicto violento de más de 30 años entre unionistas/lealistas, que querían que Irlanda del Norte permaneciera en el Reino Unido, y nacionalistas/republicanos, que buscaban unirse con la República de Irlanda. El video menciona cómo este conflicto marcó profundamente la sociedad de Irlanda del Norte y cómo sus secuelas aún están presentes en las divisiones políticas y sociales.

💡Juventud

Los jóvenes en Irlanda del Norte enfrentan desafíos únicos debido a las secuelas del conflicto. El video menciona que muchos de ellos no recuerdan los 'Troubles', pero siguen afectados por las divisiones históricas. Algunos optan por emigrar en busca de mejores oportunidades, mientras que otros, como el poeta Benji Wallace, abogan por un cambio y una nueva visión para el futuro de Irlanda del Norte.

💡División económica

Irlanda del Norte sufre de una economía debilitada en comparación con el resto del Reino Unido, con bajos niveles de productividad y una alta emigración juvenil. El video enfatiza que las barreras físicas y sociales, así como la falta de oportunidades laborales, contribuyen al estancamiento económico, afectando especialmente a las comunidades más pobres y a los jóvenes con menos recursos.

Highlights

Northern Ireland still has more peace walls separating communities than ever before, despite the Good Friday Agreement almost 25 years ago.

The peace walls, initially built in the 1960s, are physical barriers that continue to divide communities along political and religious lines.

Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK in terms of economic growth, productivity, and suffers from a brain drain of young people seeking better opportunities.

Brexit has become a divisive issue in Northern Ireland, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU.

Education in Northern Ireland remains largely segregated, with only 8% of schools being fully integrated.

The Hazelwood Integrated Primary School is one of the few schools that offer a mixed education to children of both faiths and communities.

Integrated schools like Hazelwood aim to break down barriers and foster understanding among different communities from an early age.

Despite changes, Northern Ireland still grapples with deep-seated issues such as sectarianism and political divisions.

The immigrant population in Northern Ireland is small and does not compensate for the number of people, especially young, who leave the region.

Carl Frampton, a world champion boxer, promotes integrated education and has witnessed its positive effects on community relations.

Community workers like Harry Smith and Kate Clark are trying to bring together divided communities by focusing on commonalities rather than differences.

Peace walls are still seen as necessary for safety by some communities, highlighting the complexity of removing these physical barriers.

The legacy of the Troubles continues to affect community relations and the potential for reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Efforts to change the narrative around cultural identity and political allegiance are being made through sports and language initiatives.

The future of Northern Ireland, including its relationship with the UK and Ireland, remains a contentious issue that divides its population.

There is a growing sense of optimism among younger generations who are pushing for change and are less focused on historical divisions.

The potential for economic growth and social progress in Northern Ireland is seen by some as being held back by outdated divisions and political rhetoric.

Transcripts

It's 7am in a pretty Victorian park in North Belfast.

As parents take their children to school,

a steel gate is being unlocked.

Every day, at the same time, a warden

opens these gates that separate two

communities from each other.

It's called a peace wall.

Almost 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement

I've come to see how much Northern Ireland has moved on.

Before I moved to Ireland last summer

I hadn't been in Belfast since 1994.

I was astonished to find out that today there

are more peace walls separating communities than ever before.

This wall is about one of 100 in Belfast that have

been built since the 1960s.

The name peace wall sounds like a contradiction in terms.

The barriers range from simple fences

to towering metal walls that cut through the city's working

class communities.

So I wanted to find out why Northern Ireland is having such

a hard time leaving all these physical, political,

and economic barriers behind.

To try to understand all this I'm

going to talk to people from Northern Ireland's past,

present, and future, some who took up arms

during the Troubles, some who were born since the ceasefire,

and some who are educating the next generation.

Their aim?

To get Northern Ireland to stop punching below its weight.

This is Belfast today.

It's busy and vibrant, and it's come a long way

since the bombings and terror of the Troubles.

But it's still struggling with problems that

are deeply rooted in the past.

The linen and shipbuilding industries

that put it on the map even before Northern Ireland was

created by partition in 1921 have long gone.

By almost any measure, today it's

a region that badly lags the rest of the UK.

Part of the history of Northern Ireland

has been that events, politically and socially,

have often got ahead of economic problems being addressed.

And that's been the case right through the past 100 years.

Compared with the rest of the UK,

Northern Ireland today is poorer,

its productivity is lower, and an exodus

of young people seeking better opportunities

is stunting its future prospects.

Researchers say young people move away

because of segregation, sectarianism, and politics

that they believe are stuck in the past.

And then there's Brexit, which has

become a hugely divisive issue in a region that overwhelmingly

voted to Remain.

But today's barriers are not just physical.

In Northern Ireland your name or where you live

can mark you out as being Protestant or Catholic.

That might once have affected your job prospects.

The shipyards mostly employed Protestants, for example.

During the Troubles, it could have put your life in danger.

Today, many people say that the once automatic reflex

to identify people has gone, but not when it comes to education.

Look at this chart.

Students here overwhelmingly go to schools

that are either Protestant or Catholic.

Only 8 per cent of schools are fully integrated.

In Northern Ireland, even education is divided.

So I've come here to visit one of the very few schools that

isn't.

Jude, how are you?

Hello, Jim.

You're very welcome.

Thank you very much.

The Hazelwood Integrated Primary School

in the wonderful North Belfast with a beautiful backdrop

of the Cavehill.

Fabulous.

Shall I take you in the school and show

you some interesting things?

Show me around.

Maybe I should start off with telling you

some of the back story of the school.

So about 45 years ago a group of parents, two of which

are still employed in the school, met in a kitchen

and had a dream, a vision as an alternative

to segregated education.

As Jim the headmaster explains, while the Troubles

raged in the 1970s some parents were convinced that education

needed to be mixed.

They managed to set up integrated schools

for children of both faiths and for both Nationalist and

Unionist communities.

The first was established in 1981.

But tensions were so high that there

had to be armed police outside.

But times have changed.

People may identify as belonging to one or another tradition,

but church attendance even before Covid was on the wane.

And mixed marriage is on the rise.

Jim says Northern Ireland is still grappling

with hatred and distrust.

So this is the fault line we talked about,

the fissure that runs through our community here

- and one community on this side and the second community

on that side.

And we talked about those...

So that's the Nationalist community.

That's the Unionist community.

Pretty much.

Like everything else in Northern Ireland,

you use very clumsy, crude language to group

a whole group of people into one pigeonhole.

And that's not only unkind but usually unfair.

So predominantly, we have a Nationalist community

on this side.

Predominantly, we have a Unionist community

on that side.

And this was a flashpoint for a long time.

Paul Caskey from the Integrated Education Fund

says that today these are safe but not neutral spaces

for people from all sides.

I'm very proud to say that today we

have 69 integrated schools educating over 25,000 children.

And think of that ripple effect, where

you have 25,000 children, possibly maybe 40,000

parents and more grandparents.

So it reaches out into the community.

It shows that it can work.

And we've demonstrated that this wasn't

some sort of wacky, wooly, liberal group of people.

These kids are facing an uncertain future.

When it comes to jobs, productivity, and wages

Northern Ireland is bottom of the class in the UK.

No wonder some people decide to leave.

But some decide to come.

Immigrants started to arrive in Northern Ireland

in large numbers about 20 years ago

to work in meat processing and the health service.

Then a few years later came an influx of people from new EU

member states attracted by relatively free labour market

access.

But the immigrant population is still tiny,

and it doesn't make up for the number of people

who move away every year.

A recent survey by Pivotal, a think-tank,

found the number one reason people want to go

is sectarianism.

Number two is job opportunities.

Carl Frampton's way out was boxing.

I meet the two-time world champion

in Tiger's Bay, a Unionist area where he grew up.

This is a real flashpoint here.

This is Tiger's Bay.

My street was the first street in Tiger's Bay,

and that's the New Lodge there.

Good friend called Sam, his brother Glen

got blew up at the bottom of the street with a pipe bomb.

That's why Carl's mum made him start boxing when he was seven,

to keep him out of trouble.

That's also how he met Catholics for the first time.

Now, he promotes integrated education

and sees the results at home.

It's a better place than it used to be, Northern Ireland,

certainly, Belfast as well.

But I think we're still...

my kids' generation, it needs them guys that come through...

kids like my daughter, who doesn't know the difference

at 11 years old between a Catholic and a Protestant.

But for some people, he admits peace hasn't

brought change fast enough.

The area, if I'm being honest, it hasn't changed that much.

I feel like people talk about places being left behind.

Just down the road from Carl's gym,

Harry Smith and Kate Clark are trying

to get opposite communities to focus

on what they have in common, not what keeps them apart.

It's not easy.

This was a flash-point area during the Troubles,

and it's where the latest flare-up in violence

happened just last year.

Loyalists are already collecting wood for a giant bonfire,

one of thousands traditionally lit every July

to commemorate Protestant King William of Orange's victory

over the Catholic King James in 1690.

Now, we have communities that rely on peace walls

for community safety, for feeling safe in their homes

at night.

What our job is to do is to try and promote and engage

with those residents who aren't normally

engaged with, promote peace barrier removal,

reimaging, or redesigning.

But that's easier said than done.

Kate lives behind steel fences here in the Nationalist New

Lodge estate over the road from Tiger's Bay.

And what are we seeing here?

These are the gates that close off Duncairn Gardens.

These are peace gates.

These are closed.

They opened at half 7am, close at 6 o'clock.

And is there no other way in or out?

No.

So if you're in and you've forgotten to buy something,

you're...

So if you're in, you're stuck.

If you've been living beside a barrier for 20 or 30-odd years,

sometimes 40 years, you know, yeah,

it's like a comfort blanket for you as well.

And it's pretty hard to let it go.

You have to show people that there's another possibility,

another life.

In Northern Ireland, younger people

don't remember the Troubles.

Older people can't forget them.

Republicans were fighting for a united Ireland

and loyalists to remain British.

Paddy Harte has been working for more than 30 years

to rebuild relationships.

He says it's too soon to expect things

to have moved on entirely.

And Brexit is reviving old divisions.

Lots of the gains, lots of the hope,

lots of the positives out of the Good Friday Agreement

have come under pressure in recent years because of Brexit,

and the protocol, and the uncertainty that they bring.

People then begin to move back into the binary version

of Northern Ireland.

So yes, lots of progress, but regrettably a lot more to do.

But also, understandably, given what Northern Ireland's

been through, it would be too much to expect

that, 25 years on, everyone would have left

all of what happened behind.

Pauline Hegney used to work at the Europa

Hotel, which was bombed more than 30 times

during the Troubles.

Her husband Carl, a Catholic, was

murdered because he was walking home

from the pub on the wrong side of the road.

In those days in 1991 you would have

walked on one side of the road going down the road.

You would have walked on the right-hand side if you were

a Catholic and on the left-hand side going down

if you were a Protestant.

He was on the right-hand side of the road coming down the road,

and someone was standing just in a doorway

along the gasworks wall.

And as Carl approached the gunman just walked up to him

and shot him point-blank range in the stomach.

And when he fell, then they shot him point-blank range

in the back.

But Pauline, who's also a Catholic,

thanked the predominantly Protestant police

for taking him to hospital.

That was something that didn't sit well

with some people in the community I lived.

And one Saturday night, my car windows smashed,

and there was paint thrown around and everything.

So and that was because I thanked the RUC, something

I don't regret doing.

A lot has changed.

But sometimes, the old orange and green divides resurface.

Like housing...

her son is looking to buy a place

with his Protestant girlfriend.

He's in a relationship with a wee girl

from the other community in the country.

And she could live anywhere with him in any Catholic area.

I don't know if he could live in any Protestant area.

Rigid divisions between communities

can also extend to gender opportunities.

But prospects for women aren't always better.

Eileen Weir has been working with the Shankill Women's

Centre in the heart of Belfast's Protestant Unionist community

for three decades.

Today, employment rates for women are stubbornly low.

And we're not seeing that peace dividend

that we thought we would have.

We need jobs for our young people coming through.

We've probably about three generations here

that never worked and never knew what work was.

Fixing that will help put Northern Ireland on a path

to higher growth.

North Ireland has the biggest proportion

of those with low or no skills in the UK

or of any region in the UK.

But there's also the problem of those with higher skills.

And Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion

of those who have a tertiary education, such as university

degrees but also further education,

those kind of vocational qualifications.

It's not just about jobs.

Divisions in Northern Ireland are all about identity.

Language and sport are two key expressions of that,

and they can be political.

We see this already here.

West Belfast are 80,000 inhabitants

and 10,000 people from here were in prison.

Jake Mac Siacais is a former IRA prisoner.

He now runs a Gaelic football club.

It's already considered a nationalist game.

But here, they play in Irish.

I joined the Republican movement when I was 10 years of age.

I joined the youth wing of the Republican movement.

I always had a great admiration for the generations

of Irish people who had resisted British rule.

And I knew that I was a captive second-class citizen

in a state which was hostile to me at every level.

His love of the Irish language grew.

He perfected it in prison, in the notorious H

blocks where 10 IRA prisoners died on hunger strike.

Irish has long been a political football.

A law to give it official status has been promised

but has still not been passed.

When Jake set up his club all he asked

was that people could kick a ball and speak Irish fluently.

Today, he even has some Protestant players.

But identity and culture are complex.

And it's that conflation of political allegiance

with cultural identity that causes a lot of problems.

I mean, you go into the Unionist or Protestant community,

there are evangelicals, Adventists, Presbyterians,

free Presbyterians, non-aligned Presbyterians,

Church of Ireland, all sorts of Methodists.

There's one Catholic identity but there

isn't one Protestant identity.

It's so multi-layered.

On the other side of the historic divide

another former fighter is trying to build bridges.

I meet Robert Williamson in the historic house where

King William of Orange stayed when he first

arrived in Northern Ireland.

Robert grew up on a housing estate that

was predominantly paramilitary.

But now he works with loyalist communities

to change some of the famous murals that

illustrate the past.

We would go to various streets, and we

talk to individuals and families,

and we talk to local community groups.

And we try and get a buy-in from them.

Will you come to a meeting?

And basically say, listen guys, that wall there,

when it was painted 20 years ago, it was fresh and new.

But you know what?

It's peeling off the wall.

It's a disgrace to this neighbourhood.

We're trying to rejuvenate, clean the place up.

And you try to get them to see that and say that,

is this so important to you that it has to stay?

Or could you have a conversation about reimaging it?

Bill Wolsey is one of Northern Ireland's most successful

business people.

A self-made man, he runs a string

of high-end hotels and pubs.

He grew up in a working-class Unionist area,

but his parents were socialists.

I made it, and I haven't a clue how I made it

- some luck and some judgment.

But I went over to Arsenal to play football,

and that didn't work out.

And I got into printing, which I hated.

And then at night school, I went to college in Westminster

and got into hospitality industry

and loved it and made a little bit of money in England

and then came back to buy a pub that was run by paramilitaries.

We were able to purchase this pub,

and we had sort of two years of hell.

But at that stage Northern Ireland

was very dark, difficult days.

But we were determined that, A, we

wouldn't pay protection and B, we would absolutely

let everyone into our pub.

We didn't care about religion and politics.

But we wanted them to respect our rules.

And sounds pretty obvious now, but was difficult then,

let's say.

He says Brexit is one way politicians

perpetuate divisions.

Because of the Good Friday Agreement

most people couldn't countenance a return

to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

A quarter of a century of peace has reduced a once fortified

boundary to this, an almost imperceptible line

in the tarmac.

In its place a customs border was put in the Irish Sea.

Everybody knows here that if you appeal

to the Nationalist side and the Unionist side,

that's pretty much split 40-40.

It's the 20 per cent in the middle who

absolutely are reconsidering where this country should go.

And they're looking at, on the basis, what

will be best for my children?

Do I still feel European?

How are we on social progress?

And where will I be economically?

It's no longer driven by orange and green.

Today, tech and service companies have relocated here.

The movie business has taken off.

Shipbuilding and linen have gone.

And many young people are just bored by constantly harking

back to history.

Benji Wallace, a 19-year-old poet and rapper

tells me that, for his work, the past is not prologue.

A lot of it isn't inspired by all of the conflict

and the kind of division.

It's about the fact that I don't care about it.

It's not relevant really any more.

Not forgetting the past but letting us learn from it,

but not keep acknowledging it.

Northern Ireland's future, whether to remain

part of the UK or to unite with Ireland,

is just one of the many things that divide people here.

And like all the other social, cultural, political, economic,

and educational divisions, it's going to take time to settle.

But there's plenty of optimism too.

Take Benji, unlike many of his generation,

he doesn't want to leave Northern Ireland,

but he does want things to change.

I am resilient.

Days turn to months.

Months turn to years upon years.

We're all different.

This wasted potential is turning our hopes into fears.

This is the barrier never acknowledged,

artists forced to leave.

Our wee country's about to get aware

if you don't truly believe in the youth of the nation.

Feel our frustrations, doubts, and hopes.

Cut us loose from the industrial rope.

Creative time bombs about to explode.

We are young, but you'd better take notes.

We are wild, rock the cultural boat.

We are strong, keep this nation afloat.

Innovate 'cause we're ditching your cultural rope.