Isle of Man 23 November 2006 Les på norsk

Christmas carols in Belfast

**BALACLAVA AND AK-47** 80 years of civil war has left its mark on Belfast. Even though a fragile armistice was introduced following the Good-Friday agreement in 1998, and the British soldiers have disappeared from the streets, barb wire, armed police and grafitti paintings still dominate the streets. Here from a wall in the centre of the city.

NORTHERN-IRELAND: Whenever Belfast is mentioned, most people think about George Best, IRA, irish whiskey and more than 80 years of bloody civil war. But did you know that the Titanic was built here? We had to seek shelter in Belfast from a storm, and discovered a city with strong contrasts and close ties to its recent history.

FACTS ABOUT NORTHERN-IRELAND

Norhern-Ireland is part of Great Britain, and the capital is Belfast.
Approximately 1,6 million people live in Northern-Ireland. 275,000 live in Belfast.
Beef production, service industry and shipyards are the main industries.
A state of civil war has in reality excisted in Northern-Ireland since 1912. The battle rages between the unionists, who want to keep on being united with Great Britain, and the republicans, who want to go back to Ireland.
In 1998 the British government and the guerilla organisation the Irish Republican Army (IRA) signed a peace treaty. The fragile peace has held through so far, but the situation remains vulnerable to this day in many places.
Bank cards are accepted in most shops, and there are ATMs everywhere. The price level on food and drinks is half of that in Norway.

(Source: www.gotobelfast.com)

**CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS** The Christmas decorations were lit already on the 21st of November in Belfast, drawing thousands to the ventre. It reminded us of Christmas at home, except for the armed police standing on every street corner.

**REFLECTIONS** It was dark and rainy in the streets during our stay in Belfast. We played around with our cameras, and took our the artists in ourselves.

**DAY AND NIGHT** The days were spent onboard, doing minor reparis, and in the evenings we went to Belfast, went to cafes and photographed in the streets.

Norhern-Ireland is the only place in the British isles were the police carry firearms. We saw many things that reminded us of Belfasts troubled past. Barbed wire fences, armed police and grafitti depicting militant slogans and guerillas wearing hoods and carrying assault rifles on the walls of buildings were potent reminders of the recent history of the city. Did you know that Titanic was built in a Belfast shipyard from 1909-12? You can still find portraits of the mastodont in cafees around the city, where she carries the name "Pride of Ulster"! In Belfast people tend to focus on the fact that she was the largest manmade moving object of its time, not that she sank like a brick stone, taking 1,512 people with her into the freezing cold abyss on her maiden voyage.

But the thing the people of Belfast are most proud of, is the diseased soccer player George Best. They have named their airport after him, and are issuing a 5-pound note carrying his portrait. Soccer is not something to be taken lightly in Belfast! On our last evening in town, there was a large celebration of the lighting of the Christmas decorations, and a lot of people in the streets. We could feel a certain longing for home that night, knowing that Christmas is approaching, and that we are already far away from home.

**BELFAST BY NIGHT** Sailing on a long journey means a lot of toil, stress and frustrations. But we have not only suffered, and we have taken the time to enjoy a pint or two in one of the Meccas of ales, in all modesty of course. Or, as you can probably read in our faces: We feel terrible, and miss our mums a lot. CHEERS!

NORSK

Isle of Man 23.11.2006