We rose early to try and get breakfast before it got too busy. The plan paid off as we were seated as soon as we arrived at the Oak Restaurant. Once breakfast was out of the way, we packed up the final bits, did an express checkout and hit the road back to Belfast.

It was a nice, sunny drive through towns such as Drumaness and Ballynahinch where the Union Jack, red, white and blue bunting and the Ulster Banner are everywhere to be seen. This is a normal sight in the unionist areas of Northern Ireland. The Ulster banner is taken from the former Northern Irish coat of arms. It is made up of a red cross on a white background, a six pointer star with a red hand in the centre which is topped with a crown. This flag is also known as the flag of Northern Ireland.

Today was about revisiting a couple of eateries that we loved when we were here last week, but also visiting some new places. We went to Mourne Seafood Bar for lunch, then headed to the tourist information centre to ask about doing a political and murals tour of Belfast. The receptionist made a point of telling us that the tour was available, but it would be likely that there would be some bias from the tour guide. We said that this would be ok and booked the tour with http://www.taxitrax.com

We waited outside the tourist information office for about fifteen minutes before our tour guide arrived. He introduced himself as Tommy and shook our hands. He initially drove us to the beginning of The Falls Road, which is the main road through West Belfast where the catholic community live. He explained to us about the different murals there. The first one that he showed us was emblazoned with the words ”Failte Feirste” and showed well known Irish sports teams and personalities. The words basically give a welcome to West Belfast. He moved on to other murals with more serious undertones, including the famous Bobby Sands mural, which is painted on the side of the headquarters of Sinn Fein. Tommy knew a lot of the history and told us about the murders of people involved with Sinn Fein, the IRA and also innocent people.

Tommy showed us one of the peace walls, or peace lines, which separates the nationalist Falls Road (Irish Republicans) homes from the unionists Shankhill Road (British). From 1969 onwards, the peace walls were built as temporary structures to prevent civil unrest, however they have become permanent fixtures, built from iron, brick and steel. There are now 21 miles of peace walls that have been built since 1969, reaching up to 8 metres in height in some places. There are four main gates (we saw two) which allow people to move across from one side to the other, but are still locked at 6-630pm to prevent sectarian violence at night. Sadly the Peace Walls show that there is still a big division between The Falls Road and Shankhill Road residents.

We were also shown the Clonard Monastery, which was the venue of secret talks between Gerry Adams (president of Sinn Fein) and John Hume (a founding member of the SDLP) and other prominent politicians. These conversations helped towards the IRA ceasefire in 1994 and the Good Friday Agreement.

Next was the Clonard memorial garden, on Bombay Street, which has a large plaque listing the names of civilians and Clonard martyrs who lost their lives during shootings and arson attacks in 1969. The plaques also gives the names and date of death of Republicans who lived in that area since 1916. You can also see a Peace Wall where the gardens of some houses back on to it. You can see that a metal cage has been built to protect the gardens just in case something was thrown over from the other side that could maim or kill.

Tommy took us into the Shankhill Road area of West Belfast and showed us the Peace Wall which has many messages left on it by people. Tommy gave us a pen so that we could write our own message on it. He also took us to visit some murals that demonstrate the achievements of the British army. He also explained to us the story of William of Orange.

Less time was spent in the Shankhill Road area as Tommy had spent a lot of time in the The Falls Road and over ran the expected 90 minutes. It was time well spent and a must-see.

Before we left Belfast,we had one last meal in The Crown Liquor Saloon and happened to bump into someone else from Hornsea, who was also eating. We had a quick chat before we left for the ferry.

We decided to go to Northern Ireland because it was almost guaranteed we could go without having to worry about Covid 19 restrictions such as quarantining, red areas, amber areas etc, and it was a really good decision to make. Travelling with the car also made life easier, as we could take more than what we would normally squeeze into a suitcase. I have found out so much about the history of the country and also experienced visiting some amazing places, including the Giant’s Causeway. I would recommend this trip to anyone.