I am a child of the troubles

[Soph0571]

I am a child of the troubles in Northern Ireland. My earliest memory is sitting in the back of the No. 7 Bus and watching Woolworths blow up. I grew up in place that was violently riven because of borders, faith, politics and othering. The other side was the enemy. Even in middle class circles, wagons were circled and both communities lived separate lives, including walls and postcodes dividing us. It was situation normal to see soldiers at roadblocks throughout the city. Police with guns on every corner (nowhere else in the UK are policemen armed). When I first left the land of my birth and moved abroad, I found it very difficult to adjust to not being searched every time I entered a shop.

And then came the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement. Where the vast majority of people on the Ireland of Ireland agreed that peace was the new road map and power sharing was instigated. For the last 20 years, both communities are witness to closer integration than ever before (of course there is still a way to go – there are decades of hurt and bloodshed that need healed). Peace suits and no-one in their right mind wants a return to the dark days of the 70’s and 80’s.

HOWEVER

The Brexiteers do not give a flying fuck about the people of Ulster. They will see a hard border restored in breach of internal treaty obligations because they are such extremists when it comes to leaving the EU.

A hard border will reignite the troubles, make no mistake about it. For dissidents on the republican side any customs posts – be they at the actual border or 10 miles away – will be a target for violence. A bandit border will return. Tit of Tat will start. The only thing I cannot see this time round is the British Army on the streets, more like a UN peace keeping force.
I was a child of the troubles. This bollock’s has to stop now. The next generation should never be able to say ‘I was a child of the troubles’.