Post-Conflict Belfast: Mixing and Polarisation in Lisburn Road Annie Kane-Horrigan
Conflict in Cities: Europe and the Middle East
Divided cities are defined by their lines of demarcation: often elaborate systems of boundaries that envelope single identity neighbourhoods, creating sharp dividing lines between insiders and outsiders. Belfast’s patchwork of neighbourhoods, criss-crossed by ‘peace walls’, daubed with murals and liberally sprinkled with flags, all have one thing in common: a clear public ‘face’. The borders around such areas are demarcated and can bristle with violence and tension. But what of the places where visible symbols are mostly absent? What of areas where violence is not an everyday occurrence and where people from different groups can mix? These areas often house those that don’t easily ‘fit’ into the city’s established schema: students, migrant workers, immigrants, as well as middle-class people from both communities. Such zones appear to be free from many of the boundaries and restrictions that limit other areas of Belfast and other divided cities. Do they represent a best-case scenario for residents to aspire to live in and a possible way of life beyond a conflict that otherwise defines a city? This photo-essay documents one such area.
Although the flag displays along the Lisburn Road itself are kept to a ‘tasteful’ minimum, some roads take a decidedly more prolific approach. This view of Lower Windsor Avenue shows the heavy red, white and blue bunting and flag displays on individuals’ homes. Rising in the background is Windsor Park, the football stadium where the Northern Ireland team plays. It is a place with strong links to the Protestant community. Rising on the hill beyond is the overwhelmingly Catholic West Belfast.
Every summer sees a beautification project as colourful flowering plants are hung from lamp-posts along the Lisburn Road. The other sudden visual additions are Union Jacks and Ulster flags. Such sectarian displays along the road are limited to the months of July and August and fly ostensibly in honour of the large Orange Order parade on the 12th of July but they are a sudden sharp reminder of a history that otherwise is kept well-hidden.
Where there is smoke‌ On 11th July every year huge bonfires are lit throughout the city; often in unexpected places in the eyes of newcomers who never thought of their area as one where this might occur. As this view of a small local primary school with smoke rising behind it shows, there are few areas off limits to sectarian displays at key times of year.
Off-road and off-message? Despite the cosmopolitan and sectarian-free sense that one gets walking along the Lisburn Road, just one block west is a reminder of the lingering paramilitary presence and links to the area. Although the rather dingy state of the mural may suggest dwindling interest in such sentiments these days, its continued existence also suggests that there is not enough will to paint over it either.
Q u e e n ’s Q u a r t e r – B e l f a s t tourism promotes ‘quartering’ the city. The Lisburn Road falls into the Queen’s Quarter. It serves as the main shopping route and residential area for Queen’s students and many of its shops are tailored to suit their needs. Because the road is marketed for incoming international students there is a relatively cosmopolitan set of young consumers arriving each year to enjoy the ethnic restaurants and shops.
Student land – even the graffiti gets a Latin-inflected welleducated tinge in this university area. South Belfast has long been seen as a 'neutral' area; a place where people from both communities can encounter one another regularly and peacefully. It also serves as a destination for a diverse range of people from many countries and ethnic backgrounds, many of whom are students. One might say the official flag of South Belfast is the ubiquitous 'To Let' sign, whose flying corresponds with the university calendar.
Community billboards wherever they can be found – in the ‘studenty’ area of the Lisburn Road, there are a number of buildings in poor condition. In some cases entire structures have been demolished with debris blocked off for so long that locals no longer seem to notice the gaping holes. A thriving live music scene in Belfast means these otherwise ‘dead’ spaces become a perfect community notice board for upcoming events, and inject a little life into a spot sorely needing it.
Image 8 Posters and Derelict. Belfast. 2010
New builds galore – along the road there are new sleek buildings wedged in-between crumbling brick. As of March 2011, 37 highend apartment units were being completed in this building. Only time will tell if these units will be let or will stand empty. Peace, or a relative lack of overt violence, is only one part of the conflict transformation process. Another key ingredient may be economic success, and the Lisburn Road’s recent haemorrhaging of its retail shops show relying on that can be precarious.
‘Prime’ development? Along the Lisburn Road there are beautiful large brick buildings that have fallen derelict. A clue as to the area’s once overall wealthy status, ‘for sale’ and ‘to let’ signs dot the landscape with suggestions for the properties' use, such as doctors’ surgeries, crèche facilities or multiple occupancy homes. The overgrown hedges and accumulating rubbish in the front gardens are testimony to how long some of these buildings have been on the market.
Secondary uses – not all the once-stately homes are derelict empty shells. There are plenty of groups that have capitalised on the massive size of these buildings and use them for new purposes. This once private home is now the local branch of the Belfast Library and sees a modest traffic of local residents, especially those with young children. Other buildings have been converted to dentist offices, day spas, bed and breakfasts and retail shops.
And yet not-so-hidden wealth – along the eastern side of the Lisburn Road radiate out a number of roads with historically wealthy residents and extravagant homes. Such tree-lined opulence and securely protected massive detached villas, replete with locked gates and security cameras, are a reminder of Belfast’s healthy industrial past where many a millionaire was made. These roads now are an enclave for the city’s current stock of wealthy solicitors, celebrities and otherwise privileged set.
Globalisation here we come? Dotted with boutique shops selling fashion items, high-end electronics, expensive home furnishings as well as innumerable cafes, the road has few chain stores. However this plaza containing Starbucks and Benetton shows the increasing encroachment of larger businesses capable of withstanding economic downturns that the smaller home-grown entrepreneurs cannot afford. The road’s independent spirit, once a symbol of Belfast’s post-ceasefire optimism, is now starting to feel the pinch as shop after shop shuts its doors.
A typical view along the Lisburn Road includes elements of the very old with the very new. The spire of the Windsor Presbyterian Church sitting high on a hill, and the numerous other churches along the road, serve as a reminder of the continued relevance of faithbased organisations within this city. Church attendance remains high and somehow the twin spires of churches and construction cranes don’t seem entirely at odds with one another along the city’s skyline.
Lisburn Road’s relative sophistication mirrors the image South Belfast as a whole wishes to project: one free from sectarianism; a progressive worldly city; the kind of place where you can get a really good cappuccino and go to see a jazz band play in a local park; a place where you can send your child to a school with children from a range of countries; and a place where any reminder of the city's bloody history will be hard to find.
Conflict in Cities and the Contested State research project, supported by the ESRC (grant number RES-060-25-0015)
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