Families were burned out of their homes in Belfast this week in openly racist violence. But Sara Morrison, who has lived in Belfast most of her life, argues that what happened on the Newtownards Road is the product of decades of political failure, an unfinished peace process, and communities that were never rebuilt. A vital if uncomfortable read.
The general election held in 1918 had completely transformed the post-war politics of Ireland, with the Sinn Féin candidates winning a majority of FPTP seats by a landslide vote. These newly elected members boycotted Westminster and established an alternative assembly in Dublin on 21st January 1919. Despite the mounting campaign of political violence that had also developed during 1919 and in early 1920, by July Robert Lynd could still accurately write, “So far as the mass of people are concerned, …
Government papers just released under the 30/20 year rule (DED/22/231) detail how officials back in the late 1980s conducted an analysis of the cost to close the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Back in 1988, 4,000 jobs would have been made redundant. Despite not having made a profit for 20 years, continued public support was calculated to be cheaper than the closure costs. (In the end, H&W was sold in 1989 to a management/employee buyout in partnership with Fred Olsen.)
It looks like the end of an era today as Harland and Wolff is due to go into administration. The company that once employed 35,000 people is now a mere shadow of its former self, employing just 130 currently. With so few jobs the economic loss is not that great, people with light engineering skills are in high demand and I imagine most workers should have no issue getting reemployed. It’s more what the shipyard represents in terms of our …
