Belfast, Ireland has come a long way since the days of conflict known as “the Troubles.” But for Jim White, who lost his best friend due to an eight-meter-high wall that separated the Protestant north from the Catholic west of Belfast, the memories are still fresh. Today, at 69, he can revisit the once notorious Catholic Springfield Road in west Belfast, but he prefers not to. He acknowledges that a lot has changed since those dark days, but still appreciates the presence of the Peace Wall gate on North Howard Street to prevent any potential resurgence of violence.
Just 500 meters away from Jim White, Michael Culbert works with an association called Coiste to offer political tours along the Peace Wall. Culbert, a former member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), brings visitors to key locations in Belfast to shed light on the history of the conflict. He believes in standing up for politically condemned individuals like himself, as he reflects on the events that led him to join the IRA in his early twenties.
The tour guide, James Ellison, takes tourists on a journey through Belfast city center to explore the sites that were significant during the Troubles, such as the location of the Abercorn Restaurant bombing in 1972. Despite
