Northern Ireland’s ‘peace babies’ share stories of a divided Belfast

Issued on: 30/08/2023 – 16:31

1 min

Across Northern Ireland, 32 kilometres of walls separate predominantly Irish Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly British Protestant ones.

They’re a legacy of The Troubles, a thirty-year-long conflict between Catholic nationalists and republicans, in favour of a united Ireland, and Protestant unionists and loyalists, historically close to the British Crown. The Good Friday Agreement put an end to most of that violence in 1998, supposedly ushering in an era of peace – yet the walls kept growing in number and height.

FRANCE 24’s ENTR team met Catherine, 24, and Joel, 22, who come from different communities. Growing up, they’ve been told the stories of their families who were on opposite sides of the conflict, and have inherited their legacy.