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Laurence White: How the Tall Ships helped us all forget the past, for a few days at least
Monday, 17 August 2009
For those of us old enough to remember the start of the Troubles — and to have lived through the following three decades of savagery and destruction — the new Northern Ireland is such a startling contrast.
Yes, there are thousands of people who lost dear ones during the Troubles and whose grief will never go away. Yes, there are still thugs intent on inflicting harm on anyone who crosses their paths. Nowhere is perfect and Northern Ireland has a lot of forgetting to do and a lot of rebuilding.
Yet there are times when the province really does resemble a normal, cosmopolitan, go-ahead society. These last four days have been one of those times. The arrival of the Tall Ships brought a novel attraction to the city. It had the glamour of the vessels and the bonus of being free to view.
But it brought people from all over the province into the city and attracted visitors from Britain, Republic of Ireland and Europe. To see them all mingling along the quays in the evening, watching the fireworks or just enjoying the various attractions of the food and drink markets was heartening in the extreme.
Belfast seemed like a great place to be and it made one wonder how the same city was home to the psychopaths who murdered and maimed for three decades.
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Here we go...it was only a matter of time before someone wheeled out the troubles again...
Posted by Simon | 18.08.09, 01:45 GMT