About Belfast, Northern Ireland:
You cannot talk about Belfast without mentioning the later half of the 20th century in what became known as “The Troubles”.
The origins of the Troubles date back to centuries of warfare in which the predominantly Catholic people of Ireland attempted to break free of British (overwhelmingly Protestant) rule. In 1921, the Irish successfully fought for independence and Ireland was partitioned into two countries: the Irish Free State, which was almost entirely Catholic, and the smaller Northern Ireland, which was mostly Protestant with a Catholic minority.
Northern Ireland remained under British rule, and the Catholic communities in cities complained of discrimination and unfair treatment by the Protestant-controlled government and police forces. In time, two opposing forces coalesced in Northern Ireland largely along sectarian lines: the Catholic “nationalists” versus the Protestant “loyalists.”
For 30 years, Northern Ireland was scarred by car bombings, riots and revenge killings that ran from the late 1960s through the late 1990s and left approximately 3,600 people dead.
A peace deal struck in April 1998, called the “Belfast Agreement”, or more commonly “The Good Friday Agreement” created a power-sharing government that included political forces aligned with armed groups. Although paramilitary groups still exist, they have mostly disarmed, and to a large extent violence between the two sides has ceased. However, controversy over the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU) in 2020, known as Brexit, has complicated Northern Ireland’s border arrangements. The so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, which implements new border checks for goods coming from Great Britain, has sparked fears over the possibility that renewed sectarianism could undermine the progress achieved by the Good Friday Agreement.
Meanwhile, the republican Sinn Fein political party (the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly), won the largest share of first-preference votes and the most seats in the 2022 election, the first time an Irish nationalist party has done so. Sinn Fein has taken leadership of the Northern Ireland government for, reviving the debate over the potential for a referendum on unification with the Republic of Ireland.
Catholic Places of interest in Belfast, Northern Ireland:
Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Latin Rite Parish)
Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church
Traveling to Belfast, Northern Ireland:
There is an international airport in Belfast. Belfast is easily accessed by sea, with crossings from both Scotland and England. Travel by superfast ferries with journey times from just over 1 hour.