Derry: the Walled City

So after a wonderful and relaxing time in Corrymeelia I have now spent a week with my host family in Derry. The Lyttles, Eugene and Brydgene, have six children, but they are all out of the house so having an American guest for a week is probably nice! (at least I'm hoping as much) Derry (or the UK name, Londonderry) was a hotspot for violence during the Troubles. Bloody Sunday occurred here and it is very interesting to see how such a divided community functions (and oftentimes fails to function).

Perhaps the biggest thing that shocked me about the North was that government funded schools are still segregated between Protestants and Catholics. There are mixed schools, but I was shocked today to find out that only two percent of children go to them. It is difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that segregation still exists in a developed Western country. The second biggest shocker for me is that there is still violence here. Now don't worry about me, it is nothing like rioting in the streets, I'm told it is only paint bombs thrown at significant Loyalist or Republican buildings by teenagers who don't know better. No threat of me getting injured.

It does look like, from the people that I have spoken with, that people are caring less and less about sectarianism and more about what they call "bread and butter issues". This I feel can only be a step in the right direction and shows that the people of North Ireland can get past their antagonisms and realize that they have to work together if they are to get anywhere at all.