Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - News - ‘Berlin 1961-1989, Belfast 1969-????. Thinking Seriously about Peace?

10 November 2009

A group of young people from interface areas across Belfast gathered at the gates in the peace wall on Lanark Way in West Belfast at 4.30pm on Monday 9th November to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

They wore t-shirts which read: ‘Berlin 1961-1989, Belfast 1969-????. Thinking Seriously about Peace? Walls’, funded by the Youth Council for NI as part of the Youth Service month.

The young people from interfaces in North, East, South and West Belfast played basketball with ‘the Peace Players’ and did a drumming workshop with the ‘Gathering Drum’. Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Patricia Lewsley and representatives from the US Consulate Office attended the event to listen to the views of young people.

At 5.30pm the young people went to the City Hall to meet the Lord Mayor, Naomi Long and discuss the issue of ‘peace walls’ with her.

The event is part of the ongoing ‘Up Against the Wall’ initiative that supports children and young people living in interface communities to have a voice on the future of interface barriers. ‘Up Against the Wall’ is being organised by a group of youth workers from a range of community groups, youth organisations and churches who are working within and between interface communities in North, West and East Belfast. The meetings have been co-ordinated by Youth Link NI, the inter-church youth service for Northern Ireland. John Peacock, Community Relations Manager, Youth Link, “We hope that the relationships formed through these conversations will continue to develop and give these young people the opportunity to participate in building a better future in their areas.”

For more information please visit www.youthlink.org.uk/up-against-the-wall-nov-2009.html