DIVIDED COUNTRY, CONTESTED CITY(SCAPE): THE DIMENSIONS OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT AND ITS REPRESENTATION ON THE BELFAST POLITICAL MURALS

Abstract

The quarter-century following the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) is considered a true success story in Northern Ireland. The decades of terror came to an end. However, Northern Ireland, as its capital, Belfast, still remains divided by the unionism and nationalism. In the study, I attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the Northern Ireland conflict through urban geopolitics. The main goal of the study is to draw attention to the complex dimensions of the Northern Ireland conflict by the examine of the historical background, the complexity of the conflict-related identities and the urban representation of the conflict. Finally, the study displays the urban representation of the conflict and the spatial constructing of the opposing sides by the political murals of Belfast. The tradition of political murals is as old as the Northern Ireland conflict itself, and through these street artworks, we can understand the history of the conflict, its escalation and reconciliation, as well as the identities of the opposing sides, the Irish nationalists and the British unionists. These murals are storytellers, whose narrate the history of the Northern Ireland conflict, and actively form the space of Belfast city.