Guide Index Red words? Check the Dub Glossary!
Sadly, many of the inquiries I receive go like this:
Mick,
I’ve just received this warning from American Express Travel. What do you make of this? When and where is this Parade? Is there tourist stuff that we should avoid in Dublin? ...
While they aren't suggesting anyone necessarily change their plans to visit Ireland, the State Department is suggesting that US travellers may want to plan alternate routes during the Parade Season which runs through mid-August and which often inspires outbreaks of violence. Their latest public announcement also points out that cars with Republic of Ireland [ie, the South] plates have in the past been subject to vandalism so travelers may want to be wary of where they get their rental cars.
First off, let me reassure folks travelling over here. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an American harmed owing to Northern Ireland’s political violence.
One thing I was surprised to find, in moving over to Dublin, was that Northern Ireland’s impact was about the same here as it is in the U.S. It’s something that’s heard about on the news, something that’s discussed from time to time in conversation. Otherwise, it doesn’t touch the lives of the vast majority of the population.
So on a visit to Dublin, you will see some segments on the news about a murder or punishment beating, and you may see a street rally for one politician or another. That’s about it. If you’re worried that some dissident splinter group will nuke your hotel, put down the friggin’ Jack Higgins and relax. It ain’t gonna happen.
The only possible way I can imagine a visitor getting in trouble is if they start lecturing on about issues and tragedies they don’t know anything about. So, once again, I recommend you chuck away the Tom Clancy and do a bit of reading up on the conflict, if you are interested. Find out about the history. Find out about the Catholics/Nationalists/Republicans. Find out about the Protestants/Unionists/Loyalists. Find out about why the Catholic minority is angry. Find out why the Protestant majority feels threatened.
Even if you understand all the factions, causes, precedents and acronyms, any wiseass who travels to Belfast and starts preaching some opinion is still likely to get thumped. A lot of these ‘paramilitary’ fellows aren’t anything other than gangland thugs, now. Peddling drugs, once the means to weapons and money for their cause, became their sole objective. All throughout 2000, the INLA had a running feud with some drug gang or other, and the various Loyalist groups up in Belfast shot it out amongst themselves over leadership or territory or some gangland thing. So even if you go proclaiming your love for whoever painted the local murals, marching through some sectarian street in Belfast, these fellers you thought’d be on your side will probably just club you on your head and grab your money.
But, like I said, that's all up the North that those things happen. Down in Eire (the Republic, the independednt part of the island), not even the cops have guns. Sure, Dublin, like in any big city, has a scumbag element. There are brawls, robberies, and that sort of stuff. But even then, it's stores getting held up with baseball bats or syringes. The one fellow that I know who was a victim of street crime was mugged with- get this- an umbrella! The country's a hell of a lot safer than America, all things considered.
Guide Index Red words? Check the Dub Glossary!