Belfast: Toward a City without Walls tells the story of Belfast’s 100 peace walls, security barriers and interfaces and asks for whether and how they can be removed within the 2023 deadline set by First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in “Together Building a United Community” (2013).

Written by Vicky Cosstick, with black and white photographs by Belfast photographer Frankie Quinn and a Foreword by conflict transformation specialist John Paul Lederach, the book will be published end May 2015 by Colourpoint Creative Ltd of Newtownards. Based on thorough research and over a hundred interviews, it uses a narrative approach to tell the story of the grassroots peace process from the point of view of community groups, residents and activists, civil servants, former paramilitaries, church ministers, artists and architects, business people and tourist agencies.

This book explains why, at many levels -- practical, social and economic, psychological, metaphorical – the walls continue to present a real problem for post-conflict Belfast.

They limit people’s movement and access to work and facilities; they inhibit economic development of the city. “According to the Multiple Deprivation Index of 2010, the 25 most deprived wards in Belfast are all in interface areas. In February 2013, the End Child Poverty Campaign named West Belfast the parliamentary constituency with the second highest rate of child poverty (46%) in the UK – after only Manchester Central. Life expectancy in West and North Belfast is around 73 years old for males and 79 for females, over 7% for men and 4.5% for women lower than in the most privileged areas of Northern Ireland. West and North Belfast register higher levels of unemployment. Mental health is also poor: there is a direct link between numbers of suicide and the Multiple Deprivation Index. In November 2014, the Department of Health announced that there have been 7,000 suicides in Northern Ireland since 1970, with numbers increasing since the 1998 BGFA, and plateauing since 2007 at around 280 annually (Irish News 11 Nov 14). Studies have linked suicide and attempted suicide specifically to the “unexpurgated traumas suffered by children during the worst years of violence in the 70s”. Furthermore, the levels of poverty have not fallen despite the estimated over £2 billion of funding poured into Northern Ireland by the EU, IFI, Irish Government and Atlantic Philanthropies by 2008 .” (From Chapter One)

The walls, according to some, are the current manifestation of the conflict in Northern Ireland; they have replaced the guns and bombs. Some 40% of the walls were erected since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Yet, to a large degree, violence has abated in the interface areas. The peace is maintained by an army of community workers, who monitor tension, build dialogue and relationships across the interfaces, and are actively engaged in efforts to remove, reduce and transform the barriers and walls.

Vicky Cosstick gave a talk about the book at Townsend Presbyterian Church during the Four Corners Festival – it was reported in Slugger O’Toole http://tinyurl.com/phfxh66 . Former Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir has tweeted “Frm Vicky Cosstick @cosstvictoria the most important book about building united future since peacewalls went up in 69” (5 Mar 15).

Vicky Cosstick has a background as a journalist, change facilitator and consultant, and academic – bringing a wide range of skills and approaches to the research and analysis in this book. She can be reached on 00 44 20 8143 9694 | 00 44 7798 803410 | vickybelfast@yahoo.co.uk

Supported by Culture Ireland