Belfast is hardly a city synonymous with tourism of the orthodox variety. It is no surprise though, that, particularly in recent, ceasefire-bound times, the city has begun to cash in on its more colourful modern history. Communities on both sides are dropping their previous guardedness in order to exploit their heritage , while plays and festivals draw audiences to artistic expressions of the communal experience. Even beyond areas which were central to the Troubles, shops and hostels sell postcards depicting murals and other landmarks.
Most famous of all, perhaps, is the West Belfast Taxi Association s tour of the Falls Road and surrounding areas. The history of the WBTA is intimately bound up with the history of the Troubles. When bus services were suspended on the Falls Road as a result of rioting in the early 70s, the WBTA sprung up to fill the gap These origins are still apparent the taxis travel a specified route and can be hailed at any point, irrespective of whether people are already travelling in them or not. The WBTA was also a precious source of employment for many ex-internees, who would have found it almost impossible to get work outside their own, often deprived, areas.
HP photographer Peter Mathews and I make our way to the Castle Street taxi rank behind the Castle Court Shopping Centre. We have decided that Peter should pose as an American tourist, and that I should hide my journalistic intentions. This is less for duplicitous reasons, than to aid us in seeing what these tours really entail.
We are soon introduced to our driver, Liam. We check with him that it will be OK for Peter to stop at regular intervals to take photos, and explain that we would like to see anything of interest.
The tours exist in a kind of limbo they are neither official, nor entirely spontaneous. There is a basic route, but variations in both this and in the commentary provided are dependent on the whim of the individual driver.
Liam immediately expresses relief that both myself and Peter are English-speaking. During the recent Feile An Phobail, the influx of tourists put a strain on his patience: It s alright with the likes of you, but you see when you get a group of Spaniards or Italians . . .it s a nightmare, he comments.
With that we head up Divis Street and onto the Falls Road. For the next 45 minutes we wend our way through various nationalist districts (not surprisingly WBTA taxis do not venture onto the Shankill Road). Along the way we pass by the mural of Bobby Sands which has adorned a gable on the Falls since Sands death on Hunger Strike, and has by this stage assumed almost iconic significance. (Mural enthusiasts may be interested to know that there is actually a much more artistically impressive depiction of the republican martyr, including a scene from his funeral, in the Twinbrook Estate where his family lived).
Other sights include Bombay Street, from which Catholic families were burnt out at the very beginning of the Troubles, an event which retains its importance in the nationalist consciousness; the peaceline , (the inappropriately named wall of steel which keeps the residents of nationalist and loyalist districts apart), the edges of the Ballymurphy estate which once contained the family home of Gerry Adams (the house was eventually destroyed, the only option after it had been structurally weakened by repeated raids by the British Army); and Connolly House, Sinn Fiin s Belfast HQ.
Along the way, Liam does not offer much in the way of historical commentary, preferring to concentrate on subjects as diverse as his passion for golf, and Alex Higgins declining health. To him, I can t really see what the big attraction is in this, but foreigners seem to be fascinated by it all.
Though not a surprising view coming from someone who has lived in the area all his life, this does the tour a disservice. To strangers who have no conception of the reality of life in West Belfast it offers a first-hand insight into the nature of these closely knit and resilient communities. Many streets, for example, are adorned by plaques in memory of those who lost their lives in the conflict, while events with particular resonance are commemorated, most frequently in the case of the Hunger Strike, but also embracing other the likes of the three IRA members shot dead in Gibraltar.
At the various points at which Peter jumps out of the cab to take photos, though, the local populace seem as bemused as our driver by the interest. Beneath that, too, is suspicion of strangers, and more particularly strangers wielding cameras. At one point when Peter wanders away and is spending some time trying to get the perfect shot of Connolly House, Liam decides it would be prudent to move the taxi closer, before somebody comes out and grabs him.
Such moments, aside, however, the West Belfast Taxi Tour, while not perhaps as dramatic as it could be, provides some concrete sense of nationalist West Belfast s local history. A recommended trip, for the interested, confused or curious.
The West Belfast Taxi Association s tours leave from the Castle St. taxi rank, last approximately 45 minutes and cost #15stg.