Thursday 18 February 2010

Belfast Trip - 30/01/2010

On the 30th of January 2010 9 members of the NUCA took a day trip to Belfast. Following an extremely early start, we touched down in Belfast at around 7 am. The snow-dusted hills around the city were an impressive sight. What struck us particularly was how quiet the inner city seemed; after leaving the airport we found a Starbucks to breakfast in (much to Joe Caulfield-Kerney’s delight) and we watched as the odd person walked across the small square below us.



After leaving Starbucks we had an impromptu game of Frisbee with Nick’s Frisbee acquired from the YBF Conference (blue, of course), then moved onto a nearby shopping centre to kill a bit of time. Following some brief shopping, we embarked on the open roof bus tour. It was an interesting experience for various reasons; first we stopped in the dockyards where the Titanic had been built, getting a chance to view her impressive dry dock. After that we went through the area where C.S. Lewis the author had been born, and then headed for Stormont, the grand and beautiful building where the Northern Irish Assembly is located. However, the next part of the tour involved cruising down the motorway. Due to the freezing cold temperature, the wind and the fact that few of us had been prepared enough to bring woolly hats and gloves, by the time we disembarked near Queen’s university we couldn’t feel our faces and our stiff knees didn’t work properly.





We thawed a little in the Ulster Museum, where we saw an exhibit on the Troubles. After this we took another tour bus through a part of Belfast where murals covered walls everywhere, ranging from faces of Rastafarians to balaclava-covered IRA members. Although the Troubles are over, it still felt like an alien world so removed from our own, one hard to understand since we were young when it was going on.







The tour ended at an office of the Ulster Unionists, where we were warmly greeted by Neil Johnson, the Campaign Manager for the Conservatives and Unionists, and given a talk about the history of the political situation in Northern Ireland and the progress which has been made, the Conservative's alliance with the Ulster Unionists, and an insight into current political events. Following the talk we were driven to East Belfast where we did a spot of leafleting, then returned to the airport to catch an afternoon flight back.



The sun was setting by the time we reached Nottingham, and we had a great view of the campus from the air. From the airport we went into town, going to the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem pub for a quick drink.







We then sat down at our table in Chutney. Here we were joined by other NUCA members, and the meal was a great wind-down after a packed, edifying and rather surreal day.



Chantal Lyons - NUCA Social Action Officer

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