Council call to tear down peace wall in North Belfast park despite ongoing trouble

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‘Elected members at a committee meeting held on Friday at City Hall agreed to a proposal to consult locals and put pressure on Stormont to remove the wall at Alexandra Park, off Antrim Road and between Limestone Road and Alexandra Park Avenue.

The wall has been up for over 30 years, and is reportedly the only peace wall in Western Europe that goes through a public park. The park, which is owned and managed by Belfast Council, is seen as a hotspot for rioting, and has seen an increase in antisocial youth behaviour this year.

Councillors at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee unanimously agreed an original proposal by the Alliance Party, with an amendment from Sinn Féin.

The original proposal, by Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson, states: “A failure to remove the interface barrier in Alexandra Park would be a missed opportunity.”

It also calls on the Stormont Department of Justice to identify any resources that can assist with the removal of the interface barrier through its Interface Programme.

A Sinn Féin amendment adds “the removal of barriers cannot proceed unless local residents’ views, perceptions and consent are sought.”

It goes on to say a report would be submitted to the committee detailing the wall’s removal.

The amendment adds the council “recognises there is an acute sport and pitch provision need in the area” and the officer’s report would “reflect that as an opportunity to address the need in an overall process of investment and wall removal.”

An investment of €13.5 million in European Peaceplus funding is coming to Alexandra Park as part of the Reconnected Belfast programme. It will be used to upgrade existing park features, and for new sports and recreation facilities such as a basketball court, as well as improving the connection between Alexandra Park and Waterworks.

Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson said at the committee meeting: “The wall has stood in Alexandra Park for over 30 years. To put that into context, that is longer than the Berlin Wall stood.

“It is a wall that divides the park into an area for protestants and an area for catholics, and the fact it has stood longer than the Berlin Wall is not reflective of where we are in the community. We should try and show leadership in bringing about change.

“We have an opportunity here, in terms of the significant investment that is coming into the park, and I think this should be front and centre in that. It would be a missed opportunity if we don’t address what is the elephant in the room.”

He added: “The current plans are to re-image the wall, but I don’t believe in 2025 we should be giving a facelift to division. It is something we should be showing leadership on, and this is the time to do it.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy said the wall is “a blight.” He added: “There has been plenty of work which has taken place over the years, with the aspirations of trying to get this down.”

He said local youth organisations in the area had been “dealing with a lot of issues in recent months” and added it was “vitally important” to engage with them in the process.

DUP Councillor Fred Cobain said: “We are all agreed taking down walls is a priority for all of us. Anything that can bring us to that conclusion we are all in favour of.

“As far as Alexandra Park is concerned, over the past couple of years it has been a battleground. For every policing group (it) has been at the top of the list. This summer has been particularly bad, when the police have had to have stationary vehicles in the park itself.

“We have had to close the gate on five or six occasions because rioting became so bad. We have to be a bit realistic about what we can do in here.”

He added: “We had a meeting onsite a number of months ago with people from Peaceplus, some politicians and people from the community. The community was guaranteed that the only issue around the wall was re-imaging, that there was no possibility of removing the wall. That is what the people were told by Peaceplus.

“So to go back and say that is not the case, that we could be looking at something that actually removes the wall, I think is extremely difficult. That is not to say we shouldn’t try, we should keep trying, but I think we need to inject some reality into this situation.”

SDLP Councillor Carl Whyte said: “We would all like to see peace walls removed after engagement with local communities, but I question the decision by Alliance to bring this motion to Belfast City Council – a body with no power to intervene and remove this wall.

“This wall is owned by the Department of Justice and the person responsible for the process to remove it is Councillor Nelson’s own party leader, the Justice Minister Naomi Long.