Today we’re going to have a quick stroll down Sandy Row, traditionally a fiercely protestant and loyalist part of south Belfast. In previous films I spoke about the changing demographics of Belfast, and this area is another example of how traditional loyalism perhaps on the wane. Immediately on turning the corner into the street we see new apartment accommodation on the site where the old Crescent bar once stood. How many of the residents of this block originally are from Sandy Row I can’t say, but I suspect that there’s now a fairly substantial immigrant population now living in this area.
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Across the street is the home of District no 5 Grand Orange lodge. The building was erected in 1910. For those viewing from outside Ireland or the UK, the Orange Order is a Conservative British Unionist and Ulster Loyalist organistion formed in 1795, to defend Protestantism.
And I think a look at the shopfront gives us an indication of how this part of Belfast is changing as enterprising new people arrive and populate the area. All these apartment blocks are quite new and, being right in the city centre, are obviously attractive to our new residents. 30 years ago Belfast was a monoculture, despite the fact that there was much talk and obviously serious sectarian violence surrounding what was perceived as the “2 cultures", nationalist and Unionist. The area now has a wonderfully diverse population and this obviously points to how Belfast more generally is changing. It’s losing its tribalism. However, a glance across the street here at the Royal bar will tell you that this is still a strong working-class protestant area. Again though, just down the Donegal road here on our right there’s a hostel, where young people from all over the world stay in when visiting Belfast.
We pass a red brick building which is the the Glasgow Rangers Supporters Club. This is another strange quirk of sectarian life in Belfast. Protestant loyalists tend to support the Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers, while Irish Rebublicans favour Glasgow Celtic. There’s fierce rivalry between there two sets of supporters, which often boils over into sectarian violence. Just wearing the wrong football shirt in certain parts of Belfast can get you into some serious trouble.
Now a look across the road here shows some of the issues faced by this community. These derelict and boarded up old shops were once thriving businesses. Before the troubles Sandy Row prided itself in being a vibrant shopping area where you could buy anything you needed. As the older residents move out of the area, there’s an new influx of people taking advantage of the available accommodation and setting up their own lives here.
On crossing the road it’s great to see some new businesses that appear to be an indication that the area’s redevelopment plan is bearing fruit. There’s the shopfront of the Harris Kilt Company and bedside it a nice new Boots Chemist. The shape of things to come perhaps?
When we glance down this street we see the social housing that replaced all the old 19th century housing stock that accommodated the mill workers who worked here when Belfast had a booming linen industry. And again on this side of the road you can see how this area has been completely redeveloped.
Then we have the community centre, an obvious hub for the residents of the area. And just behind it we see more loyalist murals and even the bollards painted red, white and blue. While the community is changing, there’s certainly a strong core of unionist support here. It is, after all, one of Belfast’s most staunchly loyalist areas, and that’s reflected here again in some posters offering information on flute bands and orange order history. `
And then we come to a hotel that’s been here for quite a while, but it really is a very poorly planned development. Quite an ugly building and not representing the kind of thought that the redevelopment of this area deserves.
We look at the mural of King Billy. King William of Orange, from whom the Orange Order takes its name, was a Dutch prince who married the English Queen Mary II. He became the British Monarch encouraged by the protestant majority in Britain who were in opposition to King James who they felt threatened a revival of Catholicism. William’s massive popularity among loyalists here is largely down to a battle fought in the Boyne valley near Drogheda (now in the Irish Republic) in 1690 in which his armies defeated King James. This is celebrated on the 12th of July every year.
And then there’s this rather beautiful statue. This commemorates the women of Sandy Row. She seems quite stylish, almost as though she’s on a Paris catwalk rather than standing in urban Belfast.
16 авг 2023
