BY Bridget Orr | February 27 | 
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Belfast barricade opens for trial period
Catholic and Protestant communities kept apart for 20 years by barrier at Limestone Road and Newington Street can now move freely during daylight hours during three-month trial
A barricade that separated Catholic and Protestant communities in north Belfast has been opened up after 20 years.
The traffic barrier at the junction of Limestone Road and Newington Street will be opened up between 7am and 4pm on Monday to Friday during a three-month review period.
This is part of a £2m Peace Walls programme that aims to bring down physical and social divisions in communities separated by around 90 barricades in Northern Ireland.
The trial was welcomed by Kate Clarke, a community worker in north Belfast.
“It became a question of how do we strengthen relations within communities, and it was seen that these barriers were an element that stood out as showing division,” she said.
The traffic barrier was set up in the 1980s following sectarian clashes in the area. North Belfast was blighted by sectarian violence on both sides during the Troubles, and still experiences tensions with riots taking place during Orange Order marches.
“Progress in removing barriers will depend on community support and I welcome the engagement of the people in the Newington area who are prepared to take this positive step,” Northern Ireland Assembly Justice Minister David Ford said.
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