Belfast: Being Young in a Divided City: Belfast_BYiaDC_01

A gate blocks access to the Catholic enclave of Ardoyne in north Belfast.First built in 1969 as a temporary solution to reduce violence, the peace walls — a euphemism for segregation barriers — have increased in number and scale since the start of the peace process. The barriers take many forms: Not only walls but also fences, gates, roads and empty buffer zones divide the Catholic and Protestant communities in some of the city's most economically deprived areas. The government promised to take the barriers down by 2023, but many residents are not ready for them to come down any time soon. Not all interface areas — the common boundary between a Protestant and a Catholic area — have a physical border. Sometimes there is only an invisible dividing line that local people are aware of.

A gate blocks access to the Catholic enclave of Ardoyne in north Belfast.

First built in 1969 as a temporary solution to reduce violence, the peace walls — a euphemism for segregation barriers — have increased in number and scale since the start of the peace process. The barriers take many forms: Not only walls but also fences, gates, roads and empty buffer zones divide the Catholic and Protestant communities in some of the city's most economically deprived areas. The government promised to take the barriers down by 2023, but many residents are not ready for them to come down any time soon. Not all interface areas — the common boundary between a Protestant and a Catholic area — have a physical border. Sometimes there is only an invisible dividing line that local people are aware of.