Peace Babies : Identity Troubles in Northern Ireland

Published on May 15, 2020

Story by

Hélène Seynaeve

Morgane Lincy Fercot

Translation by:

Alice Banks

Peace Babies Peace Process Babies

The 'Peace Process Babies' are a generation trapped between the aftermath of the Troubles and the spectacle of Brexit. Two weeks before the United Kingdom's divorce from the European Union, we took a trip. An identity tour of Northern Ireland in a podcast of four portraits.

The wall that once separated Belfast into two remains, its doors however, are now open. Even if today the streets are peaceful, traces of conflict are still visible, not only through the symbols of political affiliations that remain in certain districts, but also through the memories of those that lived through the turmoil.

Northern Ireland is sadly renowned for 'The Troubles', the years of violent political and identity wars between Catholics and Protestants that shook the country for over thirty years. More recently, this nation belonging to the United Kingdom was once again in the spotlight thanks to Brexit and the fear of a return to a physical border with the Republic of Ireland.

How does one construct an identity, trapped between the memory of the confrontations, reconciliation, and the threat of a Brexit that closes borders? We asked four 'Peace Babies' this question, youngsters who came into the world at the same time as the Peace Process, and who have never known borders.