Study tour – trains, boats and buses
By: J. David Chapman/June 7, 2018
I am writing this week’s column from the Titanic Exhibit in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since last week’s column, the University of Central Oklahoma’s London/Belfast/Dublin Study Tour and Research Extension left London to travel to one of my favorite cities in the world – Belfast.
To get to Belfast, we had to travel by high-speed train to Holyhead, Wales. From Holyhead, we boarded a boat to Dublin, Ireland. Once in Dublin, we quickly transitioned on bus to Belfast. My colleague, friend David McIlhatton, head of urban and maritime security research at Coventry University, was born and raised in Belfast and spent several days with our students and faculty.
Belfast is an intriguing city and a wonderful case study for overcoming a troubled past. In fact, they call the conflict in Northern Ireland “The Troubles,” where over 3,600 people were killed and thousands more injured. Over the course of three decades, violence on the streets of Northern Ireland was commonplace and spilled over into Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The goal of the unionist, and overwhelmingly Protestant, community was to remain part of the United Kingdom. The goal of the nationalist and republican, almost exclusively Catholic, community was to become part of the Republic of Ireland. Several attempts to find a political solution failed until the Good Friday Agreement, which restored self-government to Northern Ireland and brought an end to “The Troubles.”
The magnitude of the conflict was observed as we toured the Peace Walls that, even today, segregate the city. A few years ago, I wrote in this column that Belfast was on the path to recovery and the real estate market was showing signs of regeneration. Today, I report it has recovered and is now on the verge of becoming a world-class European city.
Upon arrival in Belfast, the students and faculty boarded a double-decker bus for a 90-minute city tour. We toured one of the largest waterfront developments in Europe called the Titanic Quarters, where the Titanic was built and went through the world-famous Titanic Museum and Exhibit. One of the most popular outings of the entire study tour was hiking the Giant’s Causeway, and eating fish and chips near the Dunluce Castle, one of the Game of Thrones filming locations.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).