Belfast
So on heading out of the country to go to Croatia (Many months ago now) I happened to look at my work visa... which told me I had to leave by the 7th of March. That's not that far away really, and one does start to contemplate the possibilities such information affords.
The first question we really asked ourselves was "do we want to stay in the UK?"
The answer to that was: "Not really, but if the right job came up (for Ryan) - who knows?"
The last answer probably needs some qualification... I love my job, I thoroughly enjoy the company of my workmates, however i'm aware of the need for career development, and the fact that that just isn't happening in the current job, however fun it may be. So there is probably the need to move to something that affords a little more spare cash to allow more courses etc. Of course we could just stop spending every spare cent on travelling about all over the show... but, well... nahhhhh!
So we decided on a move to Australia... About now, the more astute among you may be wondering why this blog has the title Belfast... As is usally the case when you make a big life decision, some other idea comes along to test that one. For me this came in the form of perousing the Physio magazine that comes every couple of weeks. I'm always interested in what jobs are on offer, and since we were kinda asking the question, it came as a bit of a surprise to me that a very interesting job came up. Based in Northern Ireland, at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. Basically a job working with elite sports people from across 5 main disciplines (Hockey, Gaelic Football, Rugby, Soccer and Athletics)... The issue I have formerly had with elite sport are two fold - one, that you generally have to sell your soul to such positions (not tenable with enjoying family life or any degree of work:life balance), and secondly, that professionally it probably narrows your scope of practice, and thus would probably bore me (after the first few months)... So the Northern Ireland job sounded pretty good - they talked
about flexible working hours, and because it covered a number of disciplines there was less risk of overspecialisation or boredom.
So I applied, despite having only minimal experience in Elite sports... and much to my surprise I was asked to attend an interview and practical test. Hence on the 15th of November I caught a 7am flight from East midlands to Belfast international airport. Taking with me these two photos and a whole load of questions that needed
answering. Hence the title of the Blog.
That's a very long introduction... so I'll make the middle part short.
Didn't especially like the practical test, didn't feel I did badly, just didn't enjoy the scenario or feel totally comfortable in the test environment (D'uh! otherwise it wouldn't be a test! - but in all seriousness, normally a testing environment is one i enjoy and thrive on - despite the nervousness). I also didn't feel that scenario given was especially realistic... but maybe that sounds like sour grapes... Like I said, I don't think i did it badly, just that it was unrealistic - which all scenario based tests are. Between Test and interview I went for a wander to the beach (see below, to breathe in some fresh air, and remind myself of why I love the ocean... the trevi fountain symbolises it well - placid (as it was this day) or rugged (as it undoubtedly is on other days). Was awesome just to be able to have some time to ponder though and enjoy some beauty!
Anyway, the interview is normally another environment I would enjoy, but this was not so enjoyable, nor did I understand what information they were looking for in a lot of the questions (because the wording was so vague) so left me wondering whether I actually had a good grasp of the english language or not... Clearly though, they were after someone with a lot more experience in Elite Sport, so I left giving myself a 10% chance of being offered the position (Surely other interviewees would have more experience than I had...) and was not in slightest bit surprised when I received that "unfortunately on this occasion you have been unsuccessful" letter in the post ten days later...
Of course I'd be lying if I said i wasn't disappointed. My ego is too big not to take any kind of failure (even failure at getting a job i'm not really qualified to do!) with a degree of dissatisfaction. Yet consolation was easy to find. The experience had taught me a few things about elite sport that i didn't know before, changed a few aspects of my practice that needed updating, and brought to the front of my mind what I actually wanted from a job, and what I've enjoyed about my practice and experience to date. Any experience that forces one to reflect is surely a good one. So you take the positives, and move on. Test and interview aside, I had about 5 hours to use in beautiful Belfast to have a look around. So onwards we move to the (lengthy) conclusion of this story...
War is something i'm always fascinated by - while, as a youth i was especially anti the idea of war (probably as much out of fear of getting shot at or fear of death, as idealistic opposition) i've come more to a position of seeing how in some instances war is not only justified, but (arguably) necessary. Of course in an ideal world we would love our neighbors... but you and I both know that we're not in Eden anymore...
The War in Northern Ireland always fascinated me as a child (when I heard distant reports of it from half a world away) The concept of Catholics Killing Protestants i just did not get (especially having a Catholic dad and Protestant Mum...) So it's always been one of those things i've wanted to explore a little more and understand a little better. I appreciated getting to know a little of the Homeland war when we were in Croatia, and this was really no different. So I jumped on an open top bus tour, and despite the fact that it was absolutely FREEZING sitting up there, did my best to capture the best bits of the City.
Belfast is a city with some fascinating History. The White Star line had its building docks there where Titanic was launched from, in what is nowadays the site of some major redevelopment in what is called the Titanic precinct (perhaps not
that surprisingly), The dry dock at Belfast is the largest worldwide and can dry dock any boat in existence worldwide (and if you've ever seen the size of some of the supertankers or massive floating cities that are cruise ships you know that's BIIIIIGGGG! So they also have these two gigantic cranes, called Samson and Goliath, which up until a couple of years ago, were the biggest cranes in existence. They can lift a 
staggering 84o tonnes each! But it is perhaps most famous for some of its political graffiti. It has a number of cool looking big buildings too - the town hall among 
them with the Belfast eye (how original). And loads of other cool places. This Sculpture sits just off the waterfront and is called Grace and Harmony, however the locals have their own names... 'Nuala with the Hula' and 'Doll and Ball.'
The City also has its very own leaning tower, over five feet off
vertical thanks to being built on soft ground, and now extending over 100 feet below the ground in an attempt to stabilise it further (I forget who it was who told stories about building houses on solid foundations... who was that?). The New High Courts have a steel 
reinforced concrete wall 10 foot thick to protect against car bombs, and the old courthouse was... well... a little delapidated!! St Mary's Anglican Cathedral has the world's largest Celtic cross standing at over 100 ft tall... it also has a most peculiar spire - the gigantic stainless steel spike you can see extending beyond the picture frame on the left. It looks totally out of place on the old building - which it kinda is, given that it was only erected earlier this year... It is so heavy that they couldn't put it on the roof so it extends down inside the building and is suspended inside a solid glass box which evidently gives one the impression of it floating. Bizarre. But interesting I guess.
The murals of the area kinda speak for themselves of the sentiment of those that live here, so i'll let them speak for themselves. Some interesting stuff.
Anyway despite all this excessive history of violence, Belfast has recently been named as the second safest city to visit as a tourist (Second to Tokyo). Well done the irish - though I bet my friend in Dubrovnik would challenge you to a duel on that one... Well worth a look though, and despite the fact that i've dwelled mainly on the war history here, there is much more to see... the Queens university is among the top 10 in the UK and has some beautiful and impressive buildings, and the whole city itself is perched between a couple of natural cliffs which look spectacular and which I would love to have seen the view from the top of. Maybe next time eh? 
The first question we really asked ourselves was "do we want to stay in the UK?"
The answer to that was: "Not really, but if the right job came up (for Ryan) - who knows?"
The last answer probably needs some qualification... I love my job, I thoroughly enjoy the company of my workmates, however i'm aware of the need for career development, and the fact that that just isn't happening in the current job, however fun it may be. So there is probably the need to move to something that affords a little more spare cash to allow more courses etc. Of course we could just stop spending every spare cent on travelling about all over the show... but, well... nahhhhh!
So we decided on a move to Australia... About now, the more astute among you may be wondering why this blog has the title Belfast... As is usally the case when you make a big life decision, some other idea comes along to test that one. For me this came in the form of perousing the Physio magazine that comes every couple of weeks. I'm always interested in what jobs are on offer, and since we were kinda asking the question, it came as a bit of a surprise to me that a very interesting job came up. Based in Northern Ireland, at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. Basically a job working with elite sports people from across 5 main disciplines (Hockey, Gaelic Football, Rugby, Soccer and Athletics)... The issue I have formerly had with elite sport are two fold - one, that you generally have to sell your soul to such positions (not tenable with enjoying family life or any degree of work:life balance), and secondly, that professionally it probably narrows your scope of practice, and thus would probably bore me (after the first few months)... So the Northern Ireland job sounded pretty good - they talked
about flexible working hours, and because it covered a number of disciplines there was less risk of overspecialisation or boredom.So I applied, despite having only minimal experience in Elite sports... and much to my surprise I was asked to attend an interview and practical test. Hence on the 15th of November I caught a 7am flight from East midlands to Belfast international airport. Taking with me these two photos and a whole load of questions that needed
answering. Hence the title of the Blog.That's a very long introduction... so I'll make the middle part short.
Didn't especially like the practical test, didn't feel I did badly, just didn't enjoy the scenario or feel totally comfortable in the test environment (D'uh! otherwise it wouldn't be a test! - but in all seriousness, normally a testing environment is one i enjoy and thrive on - despite the nervousness). I also didn't feel that scenario given was especially realistic... but maybe that sounds like sour grapes... Like I said, I don't think i did it badly, just that it was unrealistic - which all scenario based tests are. Between Test and interview I went for a wander to the beach (see below, to breathe in some fresh air, and remind myself of why I love the ocean... the trevi fountain symbolises it well - placid (as it was this day) or rugged (as it undoubtedly is on other days). Was awesome just to be able to have some time to ponder though and enjoy some beauty!
Anyway, the interview is normally another environment I would enjoy, but this was not so enjoyable, nor did I understand what information they were looking for in a lot of the questions (because the wording was so vague) so left me wondering whether I actually had a good grasp of the english language or not... Clearly though, they were after someone with a lot more experience in Elite Sport, so I left giving myself a 10% chance of being offered the position (Surely other interviewees would have more experience than I had...) and was not in slightest bit surprised when I received that "unfortunately on this occasion you have been unsuccessful" letter in the post ten days later...Of course I'd be lying if I said i wasn't disappointed. My ego is too big not to take any kind of failure (even failure at getting a job i'm not really qualified to do!) with a degree of dissatisfaction. Yet consolation was easy to find. The experience had taught me a few things about elite sport that i didn't know before, changed a few aspects of my practice that needed updating, and brought to the front of my mind what I actually wanted from a job, and what I've enjoyed about my practice and experience to date. Any experience that forces one to reflect is surely a good one. So you take the positives, and move on. Test and interview aside, I had about 5 hours to use in beautiful Belfast to have a look around. So onwards we move to the (lengthy) conclusion of this story...
War is something i'm always fascinated by - while, as a youth i was especially anti the idea of war (probably as much out of fear of getting shot at or fear of death, as idealistic opposition) i've come more to a position of seeing how in some instances war is not only justified, but (arguably) necessary. Of course in an ideal world we would love our neighbors... but you and I both know that we're not in Eden anymore...
The War in Northern Ireland always fascinated me as a child (when I heard distant reports of it from half a world away) The concept of Catholics Killing Protestants i just did not get (especially having a Catholic dad and Protestant Mum...) So it's always been one of those things i've wanted to explore a little more and understand a little better. I appreciated getting to know a little of the Homeland war when we were in Croatia, and this was really no different. So I jumped on an open top bus tour, and despite the fact that it was absolutely FREEZING sitting up there, did my best to capture the best bits of the City.
Belfast is a city with some fascinating History. The White Star line had its building docks there where Titanic was launched from, in what is nowadays the site of some major redevelopment in what is called the Titanic precinct (perhaps not
that surprisingly), The dry dock at Belfast is the largest worldwide and can dry dock any boat in existence worldwide (and if you've ever seen the size of some of the supertankers or massive floating cities that are cruise ships you know that's BIIIIIGGGG! So they also have these two gigantic cranes, called Samson and Goliath, which up until a couple of years ago, were the biggest cranes in existence. They can lift a 
staggering 84o tonnes each! But it is perhaps most famous for some of its political graffiti. It has a number of cool looking big buildings too - the town hall among 
them with the Belfast eye (how original). And loads of other cool places. This Sculpture sits just off the waterfront and is called Grace and Harmony, however the locals have their own names... 'Nuala with the Hula' and 'Doll and Ball.'The City also has its very own leaning tower, over five feet off
vertical thanks to being built on soft ground, and now extending over 100 feet below the ground in an attempt to stabilise it further (I forget who it was who told stories about building houses on solid foundations... who was that?). The New High Courts have a steel 
reinforced concrete wall 10 foot thick to protect against car bombs, and the old courthouse was... well... a little delapidated!! St Mary's Anglican Cathedral has the world's largest Celtic cross standing at over 100 ft tall... it also has a most peculiar spire - the gigantic stainless steel spike you can see extending beyond the picture frame on the left. It looks totally out of place on the old building - which it kinda is, given that it was only erected earlier this year... It is so heavy that they couldn't put it on the roof so it extends down inside the building and is suspended inside a solid glass box which evidently gives one the impression of it floating. Bizarre. But interesting I guess.Just down the road from the Anglican Cathedral is St Patrick's Catholic church (on the next 
block in fact), and just down the road frm that, the Orange hall (with mesh in front), you cross a roundabout about 10m from the Orange hall on an intersection that was said to be the most dangerous intersection during the conflict, with snipers covering most every angle of it... The area in general was known as the killing fields during the troubles, with daily murders and body dumps on street corners. Just up the road heading into the Shankill district (the Protestant or Loyalist/Orange/British district) was a hospital called the Mater Infirmum (Catholics love Latin) which until 1974 was owned by the Catholic Church... In 1974 the gave it to the NHS, in part it is surmised because the then leader of Sinn Fein was assassainated by a couple of guys dressed as doctors who shot him at point blank range. I guess it's probably fair enough that the church wanted to distance themselves from such atrocities...
block in fact), and just down the road frm that, the Orange hall (with mesh in front), you cross a roundabout about 10m from the Orange hall on an intersection that was said to be the most dangerous intersection during the conflict, with snipers covering most every angle of it... The area in general was known as the killing fields during the troubles, with daily murders and body dumps on street corners. Just up the road heading into the Shankill district (the Protestant or Loyalist/Orange/British district) was a hospital called the Mater Infirmum (Catholics love Latin) which until 1974 was owned by the Catholic Church... In 1974 the gave it to the NHS, in part it is surmised because the then leader of Sinn Fein was assassainated by a couple of guys dressed as doctors who shot him at point blank range. I guess it's probably fair enough that the church wanted to distance themselves from such atrocities...The old courthouse with its stylish (vacant) look, grand pillar'd , broken windows and avant garde razor wire fencing was built conveniently across the road from the prison which from time to time housed the 
famous british family of executioners (about whom there was a movie made last year... Albert Pierrepont or something was the last guy's name). He famously stated that he "always enjoyed hanging irish men." Which, taken out of context could easily be a racist and quite inflammatory statement. In actual fact he was paying them a compliment - referring to the dignity with which 
they went to their death and their astounding faith (regardless, one assumes, of their denomination) in something better to follow. Nevertheless, the courthouse was a challenging one for human rights activists. Those accused of murder or involvement in paramilitary organisations were invariably declared guilty by the judge, without any jury or trial, and literally told to step down, from the stand and down to the tunnel which led under the road from the courthouse to the Jail, and sometimes to the executioner. Thankfully the last hanging was way back in 1961. They couldn't risk taking the prisoners across the road because they would just get shot by a sniper. The jail was divided into three areas. The area for the Catholics (or Nationalists/Republicans), the area for the Protestants (or Loyalist, British, Orange), and the area for the ODC's (the Ordinary Decent Criminals) who wouldn't kill each other if put in the same cell. Crazy times. Nowadays there is a new dilemma. British law way back when required that anyone who died on the premises was also buried on the premises. So despite the Jail being today unused, it is essentially a huge gravesite which makes the site difficult to deal with due to risk of offending relatives etc.
famous british family of executioners (about whom there was a movie made last year... Albert Pierrepont or something was the last guy's name). He famously stated that he "always enjoyed hanging irish men." Which, taken out of context could easily be a racist and quite inflammatory statement. In actual fact he was paying them a compliment - referring to the dignity with which 
they went to their death and their astounding faith (regardless, one assumes, of their denomination) in something better to follow. Nevertheless, the courthouse was a challenging one for human rights activists. Those accused of murder or involvement in paramilitary organisations were invariably declared guilty by the judge, without any jury or trial, and literally told to step down, from the stand and down to the tunnel which led under the road from the courthouse to the Jail, and sometimes to the executioner. Thankfully the last hanging was way back in 1961. They couldn't risk taking the prisoners across the road because they would just get shot by a sniper. The jail was divided into three areas. The area for the Catholics (or Nationalists/Republicans), the area for the Protestants (or Loyalist, British, Orange), and the area for the ODC's (the Ordinary Decent Criminals) who wouldn't kill each other if put in the same cell. Crazy times. Nowadays there is a new dilemma. British law way back when required that anyone who died on the premises was also buried on the premises. So despite the Jail being today unused, it is essentially a huge gravesite which makes the site difficult to deal with due to risk of offending relatives etc. Driving down Shankill road you get to see some amazing murals (not all of which I actually managed to get pictures of... low light + bus moving = blurry images, D'oh! The UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) were some interesting chaps - it is said that the loyalists are SO loyal to the british throne that, despite there being no compulsory conscription in Ireland during the first world war (which is interesting indeed considering in mainland Britain there was conscription - which is an interesting comment on politics at the time), anyway 760 men from the UVF volunteered for the british army and were sent to the Somme. Only 76 returned. Bugger. I'm not sure if that was reflective of the overall loss of life, or if that's ole Murphy having fun with the Irish again. 
Moving on from the Shankill district, we passed through the 'peace line' and into the Falls area 
(Catholic/Nationalist/Republican). The so called peace line is actually a huge fence (about 12 feet high) which still stands today, separating the Shankill and Falls areas (sorry the pic is a bit blurry), I had not realised that these two areas were literally right beside each other such that one neighbor could throw an 
item over the back fence (albeit an exceedingly tall one - you can 
see it dwarfing the two story houses!) into the neighboring yard of the next section. The peace line has only four points of crossing, and despite many people's best efforts to have it brought down, to date it remains, a testament to the work that is yet to be done in rebuilding trust and relationships in these communities. Buildings of note in 
the Falls area are the Beehive pub - the oldest in Belfast which has been opened since the 1860's and which Lord Baden Powell used to ride into (he literally rode his horse in the door and was given his pint without dismounting!), the Sinn Fein headquarters (with these three plaques outside), and the mural below on the side of it.
(Catholic/Nationalist/Republican). The so called peace line is actually a huge fence (about 12 feet high) which still stands today, separating the Shankill and Falls areas (sorry the pic is a bit blurry), I had not realised that these two areas were literally right beside each other such that one neighbor could throw an 
item over the back fence (albeit an exceedingly tall one - you can 
see it dwarfing the two story houses!) into the neighboring yard of the next section. The peace line has only four points of crossing, and despite many people's best efforts to have it brought down, to date it remains, a testament to the work that is yet to be done in rebuilding trust and relationships in these communities. Buildings of note in 
the Falls area are the Beehive pub - the oldest in Belfast which has been opened since the 1860's and which Lord Baden Powell used to ride into (he literally rode his horse in the door and was given his pint without dismounting!), the Sinn Fein headquarters (with these three plaques outside), and the mural below on the side of it. U2 are a great band (that is fact rather than opinion!) and one of their songs "Sunday Bloody Sunday" has the line in it: "Broken bottles under children's feet, and bodies strewn across a dead end street, but I won't heed the battle call..." This is in reference to one of the bloodiest battles in the war which happened in 1969 (I think) on a day known now as Bloody Sunday in a dead end street which faces out onto St Comgall's primary school. A Surreal experience to drive slowly past the boarded up school and glance down the dead end street that faced it with those lyrics coursing through your inner ear... But the bus didn't stop and all of a sudden we were upon something totally different. It's only later that you reflect on the immensity of such experience. Our tour guide worked as a taxi driver during the war and stated ruefully, that he had been shot once, stabbed twice and hijacked/mugged on eight other occasions during the conflict. Needless to say he didn't seem to have lost his sense of humour, and on getting off the bus said "may your God go with you"... covering all bases i guess!! The Queens hospital in Belfast is (perhaps not all that surprisingly) reknowned worldwide as being the best at mangement of gunshot victims, stab wounds, shrapnel wounds, burns victims etc... but that's not all they are famous for... in 1966 they invented the world's first portable heart defibrillator, an achievement which has surely saved many many thousands of lives since. The Hospital has an exceedingly cheesy fence which is meant to be a DNA helix. Crick and Watson would be so proud. (If you don't know who they were you're probably looking confused about now, rather than smiling surrepticiously at my lame attempt at humour... ask wikipaedia and then read it again!)
The murals of the area kinda speak for themselves of the sentiment of those that live here, so i'll let them speak for themselves. Some interesting stuff.
Anyway despite all this excessive history of violence, Belfast has recently been named as the second safest city to visit as a tourist (Second to Tokyo). Well done the irish - though I bet my friend in Dubrovnik would challenge you to a duel on that one... Well worth a look though, and despite the fact that i've dwelled mainly on the war history here, there is much more to see... the Queens university is among the top 10 in the UK and has some beautiful and impressive buildings, and the whole city itself is perched between a couple of natural cliffs which look spectacular and which I would love to have seen the view from the top of. Maybe next time eh?
posted by Ryan and Mez at
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