The dramatic events in the lower Shankill which
ended in a 'purge' and expulsion of certain individuals has
been followed by a period of calm and lack of press headlines.
That is something to be welcomed by all true
loyalists and by people with goodwill towards this famous
Belfast district.
There are many people who have sympathised with
the good folk of the Shankill in their terrible difficulties.
The Shankill has a special appeal for tens of thousands of
people who live in other parts of the city and much further
afield.
Once proudly regarded as 'the heart of the Empire',
'the Road' as it is affectionately known, has been a Protestant,
Orange and Unionist heartland since the district became the
famous road in the middle of the 19th century.
Protestant and Unionist in its allegiance, it
has been the home of hard-working people who worked in the
great linen mills of Belfast, and then Belfast shipyards and
industries like Mackies. Running parallel with the Roman Catholic
and nationalist Falls Road, the Shankill along with its neighbour
shared the tensions and turmoil of Home Rule days and the
serious violence following partition and the establishment
of Northern Ireland.
But in between these periods of tension like
1886, 1912 and 1935, the Shankill enjoyed a harmonious live-and-let-live
relationship with its neighbouring area. The Shankill was
also a district which provided huge numbers of men for HM
Forces in two World Wars, experiencing very heavy losses at
the Somme in 1916.
It also had many of its people killed in the
German air raids of 1941, including a large number killed
in a direct hit on an air raid shelter at Percy Street.
Peace and the increasing prosperity of the post-war
period gave hope for much better times in the Shankill. Housing
was cramped and the Shankill had one of the largest populations
of inner Belfast.
But this famous area was to experience its greatest
suffering with the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969. Its geographical
location and its fiercely loyalist tradition meant that the
Shankill would often be in the front line of the violence
inflicted during the 30 years of the Troubles.
Hundreds of Shankill people lost their lives
in the Troubles, many of the young men went to prison for
offences related to the civil disorder, and a large number
of families fled the area in search of a quieter life.
But even more people moved because of the irresponsible
and harsh redevelopment schemes carried out in the Shankill.
From the early 1970s until the mid-90s the Greater Shankill's
population fell from 78,000 to just under 30,000. People promised
new houses back in the Shankill moved to the suburbs or to
towns on the periphery of Belfast, but the promise of being
re-housed in their beloved Shankill did not materialise.
However, thanks to the pressure of the Orange
Order, the Unionist parties, and the community leaders in
the Shankill who have worked untiringly and often without
publicity, the Housing Executive and housing associations
showed a positive response, and in the past 10 years or so
many new houses have been built in the Greater Shankill.
This gave rise to the hope of former residents
being attracted back, and it gave a shot in the arm to churches,
schools, Orange Lodges and other organisations which had felt
the effects of the population exodus.
Then, just when things were looking up, came
the vicious feud between rival loyalist paramilitary groups,
and the movement of large numbers of families within the Shankill
area. All this culminated in the huge turmoil and climax of
the past few months.
There are encouraging signs of a coming together
of people in the common cause of making the Shankill work
again. The return of more normal times and the relative quietness
of recent times has been welcomed by the overwhelming majority
of people in the Shankill who just want peace and a chance
to get on with their lives.
No-one deserves it more than the Shankill community
and the Government and other authorities like the housing
bodies must do their utmost to offer hope. In spite of excellent
new estates, there is a need for many more modern homes in
the Shankill - the lower Shankill, for example, has large
swathes of wasteland which would be ideal for housing.
Jobs are needed to give the young people a chance
of securing a good job and a stake in the community. And much
much more must be done to provide greater education facilities
in the Greater Shankill. The point has often been made that
few children in the Shankill go on to further education and
to university.
That doesn't mean the children of the Shankill
are born with less potential for skills and education than
their counterparts anywhere else. On the contrary, many famous
people have been born in the Greater Shankill. It just means
that the enormous potential must be tapped and a means found
for harnessing it to the full.
An exciting new future for the Shankill beckons,
provided everyone plays their part. The Orange and Black Institutions
which have many lodges and preceptories in the area are ready
and willing to play their part in this revival in the fortunes
of the Shankill Road.
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