{"id":4417,"date":"2018-11-02T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T09:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=4417"},"modified":"2018-11-02T09:24:56","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T09:24:56","slug":"dark-tourism-booms-at-northern-irelands-troubles-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=4417","title":{"rendered":"‘Dark tourism’ booms at Northern Ireland’s Troubles museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The tourism industry in Northern Ireland has been flourishing in recent years – visitors from around the world flock to the Giant’s Causeway, Titanic Belfast and filming locations for TV series Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n

But there’s another side to the tourist trail. Troubles-related conflict tourism is booming as thousands queue up to visit places they’ve seen on TV or read about in books.<\/p>\n

Dark tourism is the fashionable term – the desire to visit places worldwide which are linked to atrocities and tragedies.<\/p>\n

In a new BBC Radio Ulster documentary, Telling Troubles Tales,<\/a>Mark Carruthers investigates a phenomenon where little museums tell the story of the conflict through artefacts as simple as a handkerchief, and those involved in the Troubles s<\/p>\n

Mark says that before making the programme, he wasn’t aware of the extent of this type of tourism.<\/p>\n

“We’ve known about the black taxi tours in west Belfast for years, but I don’t think people realise just how much Troubles-related tourism is available to visitors – and just how well-organised it is,” he says.<\/p>\n

“The walking tours and the museums are very professional – and they certainly don’t pull any punches.”<\/p>\n

One such museum is housed in the Roddy McCorley social club<\/a> in west Belfast. It contains many of the artefacts you might expect to see, such as weapons, uniforms and medals, but you can also see a pair of Colonel Gaddaffi’s slippers, presented to a senior IRA man in the Libyan desert.<\/p>\n

Chairperson Davy McGivern says it certainly offers something different from the Titanic:<\/p>\n

“This is our story. Certainly there’s another story – a British army story, an RUC story, there’s loyalist stories – and all those stories are as relevant as ours,” he says.<\/p>\n

‘Unheard voices’<\/h2>\n

Chris Armstrong , tourism development manager at the Eastside Partnership, says that for many years people in loyalist communities felt their voices were not being heard.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s really important to understand loyalism, even if it’s just to provide a balance and a counter-narrative to the stories of the Troubles which are maybe told in other parts of the city,” he says.<\/p>\n

The Andy Tyrie Interpretive Centre<\/a> on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast is named after a former leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group.<\/p>\n

The UDA was the largest loyalist paramilitary organisation<\/a> during the Troubles.<\/p>\n

The interpretive centre’s museum is run by former UDA man Billy Rowan, who is unapologetic about the number of weapons on display.<\/p>\n

“You can’t tell the terrorist story without the terrorist arsenal,” he says.<\/p>\n

Across the city, on the Shankill Road, an alternative loyalist view is on display at a small museum run by the former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) prisoners’ organisation, EPIC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

EPIC director Tom Roberts, himself a former prisoner, says tourists are keen to hear from people who were “at the coalface” of the conflict and how young men became involved with the paramilitaries:<\/p>\n

“It is an uncomfortable story… people have forgotten the context and make judgements now on the basis of a relatively peaceful society that we have.<\/p>\n

“They make judgements on how people became involved in conflict.”<\/p>\n

Ulster University academic Dr Peter Doak has been researching the possible benefits of so-called dark tourism.<\/p>\n

He has been working with some of the history projects to help people tell their stories without re-traumatising those who underwent painful experiences.<\/p>\n

It is not about preaching a “never again” message, he says, but considering the educational value of looking back at the dynamics of the conflict.<\/p>\n

The Museum of Free Derry<\/a> has developed into a major multimedia interactive project costing \u00a32.4m, with more than 20,000 artefacts telling the story of the city between 1968 and 1972.<\/p>\n

Julieann Campbell is the museum’s heritage and programmes co-ordinator. Her uncle, Jackie Duddy, was the first person killed on Bloody Sunday in January 1972.<\/p>\n

The Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry<\/a>, killing 13 people. A 14th person died later.<\/p>\n

For all the hi-tech equipment, some of the most powerful connection with the past comes through seemingly innocuous artefacts.<\/p>\n

One of these is the bloodstained handkerchief waved by Fr Edward Daly as bystanders attempted to carry Jackie Duddy to safety.<\/p>\n

As Ms Campbell puts it “this simple piece of cloth is our number one artefact”, and it was loaned to the museum by her family.<\/p>\n

Coiste is an organisation that organises walking tours in west Belfast.<\/p>\n

Peadar Whelan is one of its guides. He served time for the attempted murder of a police officer and he is quite open about this when talking to tourists, even those who come from an opposing political perspective:<\/p>\n

“We’re quite happy and quite open to have the debate and the discussion.<\/p>\n

“They might not like the answer but they’re willing to accept it as our analysis of the conflict.”<\/p>\n

‘Who’s right? Who’s wrong?’<\/h2>\n

Billy Rowan from the Andy Tyrie Centre agrees that there are several opposing perspectives on the Troubles:<\/p>\n

“Who’s right, who’s wrong? We don’t know because, at the end of the day, I can only tell the truth from the way I see it,” he says.<\/p>\n

Having interviewed this widespread group of people involved in presenting their views of our troubled past, Mark is convinced this is more than just a matter of political propaganda.<\/p>\n

“There’s very obviously a substantial and growing market for Troubles-related tourism here as we continue to grapple with the challenge of dealing with the legacy of the past – and some people I spoke to for the documentary clearly feel that conflict tourism might just have a positive part to play in that wider public debate,” he says.<\/p>\n

Mark Carruthers presents Telling Troubles Tales on BBC Radio Ulster at 12.30 GMT on Sunday 4 November.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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