UN Peace Day - Springboard Mural
by Laia Aguayo for Northern Ireland Foundation
23 September 2011

A mural inspired by the value of peace, located between the peace line gates in Northumberland Street, Belfast, was unveiled by Peace Day Ambassador, Ivan Little.

The former TV reporter said that he was very "honored and humbled" to be invited to speak at today's event. He described how he had covered dozens and dozens of bad news events of the Troubles, and how pleasing it was today to be part of good news and "something that's really positive":


This was part of a series of events promoted by local charity, Springboard, to mark the 30th anniversary of the UN International Day of Peace.

The design of the mural was the result of a workshop organised by Springboard, involving over 100 young people, each of them making their contribution to depict what represents peace to them. In this way, the mural acquires even more symbolic meaning.

Indeed, the mural is meant to instill hope in an effective shared future among the Shankill and Falls communities, as explained by Springboard Project Officer, Michaela Lafferty, who also hoped that young people would learn from the mural, to gain inspiration "in the same way that we did while making it":


Only a few days ago, the interface barrier that divided Alexandra Park was opened after 17 years from its creation. This fact has been considered a significant enough achievement, resonating in international media, such as in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. The peace lines were conceived as temporary structures, built in the 1970s as a response to intercommunity violence. Today, there are nearly 50 peace lines in the city of Belfast alone.