Fourth International Conference on Tourism and Leisure Studies

Abstract

Northern Ireland has a turbulent history, enduring 30 years of violence known as “The Troubles.” Streets in Belfast that were once ‘no-go’ areas are now popular tourist attractions. They are the sites of assassinations, attempted murders and memorials to the dead - both those killed and those who killed. This article reports back on interviews and focus groups with ex-prisoners, and time spent walking the streets, participating in guided tours of memorial sites, cemeteries and museums, led by former members of paramilitary groups who have since become tour guides . These local, sometimes controversial, figures play a key role in the tourist industry of Northern Ireland. “Troubles tourism” provides vital employment to former prisoners and allows them to tell their stories from their own perspectives. This article explores how tourism allows those at the very centre of the conflict to present and represent its dark, raw and contentious history. For many, the problems of the past did not disappear with the Good Friday Agreement. The struggle carries on for those who seek an independent Ireland and those who strive to maintain British sovereignty. Through tourism, Republicans continue their political activism and campaign for liberation through legitimate and non-violent means, whilst Loyalists uphold their besieged and increasingly untenable position as defenders of colonial rule.