Maybe, I’ve done something wrong.

Just sit tight. Big breath. They are carrying guns after all. 

A routine patrol. A quick check on where you’ve come from, where you’re going, and what’s in the boot (trunk) of the car.

I start to say that I’m heading to Loughbrickland, but wonder whether the English accent asking would have heard of that place, given that it’s hardly a hamlet - more of a homeland. But it doesn’t have another name - or not that I know of. I hesitate. My hesitation draws a look, and it feels like I’ve made a mistake. I’m failing this test. I don’t like to fail tests, so a worried look shoots across my face. I don’t know whether they’re army, police or otherwise. They all carry guns, and they never introduce themselves. I’ve got nothing to hide. But now it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like I’ve done something wrong…

Neither of us wanted to be in that situation - on one side of the car door, the armed foreign inquisitor and on the other, a local youngster having recently passed his driving test. But the whole interaction starts from a point of suspicion - on both sides. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong - but maybe…

I grew up in Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles. It was them and us. At least that’s what my community drip fed me. Local communities were polarised. Education was polarised. And these man-made social borders meant that I couldn’t see how much we had in common. I remember many times going on caravan holidays to the Republic of Ireland, and being surprised at the real differences I could see between North and South:

1. The roads in the South were awful (they’re much better now!)
2. It was a lot sunnier than the North (that’s not too difficult, mind...)
3. There didn’t seem to be any police or army with guns awkwardly hanging around. In fact there didnt seem to be any police at all.
4. There were no daily helicopters overhead or road checkpoints.
5. The locals seemed very friendly and relaxed. Looking back, it’s no wonder people called it “the free state”...

Anyone who’s lived in Northern Ireland knows that making the border in Ireland more visible will only cause division.

Because division is what borders do best.

Remixing the
Irish Border