I went to Dublin with an Irish friend in August 2012 for a five-day trip (including travel time). I was delighted by this experience: so many young people in the city centre, so much energy and life! I have posted here the outline of my trip: it may give you some ideas or suggestions for a future trip to this vibrant city. Continue reading A long weekend in Dublin
In May 2013, the NI government established a 10-year programme to reduce and eventually remove all interface barriers. What are these “interface barriers” and why were they erected? As we met the 2023 deadline, to what extent has this programme been implemented? When I watched a documentary about Belfast peace walls a few years ago, I was shocked to learn that such barriers still existed … Continue reading NI: from The Troubles to dark tourism
The role of fire in three NI literary works: Brian Friel’s play The Freedom of the City (1973), Bernard Mac Laverty’s novel Cal (1983), and The Fire Starters, a magic-realist novel by Jan Carson (2019). As a teenager growing up in France in the late 70s-early 80s, I vaguely heard about violent fights in Northern Ireland (NI) on television, but the idea of a “war” … Continue reading The Troubles in NI literature
The eternal student - anglophile version 