Halfway...

Seems the halfway point worked out just right in the middle of this part of the story. It comes shortly after Brendan's family moves into their new apartment, a few months after the attack on the People's Democracy marchers at Burntollet bridge. That happens on January 4th, 1969 so the move comes in March or April. Anger is building in the Catholic community and Protestants can't see that if they'd just give in a little they could avoid the hell that was to come.

Working on this book has clued me into just how blind people can be when they want to be. And how easily manipulated. Ian Paisley caught on to the growing Protestant fear that they'd be disenfranchised if they gave Catholics any of the same right they enjoyed and used it to build a mob of thugs who loved to wreak havoc on those they didn't think could fight back. And for 45 years there had been little pushback. But with the civil rights movement, everything changed...and those in power couldn't see it. Hell, even the IRA's leadership of the time couldn't see it.

Or wouldn't. Or were too stupid to understand. Or a combination of all three. And followed 30 years of bloodshed, hate, division, lies, anger, and blame until both sides were too worn out to continue and came to a compromise. After wasting billions of pounds sterling and ruining the lives of untold more people.

Sometimes I wonder if we're slipping into a similar situation, in this country. We've got hardcore radical right wing religious nuts, like Paisley was, trying to shove their agenda down the throats of the rest of us, even as we fight back. I hope it doesn't descend into the same level of bloodshed, because over 3000 people died in those 30 years, most of them between 1970 and 1975. The population of N. Ireland was 1,500,000. That would equal to well over 600,000 dead in a country our size.

But that's about how many died in the Civil War, so it's not inconceivable.