Farm symbol of hope

Press, 1 March 1989, Page 22

Farm symbol of hope

On the site of one of Belfast’s most bitter battlefields is a symbol of hope for Northern Ireland: a non-sectarian farm.

At the height of the Troubles in the mid-7Os, more than six people died on the hectare of land which now hosts three horses, a dozen chickens, numerous sheep, a pig and a varied collection of birds.

The Farset City Farm was a project set up to bring Catholic and Protestant teenagers together in a working environment.

It was an ambitious task as the housing areas surrounding the farm are both hardline — Loyalist Springmartin and the Republican New Barnsley. Over the years there have been fierce hand-to-hand battles between the two sides on the former no-man’s land which became the farm in 1982. The nearest row of houses has been abandoned, and paramilitary groups will not allow them to be reoccupied. The buildings are instead used by the Protestants as shields for the people in the houses and streets behind them.

Hundreds of bullet holes and firebombing scar the houses in testimony to the ferocity of the sectarian hatred.

Today the boundary between the sides is a 1.2 m-high steel fence and the Farset Farm. Both Catholic and Protestant teenagers have worked on the farm, learning how to care for

the animals and mix with each other.

Up to 20 young people are on the farm at a time. Most are from the Springmartin side of the divide. With the recent recurrence of sectarian violence both sides have become more wary of cross-religious meetings. One of the Farset organisers, Billy McKeen, says the increased tit-tor-tat murders had kept many Catholic teenagers away. Mr McKeen says that while the farm was a neutral place, it was still considered opposition territory by Republicans.

But, he says, neither side used the farm to stage attacks against their opponents. “The neutrality of the farm complex appears to be inviolate and that’s a good sign.” As if to prove the point an Army patrol moved slowly by, wary, but reasonably sure they would not be sniped at from the farm area.

Apart from helping young people get training for rural work, the farm also welcomes school visits.

Last year 50 schools — both Catholic and Protestant — made trips to the farm. So far in 1988 up to four schools a day visit Farset.

Billy McKeen says schoolchildren have few opportunities to see farm animals and the trips to Farset gave them much enjoyment.

“All kinds of social life have stopped because of the Troubles as people are afraid to travel. Some kids have never seen a horse, pig or cow,” he says. “This farm gives them not only the chance to see animals but see children from the other side.”

The farm is just one part of the Farset Youth and Community Development project, which aims to improve the recreation educational and integration facilities in the area.

The F.Y.C.D. took 10 years to get into operation and is now training young people in carpentry, welding, photography and video work.

Its workshops are about 100 metres down the road from the farm and are surrounded by barbed wire fences guarded by security men.

The audio-visual unit at the centre is producing items of sufficient quality to match television stations.

While Billy McKeen feels the most important part of his work at the Farset operation is giving the young work skills, he knows the integration of the two sides is a necessity. “We hope to show each side that we are all Irish here — not just Orangemen or Republicans,” he says. “It is the only way we will ever have a chance of giving our children the chance at normal lives. Lives without fear and hatred.”