River Termon runs under the bridge marking the border Rivers and wildlife cross the border. There are more than 208 border crossings between Northern Ireland in the UK and the Republic of Ireland with more crossing points than any other…
Margo Gorman
Writing ~ Re-connecting
Margo Gorman
Writing ~ Re-connecting
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Ulster Border Twenty
Donegal has 311 kms of European border which cuts through a scattered villages, farms, and rural roads. Only 9kms connect Donegal to the rest of the Republic. Language can give us insights into where the battle for survival meets self-deception. Ulster…
UlsterBorder Nineteen
“It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but the images of the past embodied in language”. The words of Hugh in #Brian Friel’s play Translations highlights the complexity of the relationship between language, landscape, culture,…
#UlsterBorder Eighteen
Banners, flags, and emblems have an emotional history in Northern Ireland and can unhinge us. Madge Herron describing her father tells us: “That little line where all his flags hang out is now collapsed/In the house next to us, there…
#Ulster Border
Locals cross the border between #Donegal in the Republic and #Fermanagh in Northern Ireland daily. Both counties are rural and both part of #Ulster. Since the #PeaceAgreement in 1998, a united Ireland needs a majority of citizens in both jurisdictions…
UlsterBorder Sixteen
The farmer buys diesel at a service station in #Pettigo which has petrol pumps in both euro and sterling. Ireland joined the euro as a common currency but the UK kept sterling and miles. When you cross the #Ulsterborder in…
Ulster Border Fifteen
Small roads with stone bridges criss-cross the hills between #Donegal and #Tyrone. Many roads and bridges to Castlederg on the #Ulsterborder between Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone were closed during the “Troubles”. #MichellGallen, a writer who grew up in Castlederg in #Tyrone,…
ULSTER BORDER Fourteen
Since the Peace Agreement in 1998, this road sign may be the only indication you have crossed #European border. Mainland Europeans accustomed to driving on the right are reminded to drive on the left but so many of the small…
UlsterBorder Thirteen
Polarisation in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s meant the roads that crisscross the #UlsterBorder were blocked during the “Troubles” and the main border crossings like this one in Strabane, my birthplace, had heavily fortified checkpoints. After demolition, it is hard…
ULSTER BORDER Twelve
Cross-community initiatives celebrated by the NI Women’s Coalition continue but success has been restricted by high news-grabbing polarised politics and manipulation. #Brexit threatens the fragile #Belfast Peace Agreement of 1998. Would #British and #Irish politicians have succeeded in drawing up…