The Whitewell Estate

One of the saddest stories to appear in the local press was the one
describing how a distraught Protestant mother of four was finally forced
to quit her beloved North Belfast home, following months of sectarian attacks
on her family and home in the White City estate.

The papers related how Mary Foster and her husband Ian had to take the
heartbreak decision after 18 years of living in the Whitewell area.

The Fosters enjoyed excellent relations with their neighbours and many
were in tears on the day they packed their furniture and drove out for the last
time. Children carried placards saying: "Sorry you are leaving us" and
similar sentiments.

But the Fosters lived on the front line of the small Protestant estate
which has been under almost nightly attack from the nationalist areas which
surround it. May Foster told journalists, "All I want is a normal life
but, because I am a Protestant, I am targeted with petrol bombs, coffee jar
bombs, fireworks and bricks - and the police won't cross the peace-line to
stop it. The children are living in fear of attack every night and we
can't go on like this".

Mrs. Foster, who claimed a recent illness she suffered was a result of
stress, from constant attacks on her home, slammed any proposals to remove
the high wire fencing from White City estate and other areas of Belfast
City of Culture proposals as "impossible".

"I would challenge anyone who wants to remove the peace walls to come and
lie in my house for a week", she said. "They would soon change their
mind".

Mrs. Foster said the decision to leave Whitewell was a hard one, as they
had many friends, and her husband was born there".

One of the most alarming aspects of the decision of the Fosters to leave
is the fact that they feel the police, as well as the Housing Executive and
Northern Ireland Office officials are not doing enough to help Protestant
families living in the area.

"Basically, if all the Protestants cleared out of the area, it would be a
lot less hassle for the police and other services," she said.

Mrs. Foster pointed to the lack of amenities and shops for the Protestant
families, and also to slogans in nationalist areas such as "Houses soon
available in White City".

A similar argument was heard in the Park Road-King Street area of
Portadown when the Woodside estate at the bottom of Garvaghy Road was being
ethnically cleansed of Protestants.

The allegation then, as now in White City, is that the police would find
it easier to cope if the area was completely clear of Protestants. That's
why unionist representatives claim the police do not go behind security walls
to catch the people carrying out the attacks on Protestant areas.

Whether this allegation is true or not, and it's certainly one the police
would deny, the fact is that the drip-drip of Protestant families from
vulnerable areas is creating a situation where more ghettos will be
created, and that's hardly a scenario which will benefit the community as a whole.

Driving along Whitewell Road it is difficult to comprehend the degree of
fear and apprehension in the area, as the houses are modern and well-kept,
and have all the appearance of an attractive district.

But beneath the veneer of outward normality there is a lot of fear and
apprehension and it certainly doesn't bear out the argument of those who
say the Belfast Agreement and the radical changes in policing have brought
about an improved situation - quite the contrary in fact.

Whitewell's Orange Hall, like those in so many other vulnerable parts of
Northern Ireland, has born the brunt of republican and nationalist
attacks.

The movement of Protestant families from Whitewell, as in Limestone Road
and other areas, puts those who remain under greater threat and it creates
more bitterness and division.

Sadly, that is a price republicans seem happy for the community to pay if
it increases their territorial expansion in north and west Belfast.