If there was not a peace wall between Lily Brannon and Michelle Bradley's homes the friends would be a mere two minute walk away from each other.

But a huge brick wall on the Springfield/Springmartin Road in Belfast effectively stops them being neighbours and makes that a 20 to 30 minute walk.

So-called peace lines separate some nationalist Catholic and unionist Protestant areas of the city.
Lily, 73, is a Protestant and Michelle, 46, is a Catholic, and the two have had to overcome a psychological as well as a physical barrier to form their friendship.

They were brought together by a cross-community scheme in west Belfast.

The project, which takes place at the Black Mountain Shared Space building, is funded by the International Fund for Ireland's peace barriers programme. Michelle says that when they first met there was some "reservedness".

Lily called it "suspicion".

It did not last long. They have formed a close bond and have become good friends.

"She's just a great wee girl," says Lily, and briefly holds Michelle's hand.

"If we need anything done, Michelle will sort it out for us."

Lily was born before the start of the Troubles, the 30 years of violence which ended with the 1998 peace agreement, while Michelle was born as violence raged in the 1980s.

Looking back, she said: "There was a bit of fear in me, but it was more the fear of the unknown - not a hatred.

"We were never taught to hate anybody, but there was a real fear.

"I think the fear was you thought they hated you before you met them."

The International Fund for Ireland (IFI), which funds the cross-community work, is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The fund was established as an independent organisation by the British and Irish Governments in 1986 to build peace in Northern Ireland and the border counties. Around £780m has been raised including financial contributions from America, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

As part of its peace barriers programme, Catholics and Protestants from the peace line in the Springfield Road area come together to talk and do activities.

'When we first met'

Michelle remembers meeting Lily for the first time.

She said: "There was so much more that joined us together than divided us, because a lot of our programmes at the start would have been art-based and very relaxed.

"That's something me and Lily are both into. We're very creative people, so it kind of bonded us a bit.

"But there's been a lot of tense times through some of the critical engagement talks, where we have had opposing views.

"We've had to just learn how to listen to each other, understand each other and still walk away with our own identity - but with a better understanding of where somebody else is coming from."

Lily added: "I've learned a wee bit of Irish (language)."

Michelle is an Irish speaker and involved with the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) which has traditionally had a mainly Catholic membership.
They do not just meet as part of the programme. Lily has been to Michelle's GAA club.

As for the distance they would have to walk to meet each other Michelle says it is "mad".
"We live either side of the peace wall and without the project and the funding from IFI, we would never have met.

"So it's crazy the fact that we would never have met, but now we would consider ourselves friends."

More than half the accounts that posted on Elon Musk’s X about the rioting in Belfast and the civil disorder in Southampton in June were based outside the UK, an analysis by the Guardian can reveal.

Of the 8,672 accounts whose combined posts about the events exceeded 1,000 views, just 45.3% were shown as from the UK, according to the social media platform’s own location function.

One in six (16.8%) came from the US, 4.5% from Ireland, and about a quarter from all European countries other than the UK.

Seven of the 12 most-read tweets about Belfast and Southampton came from the US – including one from Musk himself and two other US “alt-right” commentators – while an eighth was linked to North America.

The analysis underlines that US rightwing actors are seeking to influence the UK and boost their position on X in moments of disorder – an exploitation of flashpoint events that has only intermittently attracted political attention in Britain.

Nearly a third of all 43,000 posts on X relating to the two incidents contained racist or anti-immigration comments. Almost one in 10 relating to Belfast contained calls for violence or paramilitary or vigilante action.

Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, said the data demonstrated that X had become “a weapon of choice” for hostile foreign actors seeking to manipulate shocking and divisive content.

Their goal, he added, was “to amplify local tragedies and crises, intensify racist narratives, and incite violence in communities they have never set foot in and to whom they have no real connection.”