'Take a Hint - Move Out' .......

antrim | housing | feature Thursday November 25, 2004 17:22 by hilda ogden

.... A Student told a Permanent Working Class Holyland Resident

From The Newswire: After a recent Spotlight programme highlighting some of the anti-social behaviour practised by some students in the Holylands was broadcast - students organised a protest in the Holylands to tell their Mummies and Daddies that 'No we're not really misbehaving going wild and spending your money on e's and booze'. Where then would students like permanent Holyland residents to move to?

I am a Protestant woman from North Belfast, whose partner is a Catholic from the Short Strand. The Holylands is one of the only neutral working class housing executive areas available to mixed religion working class families. My neighbour was also a Protestant woman whose partner was a Catholic from the Lower Ormeau. My other neighbour was a Catholic from the Whiterock whose ex-partner is a Protestant from East Belfast. One of the other families' mother was from the Lower Falls and her ex-partner was a Protestant from Portadown. Some of the other permanent resident families are ex-students from the countryside who've setttled in the Holylands with their kids for many years.

The Holylands is one of the first multi-cultural working class areas in Belfast, whose permanent residents' tolerance to mixed religion partnerships, all races and even students is renowned. I was forced out of the area in 1999 at the start of the private landlord HMO's conversion (housing multiple occupiers where landlords converted 2 up, 2 down terraces to 8 bedroom rat infested health and safety disasters) invasion. Students had me arrested on mistaken malicious 'possession of firearms and threats to kill' charges. At the time I was a parent governor of the local primary school.

The Holylands is a unique and tolerant area. On the street where I lived there were permanent resident Protestant pensioners and the families of ex-INLA men. We all lived side by side without any sectarian aggro and we all helped each other out and looked out for each other. For the authorities to allow a tiny minority of anti-social students to force permanent residents out and destroy the unique cultural make-up of the area would be a real loss to everyone.

Why has the problem of anti social student behaviour been allowed to go unchecked and escalate? The only reason I can think of is that once the last Housing Executive/Housing Association/Permanent Resident family is forced out - big time property developers will move in and raze the whole area to the ground to create another exclusive, faceless, characterless, cold yuppie zone like the areas along the Lisburn Road, which won't be welcoming to students either.

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