Friends of Sport and Alcohol – Welcome to Belfast!

Belfast, a city that was known as the European Beirut, is now one of the most important touristic centers on the island of Ireland. Brief description? The locals are spending much of their time in pubs, while Catholics and Protestants are now conflicting just once a year.




Imagine a city where for nearly 100 years, half of the population is trying to massacre the other half. A city that was throughout the history ravaged by Vikings, plagues, fires, famine…A city where the greatest marine disaster in the history of mankind began…It’s hard to imagine such hell on earth, isn’t it? Have you ever heard of Belfast?

The capital of Northern Ireland is maybe not on the list of 100 most visited tourist destination but it is probably one of the most vivid places in the UK. This is, of course, due to the fact that less than two decades ago, it was carrying an epithet of European Beirut because of the war between the Irish Catholics (who wanted to be united with Republic of Ireland) and British Protestants (who were loyal to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II).

But today, 13 years after the Irish Republican Army laid down their arms, Belfast is almost perfectly safe city with the lowest crime rate in the UK and Northern Ireland. Incidents are rare, but Catholics and Protestants do get into conflict once a year, just to remind themselves of good old times. That usually happens somewhere in mid June when Protestants are marching through the city, celebrating the victory of King William III of Orange over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. With that victory, the Protestants have strengthened their position on this part of the Island.

However, conflicts are rare these days, primarily because Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods are separated – often with real walls that have barbed wires.  There are twenty such structures in the city and the police often patrol near them. The British government has tried several times to remove these barriers, but the Catholic population insists that they remain. 

These walls are now decorated with many political sketches, slogans and famous murals. Thus, they have become a tourist attraction. For a couple of pounds, every taxi driver in Belfast will offer himself to take you to see them, and there are also bus tours specifically for that.

The second largest tourist attraction in Belfast is – shipyard. Of course, this is no ordinary shipyard. This is the famous Harland and Wolff shipyard where, in 1911, the biggest, most luxurious, most beautiful and, obviously, the most tragic ship in the world was made - the legendary "Titanic". 


One part of Belfast is even named Titanic Quarter. The place where the ship was built is still there, and it can be visited as part of tourist tour that costs around ten pounds. Large cranes with Harland and Wolff initials are still the highest structures in Belfast, and this year, in front of them, people of Belfast marked 100 years since the launch of "Titanic".

Person would think that those who claimed that they have built an unsinkable ship should perhaps not brag about him now, given that already on his first journey "Titanic" ended at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, taking with him more than 1,500 human lives. However, people in Belfast have a perfect excuse.

The Irish built the ship, the British sank it – is a line that you’ll find on pendants, lighters, magnets and so on. With this, the Irish are clearly pointing out that “Titanic” went from Belfast to Southampton, and on to New York, in perfect condition, but British crew, led by Captain Edward J. Smith, eventually destroyed him.

This kind of humor, along with conflicts on religious grounds that shook Belfast, are clear evidence that people from the island of Ireland, both Catholics and Protestants, have little in common with their neighbors from the British island. When compared to cold, measured, cynical and sarcastic Englishmen, the Irishmen appear as if someone has taken them from the Mediterranean and threw them to this piece of land in the Atlantic Ocean.

Restaurants and bars in Belfast are always full, no matter if it is working day or not.  Favorite leisure of any Irishmen in Belfast is watching football or horse races in a pub, with friends and a glass of whiskey or Guinness. The mentality of locals is sufficiently illustrated with the fact that one of their two airports is named after a man who is greatly remembered for saying:” I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.” That man was, of course, the best UK footballer of all times - George Best.

This unsurpassed master of football was born in Belfast. He played for the national team of Northern Ireland even though he was offered to play for England.  The fact that the airport is named after him, and that his picture is the first thing every traveler sees after passing the passport control, is only a fraction of the honors that his countrymen have reserved for him.

Best is an icon in Belfast (primarily for the Protestant part of the population). His image is the second most common theme of mighty murals for which this city is known.  In the first place are, of course, fighters of the Irish Republican Army on Catholic side, and loyalist heroes on the Protestant side.

And even though world class football isn’t played on the fields in Belfast and across entire Northern Ireland, this sport is the main pastime of the local population. There are several teams from this city that are competing in the IFA Premiership (national football league in Northern Ireland), but the locals are more fond of several English and Scottish teams. 

The most popular English club in Belfast is Liverpool, regardless the fact that George Best played for Manchester United. Other English clubs also have supporters in Belfast, particularly those from the north of England - Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough…Among the Catholic population, the most popular is Scottish Celtic. 

Besides football, the main entertainment in Belfast is - drinking. But beware, it is strictly prohibited to drink alcohol on the street - the penalty is £500.

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Perfect mask – Winston Churchill and Nancy Astor

Humorous bickering between the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 -1965) and Lady Nancy Astor (1879-1964) were very common in public. Lady Nancy Astor was known as a fighter for women's rights but she was also engaged in politics.

On one occasion, unable to resist not to tease her in front of many people, Winston Churchill asked Lady Astor:

“So, you are once again organizing some stupid masquerade ball. What disguise should I wear so that nobody recognizes me?”

"Why don't you come sober, Prime Minister?" – Lady Astor replied sarcastically.

On other occasion, Lady Astor said to Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea," to which he responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!"

Probably the most known exchange of such words between them was when Lady Astor said to him "Winston, you are drunk", to which he replied "And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning".

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Political Love – Harry Truman and Richard Nixon

During one official dinner at the White House, at the time when Harry Truman (1884-1972) was the President of the United States, it was decided that someone has to hold a toast. And not only that – the one that toasts, has to speak of love.

The young politician named Richard Nixon (1913-1994), who later became the President of United States, stood up.

At the cocktail before that dinner, Nixon desperately tried and failed to persuade Truman to have a drink with him. Therefore, the offended Nixon raised a glass and said:

"When Harry Truman will accept a drink from the hand of Richard Nixon without having someone else taste it first - that's love!"

Harry Truman settled the score later by saying:

“Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in.”

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Coca-Cola's brief political history

This year marks 125 years since John Pemberton invented carbonated soft drink – Coca-Cola – “cure for nerve trouble, dyspepsia, mental and physical exhaustion, gastric irritability, wasting diseases, constipation, headache, neurasthenia and impotence”. But Coca-Cola was not only a cure, it was also the source of headache and hysteria in the political waters.

The only Coca-Cola that was colorless was created after World War II - for political reasons. It was produced in limited quantities, by special order, for a Russian Marshal Georgi Zhukov, who tried Coca-Cola during his negotiations about dividing Germany with the commander of allied forces in Europe, U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower. This Coca-Cola was packed in cylindrical bottles that had a red star as a label instead of Coca-Cola’s recognizable logo.

Zhukov really liked this drink, but since the relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union began to tighten, it was inconvenient for him to be seen with an American drink in his hands. That is why, on Zhukov’s request, and with the approval of U.S. President Harry Truman, Coca-Cola Company manufactured colorless Coke and packed it so that it looked like vodka. 

Last year, Coca-Cola Company celebrated its 100 birthday, and this year they will celebrate 125 years since John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. 

In the beginning, Coca-Cola was advertised as “Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating” drink and also as a cure for nerve trouble, dyspepsia, mental and physical exhaustion, gastric irritability, wasting diseases, constipation, headache, neurasthenia and impotence. By often following U.S. foreign policy, rarely acting in conflict with American interests, and eventually becoming the symbol of globalization, in the past decades Coca-Cola was also and a source of headaches and hysteria in the (international) political waters.

During World War II, a special group of Coca-Cola employees called “Technical Observers” was among U.S. army soldiers. These Technical Observers supervised the shipment and operation of 64 complete bottling plants that distributed nearly 10 billion bottles of Coca-Cola to servicemen and women.

Military personnel who worked in Coca-Cola military plants became just as important as mechanics who worked on the maintenance of aircraft and tanks. And thanks to its popularity, along with lobbying in the army with the statement that this drink was a key product in the war, in 1942 Coca-Cola Company managed to get an exemption from sugar rationing.

A company that at all times sought to show how much symbolic power its drinks has on U.S. troops, also functioned and on the opposing side, in Germany, where before the war this drink was very popular. One of the Nazi statements was that “America never contributed anything to world civilization but chewing gum and Coca-Cola”.

Some publicists have stated that Coca-Cola Company had controversial relations with Germany, before and during World War II: during the war, Coca-Cola branches didn’t stopped working in Germany, but they weren’t able to import the necessary raw materials in the country. Publicist Mark Pendergrast wrote that several top executives from Coca-Cola branch in Germany were in fact members of the Nazi Party, and there are also records that this company sold millions of bottles to Hitler's Germany.

This obscure and not completely explored part of Coca-Cola history was not an obstacle for this product name to become linked not only to America but to key values of Western countries, such as "every kind of freedom, democracy and free market capitalist”, during the Cold War period. Parallel to that, Coca-Cola was expanding in the world, and the American political influence was strengthening. 

In the early fifties, those who were opposed to American influence marked Coca-Cola as an American cultural weapon.  In relation to this, in France was created a term “coca-colonization” - It was used by leftists who fought against opening of factories for bottling Coca-Cola drink. They even tried to prove that Coca-Cola is poisonous. The former president of the Coca-Cola Company, Robert Woodruff, stated that leftist’s hostility towards Coca-Cola comes from the fact that Coca-Cola is the very “essence of capitalism”.

Despite the logic of capitalism, and in the name of protecting the interests of U.S. foreign policy, until the nineties Coca-Cola was practically not present in the Eastern European market. The first opportunity for Coca Cola to install facilities in Russia, in mid-sixties, was not used because the only possible partner was a communist government (there were no private firms in Russia during that regime). For Coca-Cola, that probably wasn’t a problem, but it was for the U.S. government. In that period, U.S. Army was in war with Vietnam, and if Coca-Cola started working in Russia, they would have financed the communist side, American public enemy number one. 

To this day, connection between Coca-Cola and American values brings damage to the Coca-Cola Company in the Middle East.  There, in mid-sixties, Coca-Cola was accused of anti-Semitism and in the following decades it has become a symbol of "American occupying" and "anti-Muslim” policy. Some internet sites claim that Coca Cola, read from right to left, in Arabic language means "No Muhammad, no Mecca". Boycott of Coca-Cola is also elaborated with claims that by buying a bottle of Coca-Cola tenth of its price goes to the largest Arabian enemy, Israel.

In 1966, Coca Cola was accused of avoiding working in Israel, in order to protect sales of its products in the Arabian world. Things started to get complicated when, because of these accusations, Jewish organizations in America begun to boycott Coca-Cola. The company eventually allowed the construction of a bottling plant in Israel, in 1968, but that again caused boycott similar to that of Arabian League, which ended in the early eighties.

With that, Coca Cola found itself again on the course of U.S. foreign policy.  Respond to this was creation of authentic Arabian Colas such as Mecca Cola. Recently, the Iranian Minister of Industries, Ali Akbar Mehrabian, renewed the idea of boycotting Coca-Cola, because it is a "Zionist product”.

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Christian Drink!

When Arab traders brought coffee to Europe, the Catholic Church called it the "drink of infidels."

This, however, did not prevent the Venetian and French merchants to start a lucrative business of selling coffee which was becoming very popular drink.

The church, of course, was not happy.

Some considered coffee as a type of drug.

Finally, the rumors about this "evil drink" got to the Pope Clement VIII himself. He had to intervene.

Believers expected that Pope will prohibit the use of coffee. However, something entirely else happened.

Pope himself wanted to examine the bad effects of coffee and so he drank one cup. However, he was delighted with a tasty drink, and, in 1592, he blessed and sanctified the coffee beans. Thus, the coffee, even officially, became a Christian drink.

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