Belfast

I watched a programme the other night about the Belfast shipyard, made in 1986 by the Irish television group RTE (http://www.rte.ie/) It seemed to me that there was a certain rose coloured tint to the programme, everybody had a good mate, all laughed at the practical jokes played on each other and not a cloud was seen on the horizon!While the show was only made 20 years ago, a relatively short period of time, I had a feeling I was watching the history channel-it seemed to be an era long gone. Belfast has changed so quickly over the last years it is hard to remember when thousands upon thousands of people flocked into Belfast to work in the yard, Sirocco, the rope works, Gallahers and even Mackie's. I can remember the hooter going to warn people, such as my Dad, that the Foundry gates were about to close and if you weren't in you weren't paid!
While we all lament the decline in the heavy industry we can also look at the old places thru' a dodgy memory. Never mind the political machinations that went on in those places they did not have the health and safety uppermost in their minds. My Mother worked in the Mill when she was young and recalls the noise, the flying shuttles and the trapping of people in the machinery. I watched my father-in-law die of a lung disease as a result of de coking the furnaces (although exacerbated by his smoking of Gallahers cigarettes) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphysema
And in my present job I have seen many workers and their wives suffering a declining health because of the occupation they had. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestosis
Even my Dad who worked in Mackies had his hand crushed in the heavy machinery.
Yes it is an era long gone - perhaps for the better?