Michael (18) is a typical Derry teenager in many ways. He likes to hang out with his mates and go to the gym as well as work in the city centre.
But the 18-year-old has to face daily obstacles – because he lives in the Top of the Hill / Irish Street interface area in the Waterside which means he has to make lengthy detours to get to his destination to avoid possibly being beaten up. He told Headliners what this means in his day-to-day life.
“I’m from the Knockwellan Park area of Gobnascale. Living in Knockwellan Park, which is right on the interface, we live seconds away from quite a Protestant area and unfortunately it does affect us a lot. 
“I work over the town so if I walk I have to take a detour through Gobnascale which is an extra 10 / 15 minutes which is ridiculous on top of a half hour walk for the simple reason that I could be spotted and could get a hammering or whatever. If I was to walk through the Irish Street area it would save me a good 15 minutes.
“There are areas of the city that I wouldn’t go to and that would be Irish Street and the Fountain area of the city for the fact that we would be targeted and we have seen that through past experiences where we have known people who have went to those areas and unfortunately they have been targeted and they have never went back.”
Michael and other young people in the Top of the Hill area are part of the Whistle Project which does a lot of excellent cross-community project work. Despite integrating with some young people from the protestant community through project work they all still share the fear of violence of walking through the neighbouring Irish Street area.
Michael continued: “I go to the gym on Crescent Link which I can’t walk to because I would pass at least three Protestant areas. A mate of mine was walking to the gym, not wearing any gear that gave away the fact he was a Catholic, but they didn’t recognise him and beat him up which is shocking. For that reason, we have to get lifts everywhere, we have to ensure people are being left right to their destination and getting lifted there again in case they are injured.”
But Michael hope that projects such as the Whistle Project will eventually stop the sectarianism.
He said: “This is why we need programmes like this, we need people coming in to get an understanding. Also to bring the Protestants into our area to let them know that they have nothing to be scared of and they’re as welcome as any resident.”
About the story:
Written by Fiona (17) and Megan (17)
