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Thread: in 1987 I went on a field trip to Donegal with my fellow Irish botany & zoology students. We told the bus driver NOT to go through N Ireland as we had two soviet block ambassadors kids on the trip & they didn’t have UK visas. I tell this tale to talk about the border.
The bus journey was full of high jinks & we were all really excited to meet friends in Gweedore & have the Glenveagh National Park rangers take us around. The captain of the zoo soc was at the back of the bus ‘smoking’. Then someone said - ‘this is the way to Belfast!’
The Russian ambassadors daughter freaked & we worried about an international incident. The Polish girl was shaking. At this stage we were so close to the border we could see the gun turrets, the listening devices & the machine gun toting U.K. soldiers. A helicopter hovered.
It was rapidly agreed that our zoo soc leader was in no state to take charge so as head of Env Soc I got delegated. The bus pulled up. At this stage our Donegal student had warned us not to talk in the bus as the army would be listening to us through technology.
We were surrounded by about 30 young squaddies with guns pointing at us from outside the bus. The driver rolled down the window. He did his best Dublin patter but they weren’t having it. Someone said ‘Jesus, they’re scared of us!’. Sweat was running down the squaddies faces.
It was disturbing to see shaking guns pointed at us as we sat in the hire coach outside this massive British army installation. Then they ordered the bus to drive into what appeared to be an underground bunker. Some people on the bus were shaking.
Once we got into the bunker there was a galley all around that had soldiers with guns drawn & pointing at us - average age 18. The barrels were shaking & they looked very pale.
Then a Captain got on with a Northern English accent & told us about a bomb attack earlier that day on an army bus. He started taking names. Our Pole & Russian were crying. I moved slowly forward & asked if I could help.
He looked at me, dressed in my botany jumper, clutching a flora of Ireland & said - ‘name & address’. His assistant looked petrified. So I said my name & began my address getting as far as my Dublin village, Newcastle. Suddenly the pressure dissolved & he shouted -
‘We’ve got one of ours!’ (with horror I realised he thought I was from the English city Newcastle.). Turned out the soldiers were from there. The roll call ended & we were all told to get off the bus. I was freaking in case they thought I’d lied to them!
Apparently the decision that day was every bus would be stripped down to its axis in retaliation for the bombing earlier. Our prettiest scientist tried her wiles to a receptive audience, we told them we were from Trinity & I said I’d vouch for the bus. Tensions eased.
We were in that bunker for maybe two hours. Because I was supposedly English from Newcastle upon Tyne we were treated strictly but without nastiness. I will never forget the fear of those gun toting soldiers, sweating & shaking.
We can’t go back. We can’t have watch towers, audio surveillance, armed teenagers, bombing, murder, pain, suffering & grief. Please if you have any say on Brexit don’t reopen that awful time & that border of cold terrifying fear.
