AN Ardoyne man has used poetry to illustrate the horrors of the Troubles he experienced growing up in a new book.
Andrew Beattie (56) was born in 1964 and grew up in the Glenbryn area of the district when violence across the North broke out.
Living in Ardoyne, Andrew has published ‘The Permeation of Tears’ illustrating some of the worst violence in North Belfast in the form of poetry.
“I was born in 1964 which made me five years of age when the troubles in Northern Ireland first broke out,” he explained.
“I grew up in the Protestant side of Ardoyne and witnessed some of the worst violence in North Belfast from the early 1970s and right through the 1980s.
“The people sadly accepted this as normality, going about their daily business, living and surviving as best they could.
“It was very sad to see the two communities rip each other apart through the use of terrorist organisations, who maimed and killed just because a person came from the other side of the religious divide.
“These are my poems which are based around these cruel times.
“It is a fair reflection of things into the 1970s and 80s.
“I have always written poetry in some form and was inspired to write something about my experiences growing up as a child and into adulthood.
“Many of the poems are about neighbours stories and what happened in the area.”
Andrew is hoping people will use the book to reflect on the difficult times in a new and unique way using poetry.
“I want people to read it and reflect back on the times,” he added.
“People have written about the Troubles before but much of it is from a political viewpoint.
“I hope the reader can get some sort of insight into these events and by reading my poetry I hope you can reflect for a few moments and feel the sheer madness we had to endure.
“It is also that we don’t want to go back to the bad past. Them days still live with me and are still embedded in the Ardoyne community even to this day.”
‘The Permeation of Tears’ by Andrew Beattie is available to purchase on Amazon, priced at £5.
