The situation in Norther Ireland has affected the lives of almost everyone who lives there. Here is a poem by a girl expressing how she feels about the troubles.

They talk, the older folks,
And paint a rosy path.
Oh!I´m tired of hearing
How things were in Belfast.

They talk and tell me stories
Of the good times they once had.
And the more they talk about it all
The more it makes me sad.

For I cannot remember
A Childhood free from strife,
To me the bombs and bullets
Are just a way of life.

So I have just one question
To ask our violent men:
What about my wasted childhood,
Can you bring it back again?

Fionnala Boques, aged 16
Dominican Convent, Belfast)