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# Obama, wrong about Belfast
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/obama-wrong-about-belfast/
- Published: 2008-07-29T09:07:50.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:41:17.000Z
- Author: openUSA Openusa
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:41

Over on OurKingdom, [Ian Parsley corrects Barack Obama's version of Northern Irish history](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom-theme/ian-parsley/2008/07/28/belfasts-walls-have-not-come-down-yet-senator). Standing near the ghost of the Berlin Wall last week, the US presidential candidate claimed that walls had “come down in Belfast, where Protestants and Catholics found a way to live together.” "Secret sectarianism," according to Parsley, remains a potent force in Irish life and a dark fact that shouldn't be overlooked, even when Northern Ireland is reduced to the quaintness of an example.