IRELAND’S INVISIBLE FRONTIER

Cathal Henry grew up in Newry, a small city near the border with the Republic of Ireland. ‘Growing up near the border in the 1990s, experiencing armed checkpoints felt normal,’ he says. ‘It’s only since they disappeared that it became apparent how abnormal they really were.’

During the 30-year conflict known as The Troubles, checkpoints and watchtowers peppered the 500-kilometre border between Northern Ireland, part of the UK, and the independent Republic of Ireland.

The separation line was carved across the island a century ago, as most of Ireland successfully won independence from Britain. It cuts through rivers, streams, fields and roads (in a similar fashion to the ruler-straight, post-colonial borders that neatly divide Algeria and Mali, Namibia and Angola, and countless other nations). Many farms straddle the two jurisdictions, and some homes sit right on top of it – with the kitchen in one place and the living room in the other.

‘I had school friends who had to travel in along roads that zig-zagged repeatedly over the border, so they dealt with this daily,’ Cathal