By: Chris Caps
The dominant
narrative of Northern Ireland is that of a fragile peace between one people
wishing to inhabit a single Ireland, and the other wishing to retain their
British identity. What is lost in the
details and all of the stories that tie into this dominant narrative are the other
Irish communities that live within Ulster.
During my last aimless wandering of Belfast I found a different
narrative, one of entrepreneurial hope.
 |
| Left to right (Cuban, Irish, Cuban, Carlos - Cuban, Spanish) |
Meet Carlos,
owner of the newly opened Cuban Sandwich Factory. Carlos is a Belfast resident from Cuba and a
former executive chef, most recently catering the cast and staff of Game of Thrones. He employees a diverse staff composed of
Cubans, Spanish, and Irish. Like many he
is proud of his heritage and wishes to share his cultural flavour with those who
would like to step off the potato path.
Carlos and his
staff bounce from table to bar to table visiting and welcoming their
guests. They are surprised when they
learn I am familiar, nee excited for café
con leche or a cortadíto and
stand ready for my classic cubano. As we
exchange stories I now find myself chatting with young man from the area with a
bushy beard of red fire. We move onto
the typical question of why I am in Belfast and where am I staying. I share an explanation of the course. For my efforts I am greeted with a sigh and
my bearded friend draws closer and pulls out a pen a paper. 
“I do not have a
stake in the politics, don’t believe what you hear. The fighting may have moved off the streets
but the real issues have just moved underground. If you want a sense of what is really going
on, check this out.” He hands me a small piece of paper with a link to a social
media page. 
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