Heather Bellamy spoke with author Vicky Cosstick, about the history and effect of Belfast's 100 sectarian walls and interfaces.

Alliance Avenue - Glenbryn - North Belfast

We have had another Peace Agreement last year, called 'Fresh Start', which doesn't sort out all the remaining issues from the conflict, but it's certainly another very important step in that direction.

It's important that people understand that Northern Ireland is still a post conflict society. Even though there have been a series of Peace Agreements, not everything is resolved. It takes decades for real peace to take hold in a place like Northern Ireland.

Heather: Why are these walls still there?

Vicky: The simple answer is that it's more expensive to take them down, than it was to put them up. It was very easy to put them up. They were put up by the army. Then after that they were put up by the Northern Irish office, until around 2010 when there was devolution of justice to Northern Ireland. The current Minster of Justice, David Ford, is very committed to not putting up any further walls. However taking them down, as the book tries to illustrate, is a hugely complex process. It involves communities, a whole range of Government departments and it's hugely expensive. It also involves policing arrangements, so bringing them down is extraordinarily complex and difficult.

Heather: Do you think the community are ready for them to be taken down?

Vicky: There is evidence that in some places the communities are ready for them to come down. There are stories of how a community might want a particular gate, interface, or barrier to come down. The problem is that then a particular Government department, say roads, stalls on finding the money to make the changes.

Heather: Do the Government plan to bring them down?

Vicky: They are committed to. In fact the book was inspired, partly by the announcement in 2013, that the Northern Irish Assembly executive had made this commitment to bring them down by 2023.

They plan to bring them down and to some extent they have the organisation in place to do that. The big question is whether or not it's effective. Perhaps the biggest question is, 'Who's going to pay for it?', because so far Westminster has said that Northern Ireland have to find the money to take the walls down.

Heather: What are the main signs of hope that you found in Belfast, while researching and writing this book?

Vicky: I found hugely committed people. People in Belfast are extraordinary, with the number of people who have devoted their lives to ongoing work for peace. I say that people are Belfast's greatest resource. Many people, professional community workers of all-sorts, have stayed in Belfast and continued to work for peace. I think that's the biggest sign of hope.

Lower Falls - Lower Shankill. West Belfast

Heather: And what are your main concerns for Belfast at this time?

Vicky: At this time, I suppose there are elements at work in Northern Ireland that hold up progress and one of them is cynicism. There's quite a lot of cynicism around and people are very tired of how long it is taking for real peace to happen. People are tired of the continuing sectarianism and segregation. I suppose the other thing is the levels of political will and leadership, whether people have a larger vision for Northern Ireland than just the interests of their own particular community.

Heather: What's your background? What's made you interested in this topic and caused you to write a book on it?