Once upon a time in Northern Ireland

Anyone catch this last night? Some hard hitting stuff in there for sure. I’ve family from Northern Ireland, including a member of the RUC who was badly injured at the height of the troubles. No winners on either side but I felt pretty ashamed to call myself British watching the bloody Sunday clips and people talking about it. Got no place to judge though unless you were there I guess. Will be watching the rest of the series with interest, and may show it to my eldest as it seems to pass the younger generation by now what people went through on both sides.

Haven’t seen it, will be watching it though.

No winners on either side but I felt pretty ashamed to call myself British watching the bloody Sunday clips and people talking about it. Got no place to judge though unless you were there I guess.

Normally I’d agree, but with Bloody Sunday I think there is quite a lot that can be fairly judged.

It looked really interesting, it’s on the “catch up” list

Just started catching up with this. Brutally honest on all sides, highly recommended watching.

Watched the first one the other night, it was excellent but pretty depressing stuff.

There was another series about NI on the BBC a couple of years ago, that was also very good.

Neither would of been made even in the 90’s. The reporting on the troubles in the 70’s and 80’s, was basically government propaganda. There was no balance to it at all.

Can’t go on in our home. Herself lived it and it brings back bad memories.

The reporting on the troubles in the 70’s and 80’s, was basically government propaganda. There was no balance to it at all.

Is that strictly true? Gerry Adams regularly appeared on UK TV news, often with his words dubbed by a voiceover artist. Roger Cook made a doc about loyalist paramilitary extortion in 1987. Death on the Rock was made in 1988 (although possibly the attempts to suppress it prove your point).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_on_the_Rock
https://www.bitchute.com/video/iwAhhD5gPlfM/

I’ve watched them all. It’s all excellent Brutally honest but shows all those involved as rounded human beings

Really excellent TV. Having spent my teenage years in Belfast in the mid 80s it was an ‘exciting’ time for sure. Vividly remember the funerals in episode 3 following Gibraltar & Michael Stone.

A dirty war that came about after many years of Catholic suppression. They really were treated like second class citizens.

Yes it was an excellent and hard hitting series. Although the Border poll is being talked about and having watched this series I don’t think people will be ready (if ever) for a united Ireland for a few more generations.
The guy who was blinded by the rubber bullet – what an amazing guy.

Is that strictly true? Gerry Adams regularly appeared on UK TV news, often with his words dubbed by a voiceover artist. Roger Cook made a doc about loyalist paramilitary extortion in 1987

An elected politician who was not allowed for his voice to be heard?

I watched episode 2, that story of the single mother murdered by the IRA was absolutely tragic. However, the interview with the remaining children was absolute propaganda, they even highlighted the size of the family.

I watched episode 2, that story of the single mother murdered by the IRA was absolutely tragic. However, the interview with the remaining children was absolute propaganda, they even highlighted the size of the family.

I’m not sure that was the best example to prove the point, although there’s no doubt we in the mainland got a very one-sided version of the issues.

I’ve watched the first 2 episodes so far and have enjoyed them (probably the wrong word to use really).

Brutally honest but shows all those involved as rounded human beings

This sums it up pretty well.

we in the mainland got a very one-sided version of the issues.

Obviously so if you’re using “the mainland“

Everyone knows it’s continental Europe that’s the real mainland.

An elected politician who was not allowed for his voice to be heard?

I’m not saying it was sensible – just making the point that Sinn Fein was quoted on “mainstream” “mainland” TV. It wasn’t all propaganda and there was some balance. And that’s not even mentioning the non-headbanging print media.

My dad is from Northern Ireland and all that side of my family are still there. I spent pretty much every summer during the 80s over there and I can still remember the roadblocks and soldiers with guns pulling my papas car over to question us. The seriousness of it never even remotely registered with me back then. To me they were just real life Action Men. I also never quite understood why the police station in my family’s small town was the most heavily fortified building I’d ever seen!

There was a delightful summer visit around about 1989 that involved me having to fight all the neighbourhood kids one by one as I was “British” (my Scottish accent counted for nothing) and they all lined up for a go at me :(

Thankfully it’s a much less intimidating place to visit nowadays!

 just making the point that Sinn Fein was quoted on “mainstream” “mainland” TV.

But only after direct interference by the Govt of the day by the acts that ruled that they couldn’t speak using their own voices on broadcast channels – which weren’t enforced to the print media, although that’s the effect they had . Anyway you slice it, that is censorship, and internal documents at the BBC at the time have revealed that any programme about the conflict had to be vetted by the very top brass (and that was before the acts came into force). You can only really speculate about what effect that had on the time it took to reach a peaceful settlement, but it certainly can’t have helped.

Decided nnot to watch this, i think it invokes too much anger towards the British government and military.
My gramps are Irish, Mothers side from the south, Fathers from the north. In fact our family name originated there.

i think it invokes too much anger towards the British government and military.

It does but that’s because it’s giving a much more balanced account of what was really happening.

The complete lies and mispresenting of events by the C/O of the paras after Bloody Sunday was chilling, especially compared to the reality that we now know. Also, those lies were spouted for decades by the British government and military.

they couldn’t speak using their own voices on broadcast channels – which weren’t enforced to the print media, although that’s the effect they had .

I don’t understand what you mean here.

Anyway you slice it, that is censorship

Absolutely.

internal documents at the BBC at the time have revealed that any programme about the conflict had to be vetted by the very top brass (and that was before the acts came into force).

Do you have a source or any keywords for this, please? It is relevant to my interests.

Obviously so if you’re using “the mainland“

Hold my hands up, middle aged, white British privilege means I’m not up to speed on the correct term 🤷‍♂️

I don’t understand what you mean here.

yeah sorry, badly worded. I meant that although the act didn’t proscribe print media from reporting the direct words of Sinn Fein MPs, most of the national newspapers exercised self-censorship anyway in line with TV and radio.

Do you have a source or any keywords for this, please? It is relevant to my interests.

I got the story from an Irish newspaper report, they cite this academic study as a reference.

Thank you!

Irish nationalists take offense of the word “mainland” as it implies Ireland is the lesser to Britain and incomplete without the British part.

That’s my take anyway and I’m an Irish nationalist.

Irish people take offense of the word “mainland” as it implies Ireland is the lesser to Britain and incomplete without the British part.

FTFY

I’ve watched the first two episodes and it’s fascinating.

I spent a lot of time over there during the troubles. As a hopelessly naive (clueless?) English catholic who had never given either his nationality or (alleged) religion a moments thought I saw it from both sides.

I’d stay with my Irish catholic girlfriends family and mates in South Armagh (bandit country as Thatcher christened it). The first morning I was there I was woken up by a massive explosion as the IRA mortared the police station down the road. Her dad was a seriously connected republican.

Then a week later I’d go and stay with my mate who was in the army and was resident battalion in Derry and go out with the squadies and all the Protestants who knew I was English, but didn’t know I was from an Irish catholic family or where I’d been the week before

Didn’t think anything of it at the time because they were just my mates and we were just out partying, but seems a bit mental looking back at it now. Never really got over the fact it felt just like being in England but for the armed troops everywhere, helicopters and roadblocks

The most telling thing for me about the programme was the UFF guy saying that after Black Friday the targets changed from known republicans to ‘anyone catholic’ and the IRA gave up targeting just soldiers and ‘anyone Protestant’ became a legit ‘hit’

From that point on it just descended into competitive tit-for-tat barbarity. It’s shocking how easily normal people can lose their humanity and plumb the depths of indiscriminate cruelty and senseless violence. There are certainly no winners from that point

It absolutely disgusts me the casual disinterest this appalling government views Northern Ireland and the GFA with. They place no value on peace in Ireland and would throw it all away in a heartbeat for their ridiculous Brexit idealogical zealotry

It even had an effect in tiny villages in rural England. I used to frequent a pub in a village about five miles from where I live, called Ford. My family on my dad’s side are from there, and it was handy as a refreshment stop on regular evening and Sunday afternoon rides. I was sat with a pint one evening on the riverside patio, and someone walked down the steps from the upper car park. As he walked past I nodded to him and he nodded back, and the faces of the people opposite me were a picture, because it was a copper with full ballistic vest, semiautomatic pistol, and semiautomatic carbine slung over his shoulder. His presence was due to Tom King, Minister for Northern Ireland in Thatchers government living in the village.

Had certain advantages, the pub was often open until after midnight, it wasn’t unusual to be asked if I wanted another beer when I took the glasses back to the bar at gone 11.30 at night. The protection squad were happy to ignore pub opening hours as mandated by the authorities, because having people around at night meant more eyes to see anything suspicious.
And a couple were caught and arrested while scoping out the area.

What an incredible collection of interviews this is, made into compelling and thought-provoking television.

Just finished it. Possibly the best bit of documentary television I’ve ever seen. All those involved presented their stories without judgement or bias from those making the programme. It was a very hard watch indeed at times.