Northern Ireland’s peace generation

Watch The Face’s Generation Peace film below, documenting the lives of young people in Derry who have grown up since the 1998 Good Friday agreement.

Arti­cle taken from The Face Volume 4 Issue 002. Order your copy here.

To say that Derry has a complex political and social history would be an understatement. Nestled within a patchwork of butter-packet-perfect fields and lying either side of the fast-flowing River Foyle, Northern Ireland’s second city was the scene of Bloody Sunday, one of the most infamous incidents of the Troubles, the bitter sectarian conflict that locked the region in violence between 1969 and 1998. Even the city’s name reflects that schism: it’s Derry to some, Londonderry to others.

Back then, the city mainly featured in the UK or Irish media in solemn news reports. But two decades on from the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to the six counties, Derry has become a hotbed for much of Northern Ireland’s social justice activism: a generation of ​“peace babies” (those born around or after the 1998 breakthrough) have been leading the push for LGBT rights and abortion access as the region wrestles free from its traditional religious conservatism.

The city also returned to wider British consciousness due to the success of Derry Girls, Channel 4’s wildly popular 1990s-set sitcom about a gang of ducking and diving Catholic schoolgirls. ​“Do you think if I told him I had an incendiary device down my knickers he’d have a look?” asks the show’s gobby Michelle of a particularly phwoar British soldier.

In October, Northern Ireland’s ban on abortion was finally overturned in a landmark vote by Westminster MPs, legislation which also saw marriage for LGBT couples legalised for the first time. It was a historic moment. The region had some of the harshest abortion laws in the world and was the only place in the UK or Ireland where equal marriage was still not legal. And it’s a fight which has been hard won, with young people from the activist group Alliance for Choice Derry leading the charge.

Equally, though, many fear the progress of the past two decades risks being undone by economic hardship. Only 55 per cent of adults in Derry have a job, a figure considerably lower than the Northern Irish average of 69 per cent and the UK-wide average of 74 per cent. This is particularly an issue for younger people, who are increasingly faced with the unpalatable choice between unemployment or zero-hour contracts.

It’s a situation that Brexit, perhaps unsurprisingly, could complicate even further. During the 2016 EU referendum campaign Northern Ireland was rarely mentioned by either Remain or Leave sides, both choosing instead to focus on immigration. However, as Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to share a land border with another EU country – the Republic of Ireland – it has become a crucial sticking point.

What’s the biggest difference between your generation and your parents’ generation?

My parents’ generation had a lot more troubles than we would have today. A lot more weans [kids] as well.

What have your parents taught you about the Troubles?

Just about their time. They were there on Bloody Sunday. And the troubles they were going through as they were growing up living in Derry.

What are your hopes for Derry?

More investment, more money into Derry. More buildings, more jobs, people mixing together rather than spending time apart.

How would you describe Derry to someone?

It depends where the people are from in Derry and where the visitors are from. You try to explain Derry to somebody and they’ll say: ​“Oh, don’t you mean Londonderry?” No I don’t mean that, I mean Derry.

What’s the biggest difference between your generation and your parents’ generation?

I think my parents’ generation had trouble, were given trouble, whereas our generation went looking for trouble. I think that’s the main difference I’ve seen.

What would a border mean to you?

You throw stones, you get it. You’re starting up what was finished in 1998. I think the English don’t realise that. It would mean the end of the Good Friday Agreement, and there would be no reason for peace after that for a lot of people.

What do you want people to know about Derry?

That everybody is welcome, and you’ll feel that when you come here. Just please know, please learn. Don’t come here ignorant and saying stupid stuff. Just like you wouldn’t want it yourself. There’s real solidarity in Derry. Come here wanting to be part of it, not against it.

Brexiteers have struggled to explain how Brexit can happen without some kind of physical barrier being put in place, which would thereby imperil an integral part of the peace settlement.

While the violence has largely ended since 1998, some paramilitary groups continue to hold weapons and encourage attacks. During riots in Derry in April this year, Lyra McKee, a 29-year-old journalist, was shot dead, with the New IRA later claiming responsibility. The not-unreasonable fear of many in Northern Ireland, young and old, is that the return of a border will ratchet up community tensions and, with it, the likelihood of an increase of such incidents.

As we discovered when we visited Derry in October – and as you can read on these and the following pages – for many young people these issues are real, frightening and urgent.

In the words of one of the young men we talked to when asked about Brexit: ​“It’s kind of like that party we were all invited to and we’ve all been told to go to – nobody fucking wants to go, it’s a bad idea, and I don’t have a fucking outfit ready, so can we just stop it?”

How does politics affect your everyday life?

My nationality has become a political debate. It affects my life if I want to travel. If I want to visit family, perhaps 20 minutes away, I have to cross a border. It affects a lot of aspects of my life.

What’s your opinion on Brexit?

I think it’s scary. I think we should all be more afraid. I think it was an awful decision.

What is the meaning of life for you?

Happiness. Just to be happy. Nothing else matters as long as you’re happy.

What have your parents taught you about the Troubles?

That they were awful but also a bit of craic. I know someone who said that they miss the Troubles because it was the best nights they had in their life.

Do you remember much about the peace process?

No. Myself and quite a lot of people, we grew up not knowing anything about what happened then. I think for a certain amount of years the older generation didn’t talk about it at all and it wasn’t until we were teenagers that we kind of understood what had happened.

What would a border mean to you?

Complete and utter chaos.

What’s your favourite type of clothing?

Tops.

Any shops that you really like?

Topshop.

What would be your dream job?

Ballet teacher.

Where were you born?

Derry.

Where would you like to live when you grow up?

America.

What’s your favourite type of food?

Chocolate.

What’s your dream job?

Physio.

Where’s your favourite place in the world?

Ballet class.

What music do you like?

Pop.

What would be your dream job?

Fashion designer.

Have you ever been in love?

Aye, I have. My partner [Olivia, above centre], she’s right there.

What would be your dream job?

That’s tough… I really want to be an English teacher. That’s probably it for me. At the moment I’m a painter and decorator. I’m enjoying that as well.

What’s your favourite type of food?

Takeout would be Chinese and in general would be Italian, probably.

Where were you born?

Derry.

What music are you into?

I’m into a bit of everything, I go to a lot of techno events. I’ve been to Ibiza and Amsterdam a few times for stuff like that.

What would a border mean to you?

A border would just ruin everything we have here at the minute. It would bring back violence, hurt, probably death. We can’t have a border here.

What’s your opinion on Brexit?

My opinion on Brexit… It’s kind of like that party we were all invited to and we’ve all been told to go to, nobody fucking wants to go, it’s a bad idea, and I don’t have a fucking outfit ready so can we just stop it? Thanks.

What makes you proud about being from Derry?

I think our resilience is something that really comes through. We are so far away from London and we are not Belfast. I think that it’s fostered a mentality in Derry of doing it for yourself and making it for yourself.

If you could offer any advice to people growing up in Derry, what would you say?

Just have fun and make the most of Derry. We had a cracking time drinking at the walls and going to raves. Don’t think that life is happening elsewhere, it’s happening right here: you just have to find it.

Do you believe in God?

Yeah, she’s alright.

Who’s your favourite person?

My ma.

What did she teach you about the Troubles?

I was raised until I was 11 in County Meath, in the Republic, so we didn’t really experience anything with the Troubles. When I came here it was a bit of a shock. I didn’t really understand what a Protestant was until someone told me.

What would a border mean to you?

I think we’ll have a united Ireland before we have a border. I just don’t think it could work because I can even imagine myself going further, getting more involved to stop it. I don’t want to say take up arms but if they ran up to my door, I might just do it.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a hairdresser.