Say Nothing (2024) s01e01 Episode Script
The Cause
1
[narrator] The thing
about Irish people,
we've been arguing over
the same shite for 800 years.
See, it used to be that this was
our island till the British took it off us.
The Irish tried
to fight them out,
but we couldn't
quite finish the job.
So instead, the British kept
the top part for themselves.
And the IRA's been
fighting a bloody battle
to reunite the
country ever since.
Some die by bomb, some by
bullet. Others simply disappear.
[object bouncing, creaking]
[alarm blaring in distance]
[music playing over radio]
[child 1] Ma, when
is dinner ready?
[parent] I told you
to eat a big lunch.
[child 2] Ma, where
do you keep the pliers?
- [child 1] Ma, Billy won't put on--
- One at a time, please.
Where are the pliers?
Archie, you cannot
fix the cooker yourself.
Mickey, what's that
under your jumper?
What? Nothing.
Come. Let me see it, please.
Come on.
- [cooing]
- [parent] Ugh.
Michael, we had an agreement.
- This one's different.
- Six birds in the loft. No more.
He's really friendly, Ma.
Aye, he's quite handsome.
But if you wanna be keeping him,
you can release some of the others.
I'll not have more wild creatures
leaving their business on my floor.
- [Michael sighs]
- [parent] Helen.
[sighs] You're not
going out tonight.
What?
Pop to the chippie, get a
bite to eat for the wee ones.
And don't be stopping
for a sneaky smoke.
[announcer over radio] passed
the ball just to the left-hand side.
- But it's number 42, Birmingham.
- [knocks on door]
Right, Helen's back.
Start laying the table.
[radio chatter continues]
Where's your mammy, love?
- [thud]
- [young child, muffled] Ma!
[children clamoring]
[intruder 1] Where is she?
- Archie?
- [footsteps approaching]
[breathing heavily]
No. You stay back! Stay back!
[screams]
- [muffled screaming continues]
- [thudding]
[breathing shakily]
[cries softly]
- Put your coat on, love. We're leaving.
- [children crying]
- Tell them to keep quiet!
- Let me go!
Don't you touch them!
Don't you touch them.
Where are you taking her?
- Michael.
- Where are you taking her?
Michael! Be quiet.
- Michael, it's all right, son.
- [intruder 2] All of youse, calm down.
- It's all right, son.
- We just need to talk to her, is all.
Take me with you.
Archie.
It's okay, Ma.
You say you just wanna talk.
What's the harm in letting me come?
He comes. The rest stay.
Shh.
Can I sit next to her, please?
Fuck off, or be shot.
Ma?
Watch the children
till I get back. Okay?
Hello and welcome.
This is the Belfast
Project, An Oral History.
I'm here with Participant H.
And this is all anonymous, yeah?
Aye. No names. It's
for both our safety.
Look, don't be nervous.
The stuff I'll be asking you
about is all ancient history.
Not to them.
That's why we've
taken precautions.
This tape, no one's gonna
hear it until you're dead and gone.
You can say anything, Dolours.
The whole sordid story, then?
If you like.
Why don't you start by telling us
a little bit about your childhood?
[Older Dolours] Well, the
first thing you should know
is that my mother and father
were both proud members
of the Irish Republican Army.
Have I told you girls
how to make explosives?
[Older Dolours] Which meant
that while other kids got stories
about fairies and pixies,
we got the story of Da's
famous prison escape.
It was the night
before the escape.
The screws caught wind that
there was something going on.
They throw open my cell door
and they start hammering
me with the batons.
And the whole time they're
asking me all kinds of questions.
What did you tell them, Da?
Nothing. I said nothing, girls.
I picked a spot on the
wall, and I stared at it.
And no matter how they beat me,
I just kept staring
at that spot.
Sooner or later
they had no choice
but to let me go.
[Older Dolours] It was
quite a happy childhood.
Until I turned 16 and decided
that my whole family was mental.
Ma, we're going out.
It's not another sit-in, is it?
No, actually.
That's what's wrong
with this lot, love.
You and me, we bled on the
battlefield. This generation, they sit.
Who's sitting? No one's sitting.
One time we went to a
sit-in, Da. For fuck's sake.
Hey. Easy there, you.
[father] That's hormones.
She's hormonal.
We're not going to a sit-in.
We're going up the mountain.
You hiked up there yesterday
and you came back filthy.
Well, like Da said, I'm
hormonal. And I'm going again.
- [father chuckling]
- There now, you see what you've started?
Eh.
[imitating] Eh.
[Older Dolours] We were
Catholic in West Belfast,
which meant we lived
on the shite side of town.
It was a segregated society.
Everything was rigged.
Jobs, housing, voting rights.
It all went to the Protestants.
Civil rights march. Fair
housing for Catholics.
Voting rights for Catholics. Join
the march to Derry, Mr. McShane.
Good luck, girls.
If you were Catholic,
you had two choices.
You could live as second-class,
or you could get the hell out.
Sure, it's not so shite
from up here, is it?
What am I gonna do
when you're at uni? [sighs]
Daddy's gonna melt
my frigging head.
Come with me.
I'm serious though, Mar.
You don't wanna get stuck
here working in a factory,
eating out of a
fucking lunch box.
Just one thing though.
I don't have talent.
- Hey.
- I don't.
You're gonna be
off doing art shows,
and I'm only good
at rolling cigarettes.
And I don't even smoke.
Look, everybody
has their thing, Mar.
Sometimes it just takes a
wee minute to find it, okay?
[sighs]
[Older Dolours] There was
never any argument in my family
about who had given
most for the cause.
You know, my father had
spent eight years in prison.
My mother had
only done two weeks.
But my Aunt Bridie, she had
given her eyes and her hands.
We're going on a peace
march. Leaving Wednesday.
All right. You'll have
protection, yeah?
Loads of Protestant villages
between here and Derry, love.
We'll be fine, Ma. They said at
most it'll be a few stones thrown.
They wanna waste four days
wading through muddy peat bogs.
Now, that protest at the
quay, that was a proper protest.
We pushed a police jeep
in the river and we ran.
Lot of good that did us.
Excuse me, what was that?
I'm just saying.
Look, in a civilized society, what
does violence get you? Right?
[stammers] You charge the
police, they-they attack with batons,
and everybody goes home
with bruises and nothing changes.
And you think that
nonviolence will do better?
Explain this to me, 'cause
I'm a wee bit confused.
[Dolours] Mmm.
You think you can take a dander
through 70 miles of sheep shite,
and the Prods will just
hand over the cushy jobs?
Since when has going on a
walk ever changed anything?
Um. Gandhi with the Salt
March, King in Alabama.
Well, you cannot solve our
problems with nonviolence
Were they not both assassinated?
any more than you can solve them
from some fancy Dublin university.
No matter how
well you can paint.
The armed struggle.
That's the way.
Is there more stuffing, Mammy?
Yeah. Well, you tried that,
Daddy. And you lost, remember?
Tried bombing the Brits, and
what have you got to show for it?
Has he ever told you, by the
way, the way his wee story ends?
When they all tunneled out
of prison, what happened?
They all got thrown
right the fuck back in.
That's the armed struggle. He's
like fucking Sisyphus, that one.
[mother] Dolours, shut it.
[marchers] Oh, deep
in my heart, I do believe ♪
- This is our country.
- Go back!
We shall overcome someday ♪
Catholic scum! Youse are
breeding like vermin, youse are!
Tell the Pope to
give you the pill!
Wee lads like you are
all the birth control I need.
Piss off!
[singing continues]
Oh, deep in my heart ♪
[Older Dolours] I mean, it wasn't enough
that the Prods had all the good jobs,
they also had the police.
And all we had were the
cemeteries and each other.
Do you think we
can trust the peelers?
They probably went to Sunday
school with those people.
[brakes squealing]
Attention. Police have said we may
encounter more resistance up ahead.
They've asked if we'd like to
pack it in. Should we oblige them?
[marchers] No!
We said at the outset that
we would march nonviolently.
Will we agree that not one
single person will retaliate,
- even to save himself from injury?
- [marchers] Yes!
Yes.
Come on. It'll just
be a few stones.
Aye, that's what
Saint Stephen said.
[laughs]
[interviewer] Which route did
you take that day on the march?
[Older Dolours] We
took the Glenshane Pass.
And whose idea was that then?
That would have been the police.
[marchers] We shall overcome ♪
Someday ♪
Oh, deep in my heart ♪
I do believe ♪
We shall overcome someday ♪
[marchers muttering]
[person shouts indistinctly]
Come on then!
- [marcher 1] My God!
- [marchers clamor]
[marchers] Don't!
[marcher 2] Oh,
my God! Get down!
- [mob shouting]
- [marcher 3] They're throwing stones!
[stones landing]
[shouting continues]
Mar.
Dolours, get your coat up!
[panting]
- [stone lands]
- [marcher 4 screams]
[breathes heavily]
- [mob shouting]
- [marchers screaming]
This way! This way! This way!
[clamoring continues]
Come on, Mar.
Okay. Okay.
River! We can get
across the river.
- Where you going to go now?
- Where are you going now, huh?
[mob chattering]
Go on.
No, please. Please,
please. Don't--
- [mob chattering, laughing]
- No!
- Please!
- [baton thuds]
Please!
Hey! Enough of that!
Go on! Go on! Get out of it!
[panting]
The thing was, I looked into the eyes
of the people who was beating us
and they were
glazed over with
hate.
And I thought to myself
You know, I thought, "No.
I'm never gonna
convert these people."
They had cudgels with
bloody nails in them.
[lighter clicks]
I don't know.
Girls. Why did
you not fight back?
Mar, I'm concentrating.
They're rioting in the Falls.
[reporter] Trouble
in Belfast tonight
as riots have erupted all
across Northern Ireland
with Catholic mobs
targeting local police stations.
Anyone seen with bricks and
bottles will be arrested on sight.
- [father] Chrissie!
- [door slams]
Jimmy, sit down over there.
- [whimpering]
- [father panting]
Go on, son, sit down. The
Cumann girls will sort you out.
Let me get you a towel, Jimmy,
love. You're leaking on the upholstery.
I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Price.
[Chrissie] No, no, you're
all right. You're all right, love.
- [Jimmy breathing shakily]
- There we go. You're all right.
Girls, don't just stand there.
Marian, get me ice.
And, Dolours, will you
grab me bandages, love?
[Dolours stammers]
I'm helping Marian.
- We need to get the fuck out of here.
- Why?
I heard everyone's going
down to the police barracks.
I'm not up for another
ambulance ride tonight.
We're not gonna do anything.
We're just gonna watch.
What? We are. I promise.
Ma's not gonna like
that either. Wasting milk.
Mar, you can't stay
with the Cumann girls.
You're gonna be in there
breastfeeding the men all night.
Come on. We'll have a look.
At least it won't be
boring. [chuckles]
[Older Dolours] My
mother was in the Cumann.
That's the women's branch
of the Irish Republican Army.
My mommy knew everything about those
guns, except what it felt like to fire one.
Oh, that was
strictly for the men.
[clamoring in distance]
[passerby] This way. This way.
- [glass shatters]
- [people shouting]
Yeah! Fucking RUC
bastards. Let's fucking go.
Give it everything you fucking
got! These fucking cunts!
- [glass shattering]
- [clamoring continues]
[protester] Hey, get that mattress
up on the barricade. Let's build it up.
Bottles. Bricks. Curbstones.
Whatever you can carry.
Bring it all to the barricade.
Here.
It's a wee bit more
festive than I thought.
[Dolours chuckles]
We need bottles and bricks
and curbstones in those crates.
Petrol bombs up to the roof.
- Who put that gawky fucker in charge?
- Don't know.
He just picked up the
loud-hailer and he started talking.
Petrol bombs are doing fuck all.
Listen, we need bigger jars. Like
the ones they sell at the sweet shop.
Bigger jars means more flames.
With enough fire, we can suck up all
the oxygen going to the car's engine.
We stall them out.
Then we can break in.
Get our own fucking armored car.
Wee Gerry's come a
long way since debate club.
For the record. The
Gerry in question?
That would be Gerry Adams.
Gerry joined the IRA at 16.
He grew up with
Republican parents, like I did.
Only when it came to the
cause, he never wavered.
Go on, hit the sweet shops.
Get as many as you can carry.
I could have told you that.
- Chalkie.
- Huh?
What are you doing, mate?
I'm getting us a battering ram.
Chalkie, instead of cutting the
phones to a bunch of Catholic flats,
do you not think you should be
cutting down that telephone pole?
The one attached to the barracks
so they can't call for backup?
Aye, she is right,
ya thick fuck.
Ah, fuck off, you.
Who's the redhead?
She's Albert's daughter.
She's a laugh, she is.
- Evening, child.
- Don't call me child,
you jumped-up, wee prick.
You're a year older than I am.
Right. Well
[clears throat]
I just wanted to say,
you know, for a pacifist, you seem
to have a good mind for strategy.
Who said I was a pacifist?
I saw your da at
the Felon's Club.
He said youse were on the
front lines at the peace march.
Lotta good that did us.
We marched, we
sang. It did fuck all.
You know [stammers] some
of the lads were talking strategy.
Doc wanted to
extend an invitation.
Him? He's older than my da.
Aye, but we-we've got a
lot of new blood coming in.
Look, you wanna do something
about our wee apartheid statelet?
The blokes upstairs
are a good place to start.
You gonna take down
the police barracks?
No, we're gonna take
down the government.
They were trying to recruit you?
Aye. You know, I've
been talent scouted?
Like one of those women
who walks down the street,
and some fella from a modeling
agency comes up and goes,
"Hey. I'm sending you to Milan."
- [chuckles]
- Except the only talent I was scouted for,
was rolling bandages
and making fucking tea.
Women's work?
Ah, Gerry tried to spin it.
[Gerry] Everyone needs to
contribute in the special way they can.
This is your chance to be in the room
with the men reshaping this country.
The room next door, you mean?
Listening through the fucking wall.
- That's Dolours--
- No, I'm sorry, Gerry.
The housewives have spoken.
[Older Dolours] You know, if
I wanted to join the Cumann,
I could have asked my mother.
We wanted to be doing
what the boys were doing.
What were the boys doing?
Fundraising.
- [gunshot]
- All of youse on the fucking ground!
All of youse on the
fucking ground now!
Face down, all right?
All right, listen up! We are liberating
funds on behalf of the Provisional IRA.
The army does not
want to hurt no one.
Remember! Our problem
is not with any of you.
It's with her.
You, dickhead. Open
that fucking register now.
Quickly, you specky bastard.
Gorgeous, get
that till open now.
Jesus Christ, sweetheart. You've got
the bluest eyes I think I've ever seen.
You are fucking
stunning-looking.
Thank you very much.
["Go!" playing]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah Yeah, yeah ♪
Sin, sin, it's in the
bin. Let's fucking go!
- [robbers shouting]
- [Chrissie] Are you okay?
[tires squealing in distance]
So, um
I think we'll go to the
grocer next, yeah?
Bluebells are in season.
Aye, Ma.
Let's get bluebells, definitely.
That was Brendan fucking Hughes.
Brendan Hughes. Oh.
Aka The Dark.
He ran D Company back then.
They were the bad bastards.
Well, he definitely
recognized you.
I've seen him around the pub.
He must have remembered me.
Ach. You think
everyone remembers you.
That-That was mad,
right? Wasn't it? I mean
I mean just in and out.
I thought robbing a
bank could be harder.
No, I think it's probably easy.
[soft knocks on door]
Uh. Can one of you give me a
hand with this potting soil, yeah?
You should tell your friend
Brendan to pick better disguises.
Women's tights aren't the most
foolproof means of camouflage.
Especially if one
has a mustache.
He's not
We're not friends, Mommy.
I've just seen him around is all.
Oh.
Would it be a
problem if we were?
What? God, no.
Brendan is a credit
to the cause, he is.
Yet, clearly you don't want me
knocking around with him, so--
I didn't say that. So please
stop putting words in my mouth.
Maybe if you'd said what you meant
every once in a while I wouldn't have to.
Look, watch your mouth.
And that's not fair. Look, I don't
want to argue with you, okay?
I just meant that things
are obviously heating up.
Your da thinks the Brits will
be sending in the army soon.
And they will come
down hard on the IRA.
And your man Brendan's
right out there on the front lines.
I just don't want you to forget the
opportunity you've got at university
because, let me
tell you something,
an education like that
was not an option for me.
- The bloody Unionists wouldn't let me.
- Are you fucking serious, Mommy?
Dolours.
No, no, no, no.
For 18 years, Da's
been yarning on like,
"The-The peelers are crooked, Dolours.
We have to dismantle the state, Dolours."
And you just sat there
nodding your fucking head.
Dolours. Shush.
[door opens]
Look.
I just prefer that if my
daughter does go to university,
she has all four
limbs intact. That's all.
You don't have to
worry about me, Ma.
I have my priorities sorted.
[Bridie] Are those
soldiers still about?
[Dolours] Soldiers?
There are no
soldiers, Auntie Bridie.
I heard them last night.
Rummaging through the bins.
Go tell your da up at the
Felon's. He needs to know.
Okay.
[rattling in the distance]
[rattling]
[rattling continues]
[Marian] What's up?
[rattling]
- Soldiers. At the neighbor's house.
- [soldiers shouting, chattering]
[soldier speaks indistinctly]
What's going on?
They're searching houses.
[clattering continues]
[soldier 1 shouts]
Open up!
Mommy.
British Army! Albert Price!
Wait. No, no. No, no. This is my
house. Get the fuck out-- [grunts]
- Mommy! Mommy! Ma. Ma.
- [soldiers shouting]
- Mom.
- I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.
[soldier 2] Number
10 [shouts indistinctly]
Come to the front door
with nothing in your hands!
[soldier 3] Upstairs.
Check the upstairs.
[whispering] No, no.
Clothes are gone. Must
have done a runner.
Just find the guns.
Where's your daddy gone? Hey?
Where's he hiding the guns?
You tell me where the fuck
he is right now! I swear to God,
I will pull your sister in here and make
a fucking example of her in front of you!
[volume fades] I swear
to God! Tell me now!
[silence]
[Older Dolours]
Even if we had talked,
those men wouldn't have
liked what they heard.
Da fled south over the border
where British law meant nothing.
Others weren't so lucky.
They took old fellas, young fellas,
cripples, drunks. It didn't matter.
Anyone deemed a
threat to the peace,
they were swept up
off the street like that.
[soldiers shouting]
Neat and tidy.
You know, the house got
a lot quieter after he left.
I was surprised how
much I miss my father.
Come on, I'm gonna
be late for school.
You're not going
to fucking school.
[people shouting]
[Dolours whispers]
Let me do the talking.
Our da's on the run. We just
came back from being questioned.
I had that on me the whole time.
The soldiers didn't
even think to look.
[stammers] If you think that
we're just useful serving tea,
then you might be missing
your chance to win this war.
Does their mammy
know they're here?
Nah. They want
her kept out of it.
[in Irish] Thank you.
Let me see if I understand.
You wanna rewrite the
whole operations manual
just because you've
got a famous daddy?
No. Rewrite it because
it was written in '56.
The fight has radically changed.
Aye, but the--
No, no. Listen, respectfully, youse
goaded the Brits into a war, yeah?
And now you're
outmanned 50-to-1.
There's an army of
women in Belfast and Derry
willing to tilt the
odds in your favor.
Any of whom can help
by joining the Cumann.
But you're not listening.
We don't wanna
be rolling bandages.
How about you, Marian? Huh?
Your ma has been with the
Woman's Council 20 years.
You'd honor her
legacy by joining.
- She wants to fight.
- Let her tell us herself.
I guess ever since that march,
I kinda have been thinking maybe the
Women's Council would be good fit, like.
But now internment's on.
And what happens if
tomorrow, all you guys are gone?
Either we sit at home
fiddling with our bandages,
or you can teach us to fight.
Which one of those do you
think's gonna help us win the war?
These two are not for budging.
Better take it up
to the Big Lad.
Sorry, the Big Lad?
Aye, you heard that name a lot.
You know, anyone you
ever talked to, it was always,
"Go and see the Big Lad."
I-I got a sit-down with
the man eventually.
So you're just seriously
not gonna tell me who it is?
All right. Okay. I'll give
you a clue. You know him.
- Right.
- His birthday's in January.
[scoffs]
No, I'm only fucking you about. I
don't know when his birthday is.
Don't tell him I said that.
You're gonna go in here, you're
gonna sit down, you're gonna wait.
He's very particular.
He doesn't like
being seen in public.
He's, uh
He's very intimidated
by good-looking women.
Don't tell him I said
that either. [chuckles]
[chuckles]
I know how to
handle men like that.
All right.
Hey, good luck. This
is where I leave you.
- [chuckles]
- Evening, child.
It's quite a cagey piece of
spycraft you've got there, Gerry.
Brits will never see
past the turtleneck.
Well, I don't have
advantages like some do.
Nice red hair and a
mini skirt, for instance.
Can I take that to mean
you approve of my request?
Aye. Of course, we need women.
They're interning
all the bloody men.
That's exactly what
I've been saying.
The rest of the fellas,
I feel like I'm gonna have to
fucking tie them to their chairs,
put hoods on their heads and read
aloud from the fucking Feminine Mystique.
Luckily, the Chief of Staff's
quite practical about this.
His opinion's all that counts.
[stammers]
That's marvelous then.
You know, they very nearly
let a dog into the army.
It's actually not a bad story.
There was this wee
fellow, Herbo Gibson, right?
What?
It's just, we were talking
about women, Gerry.
Aye. We were. Now I'm
telling you about a dog.
So, this dog, Bo was his name.
And during the riots, you know,
when the lads were throwing stones,
Bo had orders to fetch each
stone, bring it back to the thrower.
And he was quite
a good soldier, Bo.
He always followed orders.
His career was cut short though
when one of the lads threw a nail bomb.
Bo picks it up, brings
it back to his owner.
And now the
rioters all-- all panic.
They're all losing their heads,
jumping behind the
hedges and what have you,
till they hear
the jelly go bang.
When they found Bo's body,
they gave the wee
man a military funeral.
Jesus, Gerry.
Your stories are awful
fucking dreary, mate.
Dolours, all I'm saying
[sighs]
is that being a soldier
is not like your daddy says.
You're more like that dog, Bo.
You follow orders,
you don't ask questions.
And there's a good chance that someone
you love will find your body in the street.
So,
the question, child,
isn't if they'll let you fight.
The question is, are
you sure you want to?
["Go Dig My Grave" playing]
Go dig my grave ♪
[IRA member] Raise your
right hand and repeat after me,
"I, Dolours Price
[IRA member] promise I will promote
the objectives of the Irish Republican Army
to the best of my
knowledge and ability.
promise that I will
promote the objectives
of the Irish Republican Army
to the best of my
knowledge and ability
and that I will
obey all orders
[Dolours] and that
I will obey all orders
[IRA member] issued to me by the
army authority and my superior officers."
- issued to me
- [Older Dolours] issued to me
- by the army authority
- by the army authority
- and my superior officers."
- and my superior officers."
That I died for love ♪
[IRA member] Right then.
You're not to tell
anyone you're IRA.
Not friends,
boyfriends, schoolmates.
Loose talk cost lives.
Understood?
Oh, Lord ♪
Oh, Lordy me ♪
[song fades out]
Have you ever said any of
this on the record before?
No, not explicitly.
- You want to talk about the robberies?
- Aye, I'll talk about the robberies.
The London job?
I'll talk about the
London job, aye.
How about that thing that
happened in Divis Flats?
What thing that
happened in Divis Flats?
A woman was taken.
She never came home.
She was a widow.
A mother of ten.
Her name was Jean McConville.
Want to say anything about that?
You know, one thing I
can say that all my life,
I thought joining the IRA was the
noblest thing a person could do.
["Go Dig My Grave"
fades back in]
She went upstairs ♪
It could be worse, I guess.
How?
Y-You were taught that you were
fighting in the name of the people.
Her mother ♪
Not too shabby, eh?
she went upstairs too ♪
[Older Dolours] That the whole
community was behind you.
You know that every
drop of blood that was shed
was the cost of an unjust war.
You're just moving in?
I cannot tell ♪
You're welcome to
drop by sometime.
That railroad boy ♪
We're the ones in the red door.
That I loved so well ♪
[Older Dolours] That the men
fighting beside you were your brothers,
and that everything
you do together
is for the greater good of
a free and united Ireland.
Welcome to Divis, lad.
He will not stay ♪
Oh, Lordy, Lord Oh, Lordy me ♪
And I think people
should know
Oh, Lord, oh, Lord ♪
that it's all lies.
Oh, Lordy me ♪
[narrator] The thing
about Irish people,
we've been arguing over
the same shite for 800 years.
See, it used to be that this was
our island till the British took it off us.
The Irish tried
to fight them out,
but we couldn't
quite finish the job.
So instead, the British kept
the top part for themselves.
And the IRA's been
fighting a bloody battle
to reunite the
country ever since.
Some die by bomb, some by
bullet. Others simply disappear.
[object bouncing, creaking]
[alarm blaring in distance]
[music playing over radio]
[child 1] Ma, when
is dinner ready?
[parent] I told you
to eat a big lunch.
[child 2] Ma, where
do you keep the pliers?
- [child 1] Ma, Billy won't put on--
- One at a time, please.
Where are the pliers?
Archie, you cannot
fix the cooker yourself.
Mickey, what's that
under your jumper?
What? Nothing.
Come. Let me see it, please.
Come on.
- [cooing]
- [parent] Ugh.
Michael, we had an agreement.
- This one's different.
- Six birds in the loft. No more.
He's really friendly, Ma.
Aye, he's quite handsome.
But if you wanna be keeping him,
you can release some of the others.
I'll not have more wild creatures
leaving their business on my floor.
- [Michael sighs]
- [parent] Helen.
[sighs] You're not
going out tonight.
What?
Pop to the chippie, get a
bite to eat for the wee ones.
And don't be stopping
for a sneaky smoke.
[announcer over radio] passed
the ball just to the left-hand side.
- But it's number 42, Birmingham.
- [knocks on door]
Right, Helen's back.
Start laying the table.
[radio chatter continues]
Where's your mammy, love?
- [thud]
- [young child, muffled] Ma!
[children clamoring]
[intruder 1] Where is she?
- Archie?
- [footsteps approaching]
[breathing heavily]
No. You stay back! Stay back!
[screams]
- [muffled screaming continues]
- [thudding]
[breathing shakily]
[cries softly]
- Put your coat on, love. We're leaving.
- [children crying]
- Tell them to keep quiet!
- Let me go!
Don't you touch them!
Don't you touch them.
Where are you taking her?
- Michael.
- Where are you taking her?
Michael! Be quiet.
- Michael, it's all right, son.
- [intruder 2] All of youse, calm down.
- It's all right, son.
- We just need to talk to her, is all.
Take me with you.
Archie.
It's okay, Ma.
You say you just wanna talk.
What's the harm in letting me come?
He comes. The rest stay.
Shh.
Can I sit next to her, please?
Fuck off, or be shot.
Ma?
Watch the children
till I get back. Okay?
Hello and welcome.
This is the Belfast
Project, An Oral History.
I'm here with Participant H.
And this is all anonymous, yeah?
Aye. No names. It's
for both our safety.
Look, don't be nervous.
The stuff I'll be asking you
about is all ancient history.
Not to them.
That's why we've
taken precautions.
This tape, no one's gonna
hear it until you're dead and gone.
You can say anything, Dolours.
The whole sordid story, then?
If you like.
Why don't you start by telling us
a little bit about your childhood?
[Older Dolours] Well, the
first thing you should know
is that my mother and father
were both proud members
of the Irish Republican Army.
Have I told you girls
how to make explosives?
[Older Dolours] Which meant
that while other kids got stories
about fairies and pixies,
we got the story of Da's
famous prison escape.
It was the night
before the escape.
The screws caught wind that
there was something going on.
They throw open my cell door
and they start hammering
me with the batons.
And the whole time they're
asking me all kinds of questions.
What did you tell them, Da?
Nothing. I said nothing, girls.
I picked a spot on the
wall, and I stared at it.
And no matter how they beat me,
I just kept staring
at that spot.
Sooner or later
they had no choice
but to let me go.
[Older Dolours] It was
quite a happy childhood.
Until I turned 16 and decided
that my whole family was mental.
Ma, we're going out.
It's not another sit-in, is it?
No, actually.
That's what's wrong
with this lot, love.
You and me, we bled on the
battlefield. This generation, they sit.
Who's sitting? No one's sitting.
One time we went to a
sit-in, Da. For fuck's sake.
Hey. Easy there, you.
[father] That's hormones.
She's hormonal.
We're not going to a sit-in.
We're going up the mountain.
You hiked up there yesterday
and you came back filthy.
Well, like Da said, I'm
hormonal. And I'm going again.
- [father chuckling]
- There now, you see what you've started?
Eh.
[imitating] Eh.
[Older Dolours] We were
Catholic in West Belfast,
which meant we lived
on the shite side of town.
It was a segregated society.
Everything was rigged.
Jobs, housing, voting rights.
It all went to the Protestants.
Civil rights march. Fair
housing for Catholics.
Voting rights for Catholics. Join
the march to Derry, Mr. McShane.
Good luck, girls.
If you were Catholic,
you had two choices.
You could live as second-class,
or you could get the hell out.
Sure, it's not so shite
from up here, is it?
What am I gonna do
when you're at uni? [sighs]
Daddy's gonna melt
my frigging head.
Come with me.
I'm serious though, Mar.
You don't wanna get stuck
here working in a factory,
eating out of a
fucking lunch box.
Just one thing though.
I don't have talent.
- Hey.
- I don't.
You're gonna be
off doing art shows,
and I'm only good
at rolling cigarettes.
And I don't even smoke.
Look, everybody
has their thing, Mar.
Sometimes it just takes a
wee minute to find it, okay?
[sighs]
[Older Dolours] There was
never any argument in my family
about who had given
most for the cause.
You know, my father had
spent eight years in prison.
My mother had
only done two weeks.
But my Aunt Bridie, she had
given her eyes and her hands.
We're going on a peace
march. Leaving Wednesday.
All right. You'll have
protection, yeah?
Loads of Protestant villages
between here and Derry, love.
We'll be fine, Ma. They said at
most it'll be a few stones thrown.
They wanna waste four days
wading through muddy peat bogs.
Now, that protest at the
quay, that was a proper protest.
We pushed a police jeep
in the river and we ran.
Lot of good that did us.
Excuse me, what was that?
I'm just saying.
Look, in a civilized society, what
does violence get you? Right?
[stammers] You charge the
police, they-they attack with batons,
and everybody goes home
with bruises and nothing changes.
And you think that
nonviolence will do better?
Explain this to me, 'cause
I'm a wee bit confused.
[Dolours] Mmm.
You think you can take a dander
through 70 miles of sheep shite,
and the Prods will just
hand over the cushy jobs?
Since when has going on a
walk ever changed anything?
Um. Gandhi with the Salt
March, King in Alabama.
Well, you cannot solve our
problems with nonviolence
Were they not both assassinated?
any more than you can solve them
from some fancy Dublin university.
No matter how
well you can paint.
The armed struggle.
That's the way.
Is there more stuffing, Mammy?
Yeah. Well, you tried that,
Daddy. And you lost, remember?
Tried bombing the Brits, and
what have you got to show for it?
Has he ever told you, by the
way, the way his wee story ends?
When they all tunneled out
of prison, what happened?
They all got thrown
right the fuck back in.
That's the armed struggle. He's
like fucking Sisyphus, that one.
[mother] Dolours, shut it.
[marchers] Oh, deep
in my heart, I do believe ♪
- This is our country.
- Go back!
We shall overcome someday ♪
Catholic scum! Youse are
breeding like vermin, youse are!
Tell the Pope to
give you the pill!
Wee lads like you are
all the birth control I need.
Piss off!
[singing continues]
Oh, deep in my heart ♪
[Older Dolours] I mean, it wasn't enough
that the Prods had all the good jobs,
they also had the police.
And all we had were the
cemeteries and each other.
Do you think we
can trust the peelers?
They probably went to Sunday
school with those people.
[brakes squealing]
Attention. Police have said we may
encounter more resistance up ahead.
They've asked if we'd like to
pack it in. Should we oblige them?
[marchers] No!
We said at the outset that
we would march nonviolently.
Will we agree that not one
single person will retaliate,
- even to save himself from injury?
- [marchers] Yes!
Yes.
Come on. It'll just
be a few stones.
Aye, that's what
Saint Stephen said.
[laughs]
[interviewer] Which route did
you take that day on the march?
[Older Dolours] We
took the Glenshane Pass.
And whose idea was that then?
That would have been the police.
[marchers] We shall overcome ♪
Someday ♪
Oh, deep in my heart ♪
I do believe ♪
We shall overcome someday ♪
[marchers muttering]
[person shouts indistinctly]
Come on then!
- [marcher 1] My God!
- [marchers clamor]
[marchers] Don't!
[marcher 2] Oh,
my God! Get down!
- [mob shouting]
- [marcher 3] They're throwing stones!
[stones landing]
[shouting continues]
Mar.
Dolours, get your coat up!
[panting]
- [stone lands]
- [marcher 4 screams]
[breathes heavily]
- [mob shouting]
- [marchers screaming]
This way! This way! This way!
[clamoring continues]
Come on, Mar.
Okay. Okay.
River! We can get
across the river.
- Where you going to go now?
- Where are you going now, huh?
[mob chattering]
Go on.
No, please. Please,
please. Don't--
- [mob chattering, laughing]
- No!
- Please!
- [baton thuds]
Please!
Hey! Enough of that!
Go on! Go on! Get out of it!
[panting]
The thing was, I looked into the eyes
of the people who was beating us
and they were
glazed over with
hate.
And I thought to myself
You know, I thought, "No.
I'm never gonna
convert these people."
They had cudgels with
bloody nails in them.
[lighter clicks]
I don't know.
Girls. Why did
you not fight back?
Mar, I'm concentrating.
They're rioting in the Falls.
[reporter] Trouble
in Belfast tonight
as riots have erupted all
across Northern Ireland
with Catholic mobs
targeting local police stations.
Anyone seen with bricks and
bottles will be arrested on sight.
- [father] Chrissie!
- [door slams]
Jimmy, sit down over there.
- [whimpering]
- [father panting]
Go on, son, sit down. The
Cumann girls will sort you out.
Let me get you a towel, Jimmy,
love. You're leaking on the upholstery.
I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Price.
[Chrissie] No, no, you're
all right. You're all right, love.
- [Jimmy breathing shakily]
- There we go. You're all right.
Girls, don't just stand there.
Marian, get me ice.
And, Dolours, will you
grab me bandages, love?
[Dolours stammers]
I'm helping Marian.
- We need to get the fuck out of here.
- Why?
I heard everyone's going
down to the police barracks.
I'm not up for another
ambulance ride tonight.
We're not gonna do anything.
We're just gonna watch.
What? We are. I promise.
Ma's not gonna like
that either. Wasting milk.
Mar, you can't stay
with the Cumann girls.
You're gonna be in there
breastfeeding the men all night.
Come on. We'll have a look.
At least it won't be
boring. [chuckles]
[Older Dolours] My
mother was in the Cumann.
That's the women's branch
of the Irish Republican Army.
My mommy knew everything about those
guns, except what it felt like to fire one.
Oh, that was
strictly for the men.
[clamoring in distance]
[passerby] This way. This way.
- [glass shatters]
- [people shouting]
Yeah! Fucking RUC
bastards. Let's fucking go.
Give it everything you fucking
got! These fucking cunts!
- [glass shattering]
- [clamoring continues]
[protester] Hey, get that mattress
up on the barricade. Let's build it up.
Bottles. Bricks. Curbstones.
Whatever you can carry.
Bring it all to the barricade.
Here.
It's a wee bit more
festive than I thought.
[Dolours chuckles]
We need bottles and bricks
and curbstones in those crates.
Petrol bombs up to the roof.
- Who put that gawky fucker in charge?
- Don't know.
He just picked up the
loud-hailer and he started talking.
Petrol bombs are doing fuck all.
Listen, we need bigger jars. Like
the ones they sell at the sweet shop.
Bigger jars means more flames.
With enough fire, we can suck up all
the oxygen going to the car's engine.
We stall them out.
Then we can break in.
Get our own fucking armored car.
Wee Gerry's come a
long way since debate club.
For the record. The
Gerry in question?
That would be Gerry Adams.
Gerry joined the IRA at 16.
He grew up with
Republican parents, like I did.
Only when it came to the
cause, he never wavered.
Go on, hit the sweet shops.
Get as many as you can carry.
I could have told you that.
- Chalkie.
- Huh?
What are you doing, mate?
I'm getting us a battering ram.
Chalkie, instead of cutting the
phones to a bunch of Catholic flats,
do you not think you should be
cutting down that telephone pole?
The one attached to the barracks
so they can't call for backup?
Aye, she is right,
ya thick fuck.
Ah, fuck off, you.
Who's the redhead?
She's Albert's daughter.
She's a laugh, she is.
- Evening, child.
- Don't call me child,
you jumped-up, wee prick.
You're a year older than I am.
Right. Well
[clears throat]
I just wanted to say,
you know, for a pacifist, you seem
to have a good mind for strategy.
Who said I was a pacifist?
I saw your da at
the Felon's Club.
He said youse were on the
front lines at the peace march.
Lotta good that did us.
We marched, we
sang. It did fuck all.
You know [stammers] some
of the lads were talking strategy.
Doc wanted to
extend an invitation.
Him? He's older than my da.
Aye, but we-we've got a
lot of new blood coming in.
Look, you wanna do something
about our wee apartheid statelet?
The blokes upstairs
are a good place to start.
You gonna take down
the police barracks?
No, we're gonna take
down the government.
They were trying to recruit you?
Aye. You know, I've
been talent scouted?
Like one of those women
who walks down the street,
and some fella from a modeling
agency comes up and goes,
"Hey. I'm sending you to Milan."
- [chuckles]
- Except the only talent I was scouted for,
was rolling bandages
and making fucking tea.
Women's work?
Ah, Gerry tried to spin it.
[Gerry] Everyone needs to
contribute in the special way they can.
This is your chance to be in the room
with the men reshaping this country.
The room next door, you mean?
Listening through the fucking wall.
- That's Dolours--
- No, I'm sorry, Gerry.
The housewives have spoken.
[Older Dolours] You know, if
I wanted to join the Cumann,
I could have asked my mother.
We wanted to be doing
what the boys were doing.
What were the boys doing?
Fundraising.
- [gunshot]
- All of youse on the fucking ground!
All of youse on the
fucking ground now!
Face down, all right?
All right, listen up! We are liberating
funds on behalf of the Provisional IRA.
The army does not
want to hurt no one.
Remember! Our problem
is not with any of you.
It's with her.
You, dickhead. Open
that fucking register now.
Quickly, you specky bastard.
Gorgeous, get
that till open now.
Jesus Christ, sweetheart. You've got
the bluest eyes I think I've ever seen.
You are fucking
stunning-looking.
Thank you very much.
["Go!" playing]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah Yeah, yeah ♪
Sin, sin, it's in the
bin. Let's fucking go!
- [robbers shouting]
- [Chrissie] Are you okay?
[tires squealing in distance]
So, um
I think we'll go to the
grocer next, yeah?
Bluebells are in season.
Aye, Ma.
Let's get bluebells, definitely.
That was Brendan fucking Hughes.
Brendan Hughes. Oh.
Aka The Dark.
He ran D Company back then.
They were the bad bastards.
Well, he definitely
recognized you.
I've seen him around the pub.
He must have remembered me.
Ach. You think
everyone remembers you.
That-That was mad,
right? Wasn't it? I mean
I mean just in and out.
I thought robbing a
bank could be harder.
No, I think it's probably easy.
[soft knocks on door]
Uh. Can one of you give me a
hand with this potting soil, yeah?
You should tell your friend
Brendan to pick better disguises.
Women's tights aren't the most
foolproof means of camouflage.
Especially if one
has a mustache.
He's not
We're not friends, Mommy.
I've just seen him around is all.
Oh.
Would it be a
problem if we were?
What? God, no.
Brendan is a credit
to the cause, he is.
Yet, clearly you don't want me
knocking around with him, so--
I didn't say that. So please
stop putting words in my mouth.
Maybe if you'd said what you meant
every once in a while I wouldn't have to.
Look, watch your mouth.
And that's not fair. Look, I don't
want to argue with you, okay?
I just meant that things
are obviously heating up.
Your da thinks the Brits will
be sending in the army soon.
And they will come
down hard on the IRA.
And your man Brendan's
right out there on the front lines.
I just don't want you to forget the
opportunity you've got at university
because, let me
tell you something,
an education like that
was not an option for me.
- The bloody Unionists wouldn't let me.
- Are you fucking serious, Mommy?
Dolours.
No, no, no, no.
For 18 years, Da's
been yarning on like,
"The-The peelers are crooked, Dolours.
We have to dismantle the state, Dolours."
And you just sat there
nodding your fucking head.
Dolours. Shush.
[door opens]
Look.
I just prefer that if my
daughter does go to university,
she has all four
limbs intact. That's all.
You don't have to
worry about me, Ma.
I have my priorities sorted.
[Bridie] Are those
soldiers still about?
[Dolours] Soldiers?
There are no
soldiers, Auntie Bridie.
I heard them last night.
Rummaging through the bins.
Go tell your da up at the
Felon's. He needs to know.
Okay.
[rattling in the distance]
[rattling]
[rattling continues]
[Marian] What's up?
[rattling]
- Soldiers. At the neighbor's house.
- [soldiers shouting, chattering]
[soldier speaks indistinctly]
What's going on?
They're searching houses.
[clattering continues]
[soldier 1 shouts]
Open up!
Mommy.
British Army! Albert Price!
Wait. No, no. No, no. This is my
house. Get the fuck out-- [grunts]
- Mommy! Mommy! Ma. Ma.
- [soldiers shouting]
- Mom.
- I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.
[soldier 2] Number
10 [shouts indistinctly]
Come to the front door
with nothing in your hands!
[soldier 3] Upstairs.
Check the upstairs.
[whispering] No, no.
Clothes are gone. Must
have done a runner.
Just find the guns.
Where's your daddy gone? Hey?
Where's he hiding the guns?
You tell me where the fuck
he is right now! I swear to God,
I will pull your sister in here and make
a fucking example of her in front of you!
[volume fades] I swear
to God! Tell me now!
[silence]
[Older Dolours]
Even if we had talked,
those men wouldn't have
liked what they heard.
Da fled south over the border
where British law meant nothing.
Others weren't so lucky.
They took old fellas, young fellas,
cripples, drunks. It didn't matter.
Anyone deemed a
threat to the peace,
they were swept up
off the street like that.
[soldiers shouting]
Neat and tidy.
You know, the house got
a lot quieter after he left.
I was surprised how
much I miss my father.
Come on, I'm gonna
be late for school.
You're not going
to fucking school.
[people shouting]
[Dolours whispers]
Let me do the talking.
Our da's on the run. We just
came back from being questioned.
I had that on me the whole time.
The soldiers didn't
even think to look.
[stammers] If you think that
we're just useful serving tea,
then you might be missing
your chance to win this war.
Does their mammy
know they're here?
Nah. They want
her kept out of it.
[in Irish] Thank you.
Let me see if I understand.
You wanna rewrite the
whole operations manual
just because you've
got a famous daddy?
No. Rewrite it because
it was written in '56.
The fight has radically changed.
Aye, but the--
No, no. Listen, respectfully, youse
goaded the Brits into a war, yeah?
And now you're
outmanned 50-to-1.
There's an army of
women in Belfast and Derry
willing to tilt the
odds in your favor.
Any of whom can help
by joining the Cumann.
But you're not listening.
We don't wanna
be rolling bandages.
How about you, Marian? Huh?
Your ma has been with the
Woman's Council 20 years.
You'd honor her
legacy by joining.
- She wants to fight.
- Let her tell us herself.
I guess ever since that march,
I kinda have been thinking maybe the
Women's Council would be good fit, like.
But now internment's on.
And what happens if
tomorrow, all you guys are gone?
Either we sit at home
fiddling with our bandages,
or you can teach us to fight.
Which one of those do you
think's gonna help us win the war?
These two are not for budging.
Better take it up
to the Big Lad.
Sorry, the Big Lad?
Aye, you heard that name a lot.
You know, anyone you
ever talked to, it was always,
"Go and see the Big Lad."
I-I got a sit-down with
the man eventually.
So you're just seriously
not gonna tell me who it is?
All right. Okay. I'll give
you a clue. You know him.
- Right.
- His birthday's in January.
[scoffs]
No, I'm only fucking you about. I
don't know when his birthday is.
Don't tell him I said that.
You're gonna go in here, you're
gonna sit down, you're gonna wait.
He's very particular.
He doesn't like
being seen in public.
He's, uh
He's very intimidated
by good-looking women.
Don't tell him I said
that either. [chuckles]
[chuckles]
I know how to
handle men like that.
All right.
Hey, good luck. This
is where I leave you.
- [chuckles]
- Evening, child.
It's quite a cagey piece of
spycraft you've got there, Gerry.
Brits will never see
past the turtleneck.
Well, I don't have
advantages like some do.
Nice red hair and a
mini skirt, for instance.
Can I take that to mean
you approve of my request?
Aye. Of course, we need women.
They're interning
all the bloody men.
That's exactly what
I've been saying.
The rest of the fellas,
I feel like I'm gonna have to
fucking tie them to their chairs,
put hoods on their heads and read
aloud from the fucking Feminine Mystique.
Luckily, the Chief of Staff's
quite practical about this.
His opinion's all that counts.
[stammers]
That's marvelous then.
You know, they very nearly
let a dog into the army.
It's actually not a bad story.
There was this wee
fellow, Herbo Gibson, right?
What?
It's just, we were talking
about women, Gerry.
Aye. We were. Now I'm
telling you about a dog.
So, this dog, Bo was his name.
And during the riots, you know,
when the lads were throwing stones,
Bo had orders to fetch each
stone, bring it back to the thrower.
And he was quite
a good soldier, Bo.
He always followed orders.
His career was cut short though
when one of the lads threw a nail bomb.
Bo picks it up, brings
it back to his owner.
And now the
rioters all-- all panic.
They're all losing their heads,
jumping behind the
hedges and what have you,
till they hear
the jelly go bang.
When they found Bo's body,
they gave the wee
man a military funeral.
Jesus, Gerry.
Your stories are awful
fucking dreary, mate.
Dolours, all I'm saying
[sighs]
is that being a soldier
is not like your daddy says.
You're more like that dog, Bo.
You follow orders,
you don't ask questions.
And there's a good chance that someone
you love will find your body in the street.
So,
the question, child,
isn't if they'll let you fight.
The question is, are
you sure you want to?
["Go Dig My Grave" playing]
Go dig my grave ♪
[IRA member] Raise your
right hand and repeat after me,
"I, Dolours Price
[IRA member] promise I will promote
the objectives of the Irish Republican Army
to the best of my
knowledge and ability.
promise that I will
promote the objectives
of the Irish Republican Army
to the best of my
knowledge and ability
and that I will
obey all orders
[Dolours] and that
I will obey all orders
[IRA member] issued to me by the
army authority and my superior officers."
- issued to me
- [Older Dolours] issued to me
- by the army authority
- by the army authority
- and my superior officers."
- and my superior officers."
That I died for love ♪
[IRA member] Right then.
You're not to tell
anyone you're IRA.
Not friends,
boyfriends, schoolmates.
Loose talk cost lives.
Understood?
Oh, Lord ♪
Oh, Lordy me ♪
[song fades out]
Have you ever said any of
this on the record before?
No, not explicitly.
- You want to talk about the robberies?
- Aye, I'll talk about the robberies.
The London job?
I'll talk about the
London job, aye.
How about that thing that
happened in Divis Flats?
What thing that
happened in Divis Flats?
A woman was taken.
She never came home.
She was a widow.
A mother of ten.
Her name was Jean McConville.
Want to say anything about that?
You know, one thing I
can say that all my life,
I thought joining the IRA was the
noblest thing a person could do.
["Go Dig My Grave"
fades back in]
She went upstairs ♪
It could be worse, I guess.
How?
Y-You were taught that you were
fighting in the name of the people.
Her mother ♪
Not too shabby, eh?
she went upstairs too ♪
[Older Dolours] That the whole
community was behind you.
You know that every
drop of blood that was shed
was the cost of an unjust war.
You're just moving in?
I cannot tell ♪
You're welcome to
drop by sometime.
That railroad boy ♪
We're the ones in the red door.
That I loved so well ♪
[Older Dolours] That the men
fighting beside you were your brothers,
and that everything
you do together
is for the greater good of
a free and united Ireland.
Welcome to Divis, lad.
He will not stay ♪
Oh, Lordy, Lord Oh, Lordy me ♪
And I think people
should know
Oh, Lord, oh, Lord ♪
that it's all lies.
Oh, Lordy me ♪