The Men:
Danny

He was 16 when the film was shot and provides a thoughtful and honest voice throughout.

Danny talks about the issues that still face him and others of his generation. He points out that the conflict is no longer about being Protestant and Catholic; but whether you feel affiliated to a united Ireland or the United Kingdom.

Despite the weight of the legacy of The Troubles on him and others his age, Danny feels hopeful for the future. He doesn’t necessarily know which country he belongs to, but he feels rooted in Belfast and is proud of the progress it has made.

We met Danny, through his dad Ken. Ken had introduced us to Billy earlier in the year and we’d met up with him a few times for cups of tea. I’d eaten dinner with the family on several occasions  and I’d come to know the family well. Ken knew that we were making a film about Northern Ireland and the legacy of conflict on the people who live there today and he suggested that we talk to his son Danny if we wanted a young person’s perspective.

Danny had an amazing wisdom and sense of himself from the moment we met him. He was at a stage in his life where he was working things out, making sense of the things happening around him. The troubles were over when he was born and the Good Friday Agreement had been signed but for Danny  and his friends the troubles were in many ways still very present. Young people he knew were still affiliating with either nationalist or loyalist values but at the same time he talked about his friends from the ’other side’ and was conscious of how this statement alone blurred what it meant to be from the ‘other’ side and confused the boundaries of difference.

Friends of Danny’s still speak about what side they were on and the issues that divided communities 20 years ago were still dividing communities today he said. Danny talked a lot about working class values, social and political deprivation and the issues facing young people in Northern Ireland today, particularly drugs and suicide. He identified that the organisation leaders were still in charge of the drugs scene and this was making it very dangerous for young people growing up in inner city Belfast and Derry today.

Danny himself has a mixed background (as it turned out did many people when you went back a couple of generations) his parents were from a protestant background but he had grown up just off the Ormeau Road so feels affiliated much more with the nationalist values that he has grown up around. It was confusing he said. He is trying to distill all these conflicting thoughts and emotions, whilst growing into a man. Danny stands out in the film as a voice of the future. He is thoughtful and wise despite his youth, he is certainly not naive and his perspective feels both hopeful and like a warning that peace in Northern Ireland must be nurtured if it is to continue.