(2019) As I, and many other Irish people watched and continue to watch Brexit drag on it became obvious that there was and still is a real lack of consideration and understanding towards the relationship between Ireland and England.
The 2016 Brexit vote and the years that followed appeared to completely undermine the ’98 Good Friday agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland. 21 years of Peace. A fleeting moment in history said with such weight locally that it highlights the significance of such a short amount of time within the tumultuous and complex history between Ireland and England, riddled by conflict and violence.
The vote came to highlight how little people seemed to know or care for this history in England, particularly those in government. The Face commissioned me to make a film in Derry. We wanted to make a film hearing from the youth that were raised in peace, the generation that grew up since the Good Friday agreement and hear from them about what was going on as Brexit poked the coals of a diminishing, vicious fire.
While making the film and despite having a dissolved government, young activists carrying on the work of those laid for generations before finally saw gay marriage legalised in the North; a right granted to people in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales many years before. It made me incredibly proud that despite being denied of this progress shared with the countries who’s governments look after them, the people in the North of Ireland had continued to harness their resilience in fighting for what they stood for.