I was looking through photography taken during The Troubles and they reminded me of stories my Dad told me over the summer about growing up during the conflict. For example, coming home to his flat after there was a bombing and finding things smashed or broken everywhere, or him and his mates on nights out and being kicked out of the club to wait on the streets until the place was searched for bombs, before re-entering and carrying on with the night.
There’s something to be said for the resilience shown by the people of Northern Ireland. As someone who narrowly missed the worst of this lifestyle, I find it shocking but in some regards, quite amazing, how everyone carried on with normal life with all of this horror happening around them. I can only imagine what it was like, never mind the lasting effects it must have on those generations. I’m curious to find out what exactly these effects are, if they still apply today and even if they’ve trickled down to my own generation in some way…
These photos really put into perspective what I’ve said about people getting on with things, because I suppose, what else were they to do?
time to change 