My involvement in creative works, political education, and academia began during my period of incarceration as a political prisoner in the H-blocks of Long Kesh/Maze prison (1976-1992). Following my release from prison, I completed a doctoral thesis at Queen’s University, Belfast.
I co-wrote a feature film, H3, based on the 1981 hunger strike in the prison, which I participated in (for 70 days) and during which 10 prisoners died. I then began to work as a playwright, using full-length plays and bespoke theatre to explore issues concerning the legacy of the conflict in the North of Ireland.
I was Coordinator of the Aftermath project (www.aftermath-ireland.com), funded by the EU PEACE III programme, based in Co Louth & Newry/South Armagh 2012-2015. In the project I used the arts (film, photography, creative writing, and music) to engage with victims/survivors of the conflict (including ‘Families of the Disappeared’), former IRA volunteers, former members of the RUC, British Army, Irish Defence Forces, journalists, and people displaced by the conflict in Ireland and internationally.
I co-founded the Belfast Film Festival in 1995 when it began as the West Belfast Film Festival before expanding to become citywide in 2000. I was Chairperson of the festival from its inception in 1995 until 2005 and remain on the board of management. I was a member of the Board of Northern Ireland Screen, the main funding body for filmmaking in Northern Ireland, from 2012-2018.
Since 2008 I have worked as a writer, playwright, filmmaker, independent researcher, and as an associate consultant with Diversity Challenges.
Books that I've written and had published:
2021 Time Shadows. A prison memoir 1976-1981: Belfast: Beyond the Pale Books.
2018 Threads. Debut collection of poetry. Clare, Ireland: Salmon Poetry.
2006 I arose this morning…: A biography of Bobby Sands for Younger Readers. Co-authored with Denis O’ Hearn. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications.
2006 D’éirigh mé ar maidin...: Beathaisnéis Roibeaird Uí Sheachnasaigh do Léitheoirí Níos Óige. A biography of Bobby Sands for Younger Readers. Co-authored with Denis O’ Hearn. Dublin: Coiseim.
2001 Out of Time. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications.
Book chapters I've written for other publications:
2021 ‘Mickey Devine’. In Comrades, Belfast, An Fhuiseog.
2021 ‘So much went unspoken’. In Norma Hashim and Yousef M. Aljamal (eds.) A Shared Struggle, Belfast, An Fhuiseog.
2021 ‘Aftermath: The role of the arts in dealing with the legacy of conflict’. In Lesley Lelourec and Grainne O’Keefe-Vigneron (eds.) Northern Ireland After The Good Friday Agreement: Building A Shared Future From A Troubled Past? Reimagining Ireland Volume 99, Oxford, UK, Peter Lang.
2020 ‘A Moment That Changed History’. In Alison Garden and Margaret M. Scull (eds.) The Irish Review, Cork, Cork University Press.
2020 ‘From D102 to Paulo Freire: an Irish Journey’. In Rod Earle and James Mehigan (eds.) Degrees of Freedom: Prison Education at the Open University. Bristol. Policy Press.
2008 ‘An afternoon in September 1983’. In Phil Scraton and Jude McCulloch’s (eds.) The Violence of Incarceration. London: Routledge.
Screen and theatre
2023 Dee Hub
Writer/Director
Funded by Create Louth. A short film looking at the work of Dee Hub youth project in Ardee, Co Louth and seeing the world through the eyes of several young, male participants in the project.
2022 Nowhere to Hide: Clann Naofa Boxing Academy
Writer/Director
Funded by Creative Louth. A short film about Clann Naofa Boxing Academy, Dundalk, Co Louth which was established in 2004 by Jim O’Neill, formerly of the Lower Falls, Belfast. Jim’s aim was to provide an opportunity for young people from the sprawling working-class estate which was greatly lacking in facilities. In the intervening years Jim not only helped train Katie Taylor and Katie Harrington but produced his own local champions, Deárbhla Tinnelly and Evelyn Igharo.
2021 Before You Go
Playwright
Written as part of the ‘From Oriel to Brexit’ project funded under the EU PEACE IV-Programme. The project used the arts (theatre, music, creative writing and photography) to look at how to deal with the legacy of the past. Before You Go was written as part of that project.
2020 Schedule 24 Section 3
Writer
Commissioned by The Playhouse, Derry. A short film that examines the impact of Police ‘stop and search’ procedures.
2019 Something in the Air
Playwright
Commissioned by Brassneck Theatre Company, Belfast, the play looks back at the burning of Bombay Street, Belfast in August 1969 which led to thousands of Catholic/nationalists fleeing from their homes and becoming refugees across the border in the Republic of Ireland. Seen through the eyes of Rosie Murray 50 years later, we discover that she lost more than just her home which was burned to the ground; she also lost her innocence. Fifty years later, as she recounts events of that period with Lauren Walsh, a former banker from Dublin who now works on behalf of refugees and migrants, Rosie is confronted with the events of that summer of ’69 in a manner that she could never have imagined.
2019 In the Shadow of Gullion
Writer and Director
Commissioned by The Playhouse, Derry, funded under the EU Peace IV programme. A live multi-media event using film, sound, theatre, music, song, and narration to show how South Armagh, an area designated as one of natural beauty, is rich in folklore, culture, and tradition but has also suffered strife and conflict over many centuries.
2016 Green & Blue
Playwright
Commissioned by Diversity Challenges and produced by Kabosh Theatre Green & Blue explores the painful and humorous realities faced by individuals who patrolled the border during the height of the conflict. Based on an oral archive of serving RUC and An Garda Síochána officers, collected by Diversity Challenges, the production fuses theatre and film to look at the person behind the uniform and the different experiences of two individuals on either side of a line in the ground. Directed by Paula McFetridge and performed by James Doran and Vincent Higgins the play premiered in 2016 as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival. It has been on tour every year since. It opened the Dresden Arts Festival in June 2017 and was performed in Paris at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in February 2018 before commencing yet another tour in Ireland. In 2017 I was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Award for Green and Blue. In 2023 it was on tour in Ireland, England, the US, and Canada.
2016 Cherish all the children of the nation equally
Writer and Director
A multi-media pageant incorporating song, music, film, and theatre exploring the origins of the 1916 Irish Proclamation and its relevance today in particular its reference to‘cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.’ Directed by Paula McFetridge and produced by Kabosh Theatre Company.
2014 Those you pass on the Street
Playwright
Commissioned by Healing Through Remembering and produced by Kabosh Theatre. Those you pass on the Street explores the complexities of dealing with the legacy of a conflict that was very personalised and local. It contrasts party political positioning on any agreed way to deal with the legacy of that conflict with the individual needs and human interaction that has already begun at a personal level. Most importantly it challenges the view that any mechanism for dealing with the past is simply about ‘whose side gets what’ and shows that there is a need not just for inter-community but also intra-community engagement and reconciliation.
Those you pass on the street toured to almost 50 venues across Ireland and in July 2016 was selected as part of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown – the largest and oldest arts festival in South Africa. In 2016 South Africa celebrated a number of anniversaries: the 20th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the 40th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising; and the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Charter. As part of the theatre section of the festival programme there was a focus on the theme of ‘dealing with the past’ and looking at how various countries had approached this. The festival also wanted to explore the role that the arts had played in that process. Those You Pass on the Street was the only play chosen from Ireland. The play then went on Rwanda to be performed as part of the Ubumuntu Arts Festival at the site of the monument to the victims of genocide in their country. In June 2017 it was performed as part of the Dresden Arts Festival, Germany.
2014 You were never big on luxuries: Art, Life and Conflict.
Writer and Director, documentary film (60 mins)
A documentary film that looks at how artists, political activists, academics, and those tasked with providing funding for the arts regard the role that the arts have played in dealing with the conflict in the north of Ireland and the legacy of that conflict.
2014 Bhí mé ann: I was there
Writer
A series of 6 documentary films (26 mins) broadcast in the spring/summer of 2015 on Ireland’s TG4 (http://www.tg4.tv) and RTÉ (http://www.rte.ie). The programmes recount the experiences of a wide range of people who lived through the conflict in the north of Ireland. The broadcast programmes are part of a wider project including radio programmes and archival interviews part of the Glórtha Aduaidh: Northern Voices project funded under the EU PEACE III Programme.
2013 Two Roads West: Derry
Playwright
A site-specific drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company and performed in a moving black taxi as part of the Derry City of Culture programme.
2013 Built to Contain
Playwright
A radio play developed with people with convictions in NI. Through a series of intense workshops over a one-week period stories were gathered to produce a unique 26-minute play exploring life in prison including daily routines, power systems, small acts of rebellion, communication with the world beyond the walls and imaginary escapism. I then wrote the play in one week along with Artistic Director, Paula McFetridge. The third week the play was rehearsed with the participants in the workshops then recorded live in the basement of the old Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast. The play is an integral part of the Corners Europe artistic project - a platform for artists and audiences, designed and driven by cultural organisations at the fringes of Europe including; Stockholm, Donostia/San Sebastián, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Rijeka, Belgrade, Gdańsk, Bari and Belfast. The programme creates opportunities for artists and researchers to collaborate internationally on multidisciplinary artistic and cultural projects and share them with audiences and communities in arts events across Europe.
2013 Aftermath – the exhibition
Writer and Director of 16 short (12-minute) films for the Aftermath exhibition (www.diversity-challenges.com/aftermath- project).
The films feature interviews with a range of people who tell their story of engagement in the conflict, who were displaced by it, or who had relatives killed in it. The exhibition was part of the Aftermath project funded by Louth Peace and Reconciliation Partnership as awarded under Peace III.
2012 Life as an interface
Writer and Director, documentary film (45 mins)
Commissioned by the Community Relations Council of Northern Ireland.
The film is based on the Skegoneill Glandore Common Purpose (SGCP) project which sits on the interface between Skegoneill and Glandore in North Belfast. It has no ‘peace wall’ to separate the communities but contains the same mix of population that in other areas has meant the erection of a wall, many of which have gone up post ‘the peace process’. The chair of the group is an American woman who is now resident in the area and has worked in community development in Belfast for many years. The vice-chair is a former loyalist life-sentence prisoner; two of the staff recently employed are from a republican background. All are committed to ensuring the success of the project. And all have their own lives outside of the project.
2010 Bespoke Theatre for Political Tourism: ‘Reports from War-Torn Belfast’ and ‘Winnie and William’
Playwright
Two 10-minute dramas commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast on behalf of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Failte Feirste Thiar and in partnership with Coiste na nIarchimí and TaxiTrax tours. Performed at Easter 2010. To be revived in August 2010 as part of Féile an Phobail.
2009 Two Roads West
Playwright
A site-specific drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company and performed in a moving black taxi during the Cathedral Quarter Festival 7th – 10th May. Sixteen sold-out performances for 80 people. The production was revived during Féile an Phobail 30th July – 8th August, where 24 performances were held for 120 people.
2009 Bespoke Theatre for Cultural Tourism: HMS Belfast and RMS Olympic
Playwright
Two 20 minute monologues commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast on behalf of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Performed at the Tall Ships exhibition 14-16 August. Approximately 42 performances each. To be revived in October 2009 for NITB board and visitor event.
2008 Bespoke Theatre: Dealing with the Past
Playwright
Thirty minute drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast (December 2008). Addresses pertinent issue of victims and survivors for the Relatives for Justice AGM. Presented in Fall’s Road Library prior to Eames/Bradley report. One performance for 120 traditional non-theatregoers.
2008 Bespoke Theatre: Whatever you say, say Something
Playwright
Six 10-minute pieces commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast (June 2008). Performed at the Healing Through Remembering (HTR) conference Whatever You Say, Say Something, the Baby Grand @ Grand Opera House. Broad range of controversial issues explored including the need for individuals to engage in proactive discussion. One performance for 220 traditional non-theatre-goers.
I co-wrote a feature film, H3, based on the 1981 hunger strike in the prison, which I participated in (for 70 days) and during which 10 prisoners died. I then began to work as a playwright, using full-length plays and bespoke theatre to explore issues concerning the legacy of the conflict in the North of Ireland.
I was Coordinator of the Aftermath project (www.aftermath-ireland.com), funded by the EU PEACE III programme, based in Co Louth & Newry/South Armagh 2012-2015. In the project I used the arts (film, photography, creative writing, and music) to engage with victims/survivors of the conflict (including ‘Families of the Disappeared’), former IRA volunteers, former members of the RUC, British Army, Irish Defence Forces, journalists, and people displaced by the conflict in Ireland and internationally.
I co-founded the Belfast Film Festival in 1995 when it began as the West Belfast Film Festival before expanding to become citywide in 2000. I was Chairperson of the festival from its inception in 1995 until 2005 and remain on the board of management. I was a member of the Board of Northern Ireland Screen, the main funding body for filmmaking in Northern Ireland, from 2012-2018.
Since 2008 I have worked as a writer, playwright, filmmaker, independent researcher, and as an associate consultant with Diversity Challenges.
Books that I've written and had published:
2021 Time Shadows. A prison memoir 1976-1981: Belfast: Beyond the Pale Books.
2018 Threads. Debut collection of poetry. Clare, Ireland: Salmon Poetry.
2006 I arose this morning…: A biography of Bobby Sands for Younger Readers. Co-authored with Denis O’ Hearn. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications.
2006 D’éirigh mé ar maidin...: Beathaisnéis Roibeaird Uí Sheachnasaigh do Léitheoirí Níos Óige. A biography of Bobby Sands for Younger Readers. Co-authored with Denis O’ Hearn. Dublin: Coiseim.
2001 Out of Time. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications.
Book chapters I've written for other publications:
2021 ‘Mickey Devine’. In Comrades, Belfast, An Fhuiseog.
2021 ‘So much went unspoken’. In Norma Hashim and Yousef M. Aljamal (eds.) A Shared Struggle, Belfast, An Fhuiseog.
2021 ‘Aftermath: The role of the arts in dealing with the legacy of conflict’. In Lesley Lelourec and Grainne O’Keefe-Vigneron (eds.) Northern Ireland After The Good Friday Agreement: Building A Shared Future From A Troubled Past? Reimagining Ireland Volume 99, Oxford, UK, Peter Lang.
2020 ‘A Moment That Changed History’. In Alison Garden and Margaret M. Scull (eds.) The Irish Review, Cork, Cork University Press.
2020 ‘From D102 to Paulo Freire: an Irish Journey’. In Rod Earle and James Mehigan (eds.) Degrees of Freedom: Prison Education at the Open University. Bristol. Policy Press.
2008 ‘An afternoon in September 1983’. In Phil Scraton and Jude McCulloch’s (eds.) The Violence of Incarceration. London: Routledge.
Screen and theatre
2023 Dee Hub
Writer/Director
Funded by Create Louth. A short film looking at the work of Dee Hub youth project in Ardee, Co Louth and seeing the world through the eyes of several young, male participants in the project.
2022 Nowhere to Hide: Clann Naofa Boxing Academy
Writer/Director
Funded by Creative Louth. A short film about Clann Naofa Boxing Academy, Dundalk, Co Louth which was established in 2004 by Jim O’Neill, formerly of the Lower Falls, Belfast. Jim’s aim was to provide an opportunity for young people from the sprawling working-class estate which was greatly lacking in facilities. In the intervening years Jim not only helped train Katie Taylor and Katie Harrington but produced his own local champions, Deárbhla Tinnelly and Evelyn Igharo.
2021 Before You Go
Playwright
Written as part of the ‘From Oriel to Brexit’ project funded under the EU PEACE IV-Programme. The project used the arts (theatre, music, creative writing and photography) to look at how to deal with the legacy of the past. Before You Go was written as part of that project.
2020 Schedule 24 Section 3
Writer
Commissioned by The Playhouse, Derry. A short film that examines the impact of Police ‘stop and search’ procedures.
2019 Something in the Air
Playwright
Commissioned by Brassneck Theatre Company, Belfast, the play looks back at the burning of Bombay Street, Belfast in August 1969 which led to thousands of Catholic/nationalists fleeing from their homes and becoming refugees across the border in the Republic of Ireland. Seen through the eyes of Rosie Murray 50 years later, we discover that she lost more than just her home which was burned to the ground; she also lost her innocence. Fifty years later, as she recounts events of that period with Lauren Walsh, a former banker from Dublin who now works on behalf of refugees and migrants, Rosie is confronted with the events of that summer of ’69 in a manner that she could never have imagined.
2019 In the Shadow of Gullion
Writer and Director
Commissioned by The Playhouse, Derry, funded under the EU Peace IV programme. A live multi-media event using film, sound, theatre, music, song, and narration to show how South Armagh, an area designated as one of natural beauty, is rich in folklore, culture, and tradition but has also suffered strife and conflict over many centuries.
2016 Green & Blue
Playwright
Commissioned by Diversity Challenges and produced by Kabosh Theatre Green & Blue explores the painful and humorous realities faced by individuals who patrolled the border during the height of the conflict. Based on an oral archive of serving RUC and An Garda Síochána officers, collected by Diversity Challenges, the production fuses theatre and film to look at the person behind the uniform and the different experiences of two individuals on either side of a line in the ground. Directed by Paula McFetridge and performed by James Doran and Vincent Higgins the play premiered in 2016 as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival. It has been on tour every year since. It opened the Dresden Arts Festival in June 2017 and was performed in Paris at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in February 2018 before commencing yet another tour in Ireland. In 2017 I was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Award for Green and Blue. In 2023 it was on tour in Ireland, England, the US, and Canada.
2016 Cherish all the children of the nation equally
Writer and Director
A multi-media pageant incorporating song, music, film, and theatre exploring the origins of the 1916 Irish Proclamation and its relevance today in particular its reference to‘cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.’ Directed by Paula McFetridge and produced by Kabosh Theatre Company.
2014 Those you pass on the Street
Playwright
Commissioned by Healing Through Remembering and produced by Kabosh Theatre. Those you pass on the Street explores the complexities of dealing with the legacy of a conflict that was very personalised and local. It contrasts party political positioning on any agreed way to deal with the legacy of that conflict with the individual needs and human interaction that has already begun at a personal level. Most importantly it challenges the view that any mechanism for dealing with the past is simply about ‘whose side gets what’ and shows that there is a need not just for inter-community but also intra-community engagement and reconciliation.
Those you pass on the street toured to almost 50 venues across Ireland and in July 2016 was selected as part of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown – the largest and oldest arts festival in South Africa. In 2016 South Africa celebrated a number of anniversaries: the 20th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the 40th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising; and the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Charter. As part of the theatre section of the festival programme there was a focus on the theme of ‘dealing with the past’ and looking at how various countries had approached this. The festival also wanted to explore the role that the arts had played in that process. Those You Pass on the Street was the only play chosen from Ireland. The play then went on Rwanda to be performed as part of the Ubumuntu Arts Festival at the site of the monument to the victims of genocide in their country. In June 2017 it was performed as part of the Dresden Arts Festival, Germany.
2014 You were never big on luxuries: Art, Life and Conflict.
Writer and Director, documentary film (60 mins)
A documentary film that looks at how artists, political activists, academics, and those tasked with providing funding for the arts regard the role that the arts have played in dealing with the conflict in the north of Ireland and the legacy of that conflict.
2014 Bhí mé ann: I was there
Writer
A series of 6 documentary films (26 mins) broadcast in the spring/summer of 2015 on Ireland’s TG4 (http://www.tg4.tv) and RTÉ (http://www.rte.ie). The programmes recount the experiences of a wide range of people who lived through the conflict in the north of Ireland. The broadcast programmes are part of a wider project including radio programmes and archival interviews part of the Glórtha Aduaidh: Northern Voices project funded under the EU PEACE III Programme.
2013 Two Roads West: Derry
Playwright
A site-specific drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company and performed in a moving black taxi as part of the Derry City of Culture programme.
2013 Built to Contain
Playwright
A radio play developed with people with convictions in NI. Through a series of intense workshops over a one-week period stories were gathered to produce a unique 26-minute play exploring life in prison including daily routines, power systems, small acts of rebellion, communication with the world beyond the walls and imaginary escapism. I then wrote the play in one week along with Artistic Director, Paula McFetridge. The third week the play was rehearsed with the participants in the workshops then recorded live in the basement of the old Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast. The play is an integral part of the Corners Europe artistic project - a platform for artists and audiences, designed and driven by cultural organisations at the fringes of Europe including; Stockholm, Donostia/San Sebastián, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Rijeka, Belgrade, Gdańsk, Bari and Belfast. The programme creates opportunities for artists and researchers to collaborate internationally on multidisciplinary artistic and cultural projects and share them with audiences and communities in arts events across Europe.
2013 Aftermath – the exhibition
Writer and Director of 16 short (12-minute) films for the Aftermath exhibition (www.diversity-challenges.com/aftermath- project).
The films feature interviews with a range of people who tell their story of engagement in the conflict, who were displaced by it, or who had relatives killed in it. The exhibition was part of the Aftermath project funded by Louth Peace and Reconciliation Partnership as awarded under Peace III.
2012 Life as an interface
Writer and Director, documentary film (45 mins)
Commissioned by the Community Relations Council of Northern Ireland.
The film is based on the Skegoneill Glandore Common Purpose (SGCP) project which sits on the interface between Skegoneill and Glandore in North Belfast. It has no ‘peace wall’ to separate the communities but contains the same mix of population that in other areas has meant the erection of a wall, many of which have gone up post ‘the peace process’. The chair of the group is an American woman who is now resident in the area and has worked in community development in Belfast for many years. The vice-chair is a former loyalist life-sentence prisoner; two of the staff recently employed are from a republican background. All are committed to ensuring the success of the project. And all have their own lives outside of the project.
2010 Bespoke Theatre for Political Tourism: ‘Reports from War-Torn Belfast’ and ‘Winnie and William’
Playwright
Two 10-minute dramas commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast on behalf of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Failte Feirste Thiar and in partnership with Coiste na nIarchimí and TaxiTrax tours. Performed at Easter 2010. To be revived in August 2010 as part of Féile an Phobail.
2009 Two Roads West
Playwright
A site-specific drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company and performed in a moving black taxi during the Cathedral Quarter Festival 7th – 10th May. Sixteen sold-out performances for 80 people. The production was revived during Féile an Phobail 30th July – 8th August, where 24 performances were held for 120 people.
2009 Bespoke Theatre for Cultural Tourism: HMS Belfast and RMS Olympic
Playwright
Two 20 minute monologues commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast on behalf of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Performed at the Tall Ships exhibition 14-16 August. Approximately 42 performances each. To be revived in October 2009 for NITB board and visitor event.
2008 Bespoke Theatre: Dealing with the Past
Playwright
Thirty minute drama commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast (December 2008). Addresses pertinent issue of victims and survivors for the Relatives for Justice AGM. Presented in Fall’s Road Library prior to Eames/Bradley report. One performance for 120 traditional non-theatregoers.
2008 Bespoke Theatre: Whatever you say, say Something
Playwright
Six 10-minute pieces commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast (June 2008). Performed at the Healing Through Remembering (HTR) conference Whatever You Say, Say Something, the Baby Grand @ Grand Opera House. Broad range of controversial issues explored including the need for individuals to engage in proactive discussion. One performance for 220 traditional non-theatre-goers.