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People of Ireland! (1971) was filmed in 1969 - the year from which the
modern 'Troubles' of Northern Ireland are often dated. 'Free Derry' was the name
given to the Nationalist/Catholic areas of the city, particularly the Bogside,
which had been barricaded by their communities to separate themselves from the
apparatus of the Northern Irish and British governments.
Although the issues of housing and employment are familiar from Cinema
Action's films about industrial disputes, here they are subject to sectarianism.
Several men talk about the devastating effects of economic migration and the
Catch-22 of being barred from work on religious grounds in Northern Ireland and
on racial grounds in England.
There is an attack on the influence of the Church throughout the film,
sustained by various interviewees and through devices such as a call to guard
the barricades being heard over scenes of a congregation. The film's position
seeks to divorce identification of working-class interests with differences of
creed. In 1969, the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA split, partly because
the latter had adopted a similarly Marxist analysis.
The film calls on all workers to support the creation of a socialist republic
in Ireland. In this respect, Free Derry is portrayed as exemplary but a warning
is contained in the film's end, when elements of the Derry Defence Association
broker a compromise deal to disband the barricades after the Prime Minister's
visit.
The graffiti and murals are particularly memorable among the indelible images
and sounds of the Bogside. The sudden appearance of them at several points works
to advance the film's thesis. The giant message "you are now entering Free
Derry" has become the most famous of them. The house on which it was painted has
been demolished but the wall still exists as a political monument.
Kieron Webb
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Extract 1. (7:24)
