| Description | Interview with Oliver Kennedy from Londonderry. He discusses the state of the economy and industry of Northern Ireland, comparing the west and east of the province, and the decline of Derry as a port. He thinks that industrialists make decisions based on the needs of business, admits that unemployment is high in Derry, but thinks that this is partly due to its geographical position at the periphery of Europe. He talks about the volume of emigration from the area, the need for the city centre to be rebuilt, and his faith in the authorities to implement change. He acknowledges that post war housing policy has separated communities but thinks that this is the will of the people themselves rather than the planners, because they want to have their own communities (tracks 1-3).
Interview with a group of women who are members of the tenants association in the Fountain Street area. They talk about the formation of the association and its aim to try and get housing improvements, the housing conditions they are living in, the outcome of the association's meetings with the Development Commission and the difficulties with older people not wanting to move out of the area. One of the women is keen to move away from the area because of the unrest caused by marches through the area. She emphasises that the most important issue in Derry is housing and says that it is not only the Catholic community that live in poor housing. Another woman, secretary of the tenants association, joins the conversation. She states that the association includes Catholics as well as Protestants and explains the plans for redevelopment and rehousing, and the disappearance of the murals when the area is redeveloped. The women think that the older people in the area have more of an association with the murals than they do, but they enjoy decorating the streets for Apprentice Boys parades on 12th August. They disagree with suggestions that such parades are a provocation and remember parades in their childhood and the celebrations that surrounded them. They hope they will be able to repaint their houses as they wish, want Fountain Street to remain a Protestant area and talk about the fear and tension they felt during times of disturbance and being threatened by Catholics from the Bogside. They talk about their loyalty to British rule, the provocation of the Union Jack for the Catholic community, and discuss their friendships with Catholics. A man thinks that recent developments have caused problems for cross community relations, and blames the civil rights movement for stirring up tensions. They talk about the 5th October 1968 demonstration being banned by the government and the rioting that surrounded the event, and give their views about the reasons for the rioting. They talk about the changes in their friendships with Catholics since the beginning of the disturbances associated with the civil rights movement, and their support for the police and the soldiers during the Troubles. They discuss the use and understanding of the word 'Fenian', the insistence of the Catholic community to run their own schools, and the attendance of some Catholic children at Protestant schools (tracks 4-16).
Total: 32.52 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF571E0550380 |