The Long March - first glance

After ten years in England, Doreen Hepburn returns to her native Belfast at the height of the Maze prison "dirty protests" to find her local councillor father (James Ellis) being hounded by the locals for not being seen to give the prisoners enough support in their demands for special status.

Almost immediately she becomes involved in political activities surrounding the hunger strike of IRA members in the Maze prison in 1979-1980. She observes that IRA violence may be directed against the innocent, like her father, an ardent union supporter and concludes, "sometimes, I get so tired of the weight of being Irish".

The story of her journey through the city reaches its climax at the height of the first hunger strike...
Filming took place during the spring 1984 and the film was broadcast on BBC 1 in November 1984 to 11 miilions viewers.

Filming on location in the Falls Road area caused a great deal of tension with residents, especially the staging of a 'bin banger' (noisy protest march) outside a councillor's home. Won the Samuel Beckett Award. Adapted for radio in 1986.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Ciaran Hinds
• Irish Hunger strike
• Irish stories
• ciaranhinds.eu
• Anne Devlin
• Tony Doyle
• Adrian Dunbar
• James Ellis
• Marcella Riordan
• Chris Parr