Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland

1968: tensions between Catholic and Protestant communities explode after decades of relative peace. Hopes of equality are lost as a civil rights movement is suppressed. The British Army is deployed. Northern Ireland descends into conflict.

By 1972 a deeply segregated society has emerged. The violence has escalated and the British Army are constant presence. Catholic and Protestant working-class communities find themselves policed by rival paramilitary organizations.

The devastating impact of the IRA hunger strikes are seen through the eyes of three ordinary but remarkable women. Tit for tat killings, car bombs and assassinations are now part of everyday life in Northern Ireland.

14 bloody days in March 1988 mark a new level of harrowing savagery. Tensions rise as the British police and army infiltrate all paramilitary organizations to gain intelligence. No one can be trusted as fear and suspicion run rife.

In 1993 a bomb on a busy Saturday leads to a week of gruesome tit for tat violence. There have been many false dawns before, but finally the desire for change propels the possibility of peace for the next generation. But at what cost?