"(CHILDREN LAUGHING)" "(JEEPS APPROACHING)" "(CHILDREN CHATTERING)" "(DOGS BARKING)" "(SOLDIER WHISTLING)" "Morning, sir." "Do you mind pulling in just over there?" " Why, what's happening?" " Nothing, just routine." "All right." "Go on ahead." "Just routine overtime for you boys in the 12th." " Morning, sir." " Hi there." "Will you switch your engine off for me, please, sir?" "(ENGINE STOPS)" " Do I know you?" " Don't think so." "Where from?" " Have you got a sister?" " Aye." "Big?" "Have you any form of identification on you, please, sir?" "I have indeed." " Where you coming from, sir?" " Newtownards Road." " And where you going to?" " I'm on my way up to Lisburn." "Here, here, here, be careful." " Is this your vehicle, then, sir?" " It is, aye." "Can you tell me the registration number of it?" "GIJ..." "No, no, no, no." "That was the Avenger." "I know." "WOI 6234." "6243." "Oh, very good, did you read that all by yourself?" "What about your identification, sir?" "(PAPERS CRINKLING)" "That's my name there." " Auction rooms?" " Aye, it's a docket." " Mr McKay." " McCoy." "Wrong foot, son." " What your first name, Mr McCoy?" " Edward." "What's your present address?" "51 Bright Street." "Do you know it?" " I do, aye." " Good." "I was beginning to wonder." " How long have you lived there?" " Since I was born, son." "And what's your date of birth?" "Eleventh of November, 1948." "Just wait here a minute, please, Mr McCoy." " Is this an ambulance, then?" " Aye, that wee shite will be in it if he's not careful." "Watch your mouth." "Edward McCoy, 51 Bright Street." "You're sure it's not Seamus McCann, eh?" "I wouldn't be surprised." " Have you got a DOB on him?" " Eleventh of November, 1948." "Och aye, well, get him out of that heap" " and take a wee shufty round the back." " Aye, right." "Right." "Can I be on my way now?" "Will you step out of your vehicle, Mr McCoy?" "And bring your keys with you." " Will you move to the rear of the..." " Aye, I know." "Zero car check." "Alpha Charlie niner zero six." "A red Bedford van, registration number" "Whisky Oscar India 6243, over." " Whose side are you on, anyway?" " What do you mean?" "This country's coming down with people trying to blow our heads off, and you're bothering one of your own." " What's in the parcel?" " What parcel?" "Will you lift it out for me?" "That parcel?" "If I try and take that parcel out of there, the whole lot's gonna come clattering down." "I think it should be all right." "McCOY:" "Now listen, lad, this'll be on your head, you know." "What's in it?" "Do you know what you are, son?" "You are an Ulsterman." "Do you know what it means to be an Ulsterman?" "An Ulster man?" "Do you realise that our forefathers, I don't mean your da and I, or your da's da." "We, you and me, and him, we are direct descendents of an ancient race of Ulster people." "We have been here in Ulster since before the time of Jesus Christ himself." "We heroes of Ulster have been defending ourselves against those so-called Irish men for a million years." "More." "They're always telling us about the plantation, us getting brought here from Scotland." "Bollocks." "We were here first." "We came from here." "We went to Scotland and then we came back again." "So it was our country in the first place, Ulster." "Will you just tell me what's in the parcel?" "I don't know what's in the parcel." "That's how Scotland got it's name, you know." "Scotty." "I don't mean like the wee dogs or the hankies you blow your nose with." "We had our own language once." "Nothing to do with that Gaelic mumbo jumbo." "It was the language of the people of Ulster." "There you are now." " Have you got anything on him yet?" " Not at all." "Jammed up to the hilt." " This bastard's nuts." " Is that right?" "Do you know how many presidents the people of the Province of Ulster gave the United States of America?" "Thirteen." " Was it not 12?" " No, 13." "Pre-partition, including Donegal." " Can you name any of them?" " Can you?" "Certainly can, lad." "What's his name?" "Wilson, Woodland Wilson." "(SOLDIER SNICKERING)" " Franklin Roosevelt." " Theodore Roosevelt." " Was it?" " Right, sir." " You can pack up your vehicle." " Good." "Finally got yourself sorted out, then?" "I can be on my way up the road." "Take a look at that there." "Frig me." "Thank you." " You can close up your vehicle." " All right." "What about South Africa, the Somme?" "Where would the British people be without the Ulster man?" "Who was it fought the hordes up the Khyber Pass?" "You see those Fenian bastards, if they don't like it here, they can clear off over the border." "But you see when they get there, they'll still be Ulstermen." "They might not realise it, but they will." "They're brainwashed, you see." "Give them two years down there, they'll be crawling back up here looking at our dole money, that our hard work and taxes is paying for." "We're not scroungers, you know, breeding like a bunch of rabbits." "Why do you have a rabbit in your van, Mr McCoy?" "Oh, I have to keep that in there." " BILLY:" "Why's that?" " It goes for the other ones." " How many have you got?" " I have three." "I've an albino, you know the ones with the wee pink eyes?" " Oh." " You see that one there, it goes for it, vicious wee shite, so it is." "What makes it vicious?" "Why is anyone vicious, son?" "What maketh one man different from another?" "Do you mistreat your rabbit?" "Certainly not." "I love that rabbit." "I'm glad to hear it." "I'm sure he loves you, too." "McCOY:" "I know he does." "(SOLDIERS CHATTERING)" "Here, cop hold of that." " What's this mucker?" " Toast and paté." "Hey, Billy, do you know what you are?" "You are an Ulster man." "(BILLY SIGHING)" "Honest to God, you'd think somebody gave him an acorn, he'd find a frigging tree." "I'd rather listen to that bucket head than them Republican shiteboxes." " Oh, why?" " Calling you Orange bastards all day." "Imagine your man under fire, stupid idiot wouldn't know what end of him was up." "Look at us, overtrained and underused, babysitting a pack of loonies." "It was like a wee man I was talking to the other day, wee fellow with no teeth." " Mmm." " Wee desert rat." "Fought with Monty in North Africa and that." "Says to me, he says, "How do you boys" ""like it not being able to do your bit in this here war?"" "I says, "What do you mean?"" "He says, "Well, we'll never see you in any of the Republican areas." ""Never see you in Andytown or at Bogside" ""or Falls Road or wherever, you know."" "I say, "For God's sake, our hands are tied behind our backs, you know."" "He said, "Not at all." Says, "the Brits are doing all the hard work."" "I said, "Hey, let me tell you something about the Brits."" "I says, "You get a load of wee cubs coming in across the water" ""from Birmingham, Manchester or London, right." ""And they're battering down the Falls Road," ""the best laxative known to man, they're shiteing themselves," ""they don't know what they're doing." I says, "It's like Vietnam, you know." ""There's a load of Americans who went to Vietnam, right," ""and they couldn't tell one gook from another." ""That's like the Brits over here." ""They don't know who's what around, you know."" "So he says, "How would you fancy going to them places, eh?"" "I said, "Bloody magic, you know." "That's what we're waiting for." ""Give us a 48-hour blackout, right", says I." ""Forty-eight hours, no press, no television around, nothing, you know." ""We'll just get in and root them out, and that would be it, no problem."" ""Oh", he says, "You'll lose a brave few men on the ground."" "What bollocks." "Does he not know we lose more men off-duty than we ever did on?" "I told him, I said, "Catch yourself on." "We're soldiers, you know?"" "I says, "You join the UDR, you expect to get shot at, you know?"" "I said, "I didn't take this job on for the money."" " Money?" "What money?" " Actually, there's no telling them." "Anyway, you haven't a hope in hell of getting in there." "And you're right, it's the politicians." "The sooner they start pulling their finger out of their arseholes and getting their brains out of neutral and start doing something for us, the better." "They don't have to do anything." "Look, I know fine well, as soon as a wee Taig's born, the priest says, "Go forth and multiply."" "Well, in 10 years' time, they'll have multiplied, you know?" "There'll be more of them than us, right?" "They'll have a head count over here, they'll have a referendum across the water, they'll sell us down the river and they'll be on that ferry back to Westminster as quick as you like." "Sure, let them frigging go." "We don't need them anyway." "We can do it on our own, independence." "Sell up UDA and build a proper defensive border against the Fenian state." "Aye." "Build a Berlin wall, a mile wide moat, you know?" "Right." "And the first frigger sticks his head over the top of it, zap him." "Aye, right." "Did I wake you up coming down?" "Sure I was hardly asleep." "I was trying to be quiet." "Aye, I heard you trying to be quiet." "What time did you get up at, then?" "Must have been about 5:00." " Five?" " Aye." "You should have woke me up, so you should." "I got fed up with myself." "I lost my temper with this character, too." "He kicking, was he?" "Aye, I thought he was going to start on you next." "(SIGHING)" "I felt like getting up and scrubbing the floor." "I wish it was over." "Oh, to hear me complaining, you'd think I was the only one in the world ever to have a baby." "There was a woman in your Aunty Maureers street had 22 kids, wasrt there?" " The Devlins." " Is that what they were called?" "Aye." "You daren't touch one of them or you'd have the whole lot onto you." "There was two brothers in our school from a family of 24." " Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" " Aye, the Currans." "Could have had a circus." " Two football teams." " Mmm-hmm." "Aye." " He had two wives." " Who?" "Currars old dad." "He was a bread server." "His first wife died and then he married again." " That's not what I meant, Eugene." " What?" "I'm not talking about a man running a harem." "I'm talking about one woman carrying 22 babies." "Aye." "You'd wonder how they did it, wouldn't you?" " What?" " In these wee houses." "Sure, they brought up 11 and 12 of a family in these wee houses, but they managed." "And they loved them." "Must have been mad in the mornings all the same, for the bathroom and all." "There were no bathrooms." "That's right." " It's a great day, isn't it?" " Aye." "You should've seen it when the sun came up." "It was magic." "(ALARM BEEPING)" "(BEEPING STOPS)" " Hiya." " How about ye?" "I can't reach the taps." "(BILLY SIGHING)" "Make us a cup of coffee." "I couldn't get to sleep last night." "Kept on hearing things." "You're always hearing things." "So would you if you were on your own." "You'll not be on your own for very much longer, Lorraine." " Your mammy rang up." " Oh, aye?" " How's me ma?" " She can't wait." "Your dad's got his stitches out." " You got any cash on you?" " I have $30." "Do you want soda bread or potato bread?" " Give us both." " Sausages?" "Aye, go on ahead." " Anything on last night?" " No, not really." "There was a bomb in the Ormeau Road, you know." " Did it go off?" " Not at all." "Your man came back and drove it away." " It was a bread van, like." " Suppose you didn't get much sleep." "A couple of hours." "(SIGHING)" "MICKEY:" "It's just the radiator." "You take her off." "She's a bit dry, like, you know?" " Hey, Mickey." " Hi, Collette." " How are you doing?" " How's that going?" " All right." " Yeah." " Mickey has a new motor." " So I see." "It's one of those new American jobs, runs off of water." "It's cheaper that way, isn't it, Mickey?" "That'll be the day, the day they run off the water, eh?" "Where'd you get that, Mickey?" "There's Carmel." "MICKEY:" "Oh, I got it in the paper." " In the paper?" " Aye." "It must have been in the antiques column, Mickey." "Ah, no now, Eugene." "You're getting flasher all the time, Mickey." " You think so, Collette?" " Aye." "Well, it's a bit better than the last one, like, you know, but it does the job, like." "EUGENE:" "Looks like you've been playing dodgems with the Saracens, Mickey." "Aye." "That was the joy riders, like." "It was like that when I got it." " Hiya, Carmel." " Hi, Collette." "Hi, Eugene." "Hello, Carmel." "You know my cousin Mickey, don't you?" " Aye." " How you doing?" "Hey, Carmel, isn't it desperate the way they dump these wrecked cars out in the street?" " Does it go?" " Don't listen to them, Mickey." "Sure, it takes you from A to B, sure, doesn't it?" " COLLETTE:" "That's right." " Does it?" "(BONNET CLOSES)" " Any sign?" " No, nothing yet." " This heat's fierce, isn't it?" " Oh, it's wild." "See me?" "They must have my head away." "They're packing, unpacking, repacking." "Them clothes will be filthy by the time we get there." "We're away on to the shops." "Can I get you anything?" "I'm just back from there." "Thanks all the same, Carmel." " See yous later, then." " See you, aye." "Hey, Brendan said he'd be over to do that wee job." "Oh, sure, he has enough to be doing with yous going away and all." "I wouldn't count on it, mind you." " EUGENE:" "All right, Carmel." " See yous later." "COLLETTE:" "See you later, Carmel." " Here, Mickey." "Have one of these." " Ah, good." " How's Theresa, Mickey?" " Ah, she's..." "She's all right." " I haven't seen her for ages." " Here you go." "Well, it's just..." "She had to take the wee lad down to the health centre this afternoon." " What's wrong with him?" " He's got the runs." "Aye, there's a wee bug going round, all right." " Ah." "Yes." " Is he vomiting?" "Ah, no, I don't know." "Thanks, love." " Mickey." " Good." "Good." " Was it something he ate, was it?" " Eugene." " Uh..." " Go on, love." "I think she said it was strawberries..." " Oh?" "...or dulce, maybe?" "Aye." "You wouldn't know what'll be on that stuff." " Ah." " Or even if they wash it." "Yeah, right enough." "Yeah." "Why don't you ask Theresa if she's down this way to call in, Mickey?" "Well, like, I say to her, like, you know," "Collette, "You should call round, you know."" "But you know what she's like, like, eh." "Well, I'm sure she has her hands full." "Mmm, she's..." "We got the wee girl there to give her a hand, you know." " COLLETTE:" "Does Tracey help her out now?" " Oh, aye." "COLLETTE:" "That's great." "Sure, she's a big girl now." "I haven't seen her for years." "She's big, all right, yeah." "She's her ma's girl, all right." "Yeah." " Is she?" " Yeah." " Who's your favourite, Mickey?" " Wee boy." "He's gonna be a footballer." "Aye." "Is he a bit of a dribbler, Mickey, is he?" "(COLLETTE LAUGHS)" "MICKEY:" "Well, he can move all right." "I'd laugh if Tracey turns out to be the footballer in your house, Mickey." "Ah, nothing would surprise me about that girl." " COLLETTE:" "Why, is she a wee tomboy?" " She's a tomboy, all right." "Aye." "Oh, and a Miss Know-it-all." "Aye." "Oh, they all sides with their mother, all right." "Aye." "Are they ganging up on you, are they, Mickey?" "You can't hit them or nothing." "No." "I just get out there, let them get on with it, like, you know." "I'm sure they don't gang up on you for nothing, Mickey." "Yeah, well, sure." "'Cause you'll soon know all about it yourself, eh?" "Ah, that's right, Mickey." "It'll be me running out." " Whers it due now, anyway, Collette?" " It's supposed to be tomorrow, Mickey." "What, the 12th of July?" " Aye." " Aye, that's right." "It'll have to be tomorrow, we have the bands and all laid on for him." "You'd think it was going to be a wee Protestant, to hear you talking." "We need something to celebrate on the 12th, don't we, Mickey?" " Aye." " I'm afraid I might be going to disappoint you." "Mmm, now." "I've a wee notion it'll be tomorrow." "I've a wee notion it won't be tomorrow." "Oh, it's sure." "At the end of the day, it's all down to the man upstairs, isn't it?" "Aye." "You awake, Billy?" "What time is it?" " Time you were up out of your bed." " What for?" "Because you don't want to go wasting the whole day." "It's after 2:00, you know." "What do you think?" "Billy?" "(BILLY GROANING)" "This is the top and this is the skirt." " Or do you like the red one better?" " Sure, how would I know?" "God, you're useless." "I want to wear something nice for coming out." "I'm sick of wearing these old tents." "(BILLY SIGHING)" "What are you doing in there, anyway?" " I'm packing my case." " What case?" " My wee brown one." " Where are you going?" "Where do you think I'm going?" "You're not going anywhere!" "I'm going into the hospital, Billy." "Sure, you're not in for another week." "I know, but you got to get your case packed in advance." "Janet had her case packed for two months before she had her wee Sammy." "If Janet told you to jump in the Lagan, you'd jump." "I can't swim." "Well, isn't it about time you learnt to swim?" "I've tried, haven't I?" "Look, how many times have I told you, you hold your breath and you come up, you don't sink." "Well, it's all right for you." "Look, when I learnt to swim, if you didn't come up, you drowned." "Well, no child of mine's going to the swimming pool before the age of five." "He bastard is, so he is." " It's a wee girl, anyway." " God forbid." "MAN ON RADIO: ... to 1329, and beat the British at Bannockburn." "He got his bannocks burnt." "Tell us, Mickey, did you ever get sorted out with that licence for the taxiing?" "Aye, it's a right bit of money to get gathered together, like, you know." "All at the one time, Eugene, you know." "What happens if you get stopped, Mickey?" "Och aye, you just say that they're your family, like, you know." "Will people let on they were your family?" "MICKEY:" "Och aye, surely." "Sure, it's for their own good, like, you know." "But it's typically like any other taxis, you know, real taxis." "Aye." "All depends where you are, like, you know." "Would there not be places you'd be scared to go to now, Mickey?" "Like, only at nighttime, like, you know." "Ah, places like Newtownards Road, there, like, you know." "Watch out for the UDR, like, you know." "I would have thought so." "Well, other than that, like, near enough anywhere." "It's handy to have a car, though, Mickey, isn't it?" "Aye." "Aye." "Quite a difference, like, eh?" "You just get out and get in and get away." "Aye." "I suppose you'll soon be getting, like, one of your own, like, whenever the compensation comes through, eh?" "Sure, Mickey, we could have had a car this ages." "The car's not the problem, Mickey." "It's driving it." "Aye, but I'm gonna learn now for definite." " I've heard that before." " Eugene, give us a chance." "I'll have to learn how to drive a pram first." "Ah, sure." "No problem there, eh." "Just sort of push it down in front of you, eh, Collette?" "It'd be nice to have the car, though, just jump in and go to Donegal or somewhere." " Or Dublin." " Here, does that pram fold up, now?" "Will you be able to get it into the back?" "Aye, it divides up into two pieces." " Aye." " So it's no problem then, eh?" " That's good." " You're always doing us favours, Mickey." "It's, well, like, when the car's there, you know." "EUGENE:" "Aye." "MICKEY:" "Aye." "Have you seen this thing about bonfires?" " Aye." " It's buck stupid, isn't it?" "I think it's a good idea." "Wait till you hear this." ""No building should be nearer than five times the height of the bonfire." ""So an eight-foot-high bonfire should have" ""a 40-foot clearing all the way round it."" "Sure, it's better in an open space anyway, you can get more people round the fire." " No tyres to be used?" " Aye, I know." "I've never seen a bonfire without tyres on it, have you?" "How the hell are they going to stop people using petrol and paraffin?" "They're not trying to stop them, Billy." "Look, it says here you've got to use firelighters." "It's not a law, but it's only a code of advice." "I know that." "But if someone wants to burn something on their bonfire on the12th of July, sure they're gonna burn it." "Well, what about those two wee girls down at my granny's last year?" "That was them foam rubber mattresses, wasrt it?" "The wee one's scarred for life, so she is." "Do you fancy going down to my granny's tonight?" "No, I do not." "Sure, it would be good crack." "She'll have half the street in there." "We could just stay for one drink and then drive round and see all the other bonfires." "Oh, aye." "One drink." "When have you ever left your granny's with only one drink inside you?" "I thought you wanted to get full tonight?" "I do want to get full tonight, but I don't want to get full at your granny's." "(EXHALING)" "EUGENE:" "Bring the old snorkel with you, Brendy?" "Huh?" "Do you fancy Tyrone for Sunday?" "I don't know." "I think it might be a draw." "EUGENE:" "Do you?" "I suppose you'll not get down to Clones yourself, will you?" "I might." "Will Carmel let you off the leash?" "Sure, I've to come back here, anyway." "I've got a drawer full of old dockets and receipts over there in the house." "I've got to sort the whole bloody lot out." "Why don't you take them all with you?" "You can't do tax returns in a caravan." "Oh." "You know what they say, Eugene?" "Cobblers and plumbers don't like the summers." "It's a bit slack for you, is it?" "Ah." " I'm only doing bits and pieces." " Oh, aye." "I was up there in the convent on Friday." "Aye?" "You should have seen the bath we took out of that place." "You'd have had to stand up in it to wash yourself." "(CHUCKLING) Wouldrt have done me, then, would it?" "There's an old nun there." "She's nearly 100 years of age." "That right?" "Hasrt spoken to a living soul from the day she went in." "Only the doctor." "Do you know what she has for her dinner?" "What?" "Nothing but a glass of lukewarm water with salt in it." "And a slice of homemade bread and jam." "(SCOFFS)" "That's desperate, isn't it?" "Mind you, it was very nice jam." "Did they let you have some, did they?" "It just shows you how little you need to get by." "Aye." "1903 she went in." "Sure, I have a sister a nun." "You had to ring this bell." "To get in?" "No, a hand bell." "So they'll hear you coming and scarper into their cells." "Oh, aye." "Have you got an old sponge, Eugene?" "There should be one under the sink in there, is there?" "Oh, ta." "(CHILDREN CHATTERING)" "Eugene, I'm ready for the hills." "Who's there?" "It's Brendan." "Oh, Brendan." "You're going on your holidays in the morning." "It's me last chance to get it done before the stork arrives." "Oh, Eugene, I'm knackered." "Well, did you get the pram?" "Don't talk to me about that pram." "Only after pushing it over them stones out there, it was like a flipping scrambling track." "Did he not leave it at the door?" "I had to put it in the back of a taxi." "Sure, I thought he was going to run you back down again." "Well, you'll never guess what happened." "Flipping car broke down, the corner of Beechmount Avenue." "For God's sake." "See that wee man." "I must have put the scud on him this morning, slagging him." "I think you did, Eugene." "Bloody Brits poking their nose in about it." "I wasrt hanging around any longer." "I thought I was going to drop the baby up the Falls." "My mum was right." "I'm not wise." "People round here think I'm a nutcase, pushing an empty pram." "Look like a flipping rag-and-bone woman." "Flip." "(MARCHING BAND PLAYING OUTSIDE)" "Got music while you work, Brendan." "Aye." "The natives are restless, aren't they?" "Sure, I never hear them." "Is Brendan gonna be long there?" " You bursting, are you?" " Aye." "Do you want to spend a penny, Collette?" "I need to go sort of quick, Brendan, you know?" "BRENDAN:" "Now, you better go across to the house." "Ah, yes." "That'll do, yeah." "Is Carmel in?" " She is." " Okay, then." "I'll see you in a few minutes." "BRENDAN:" "I'll be done by the time you get back." "Okay, all right, Brendan." ""I see," says the blind man." "God love her." "We didn't think we were going to have any more," "Brendan being away." "In the end, when he came out, of course, we did decide that we were going to start on our wee family." "All's well for you." "You can plan, Carmel." "Aye, well, if you could call that planning." "So, anyway, this time round, I wanted my wits about me." "They had me filled full of pethidine before I knew what was going on." "She says, "There's a bell in the wall." "Whenever you want attention, ring it."" "I says, "I want attention now."" "In the end, I was so doped to the eyeballs," "I couldn't find the frigging bell." "So I get out of the bed, and there's another thing, they hate that, making the place look untidy." "(COLLETTE SIGHING)" "I am walking down the middle of the ward." "Up comes this nurse and she says," ""What are you doing in the middle of this ward?"" "I says, "I'm having a baby."" "She had me in that bed, into the delivery room." " Do you know when our Noel was born?" " No." "Seven minutes later." " My God, Carmel." " I was five hours with our Annie and two and a half hours with our Deborah." "What were you with Joe?" "Oh, but Joe was different because there was complications." "The afterbirth come first." "Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph." "Carmel, you never told me that." "I shouldn't be telling you these things." "There's me telling you not to listen to anybody." "But Collette, see the pain," "I thought I was going to die." "But they knocked me out again." "I never knew what was going on till it was all over." "You see, we wanted a wee lad after the three wee girls." "By the time that child was born," "I couldn't have cared less if it had come out with horns on its head." "I'm sure you couldn't." "Anyway, it's a bit late to send it back to the shop then, isn't it?" "I shouldn't be telling you these things." "Oh, fuck, Carmel." "You'll be changing your mind." "There's no turning back now." "Sure there's none." "In a week's time you'll wonder what all the fuss was about." "Tell you the truth, I wish I could cough it up, you know?" "Wouldrt that be great?" "I'd better be get back over here." "He'll be dying for his dinner." "Hey, well, listen." "I might get a chance to drop over before we go away." " Aye, do that." "Do." " I'll do that." "Oh, look, somebody's waved a magic wand." "There's a window cleaner at my house." "That's great." "My windows are bogging since Davy stopped coming round." "Aye, well, never you worry about that, you just go away and enjoy yourself tomorrow." " That's what I'm gonna do." " Good." " Here, sorry to pee and run, like, aye." " Not at all." "I'll see you see you later." "Tell you, them windows will be glad to see you and your chamois." "I'm not too glad to see them, I gonna tell you." "Is that right?" "Hey, are you a friend of Davy Kennedy's?" "I was till 3:00 this afternoon." "Why is that?" "I never knew there was that many houses left standing round here." "(LAUGHING)" "Where is he?" "Is he on holidays, or what?" " He's having a rest." " Is he?" "Cardiac arrest." "Oh, God, you're joking me!" "Aye, he's only out the hospital." " And he had a heart attack, then?" " Aye." "He's all right now." "I'm sorry to hear that." " Is he going to retire, or what?" " Davy?" "Not at all." "That's good." "Mind you don't fall into my good pram there." "Don't worry, missus, I'm allergic to prams." "I'll take it out of your way, anyway." "See when you've done them, would you go round and do the back ones?" "To tell you God's honest truth, missus," "I have to work my way back up to Spinner Street before 5:00, you know." "Oh, yeah, aye." "It doesn't matter, then." "I would have done it myself, like, but I'm scared to stand in a chair the way I am, you know." "See, by the time I can get the ladder round there, you know." "You wouldn't have to go round the back." "You could just come through the house." "Does Davy do them for you?" "Aye, Davy always does them." "Aye, okay." "When I've finished these ones, I'll come round the back." "That's great." "Thanks very much indeed, now." "Well, what do you think of this?" " That's dead on, that." " It's not bad, isn't it?" "To think I heard old Jean..." "I mean Leonard, talking that it was ready for the scrap heap." "Not at all." "Sure, that'll do the job all right, that." " Just needs to be wiped, like." " Hmm." " There's your problem." " What's that, Brendan, the washer?" "Is it banjaxed, is it, Brendan?" " Punctured." " Oh." "We'll have to get a new one, then." " Have you got a scissors, Collette?" " I have, aye, Brendan." "Do you think you'll be able to fix it, do you?" " I always carry a couple of spares." " Oh, that's handy, that." "There you are, Brendan." ""Thank you, man", says Dan." "(SQUEAKING ON WINDOW)" "EUGENE: (LAUGHING) I see you have Bing Crosby doing the windows." "Flip, Eugene, you must be starving." "Aye, my belly thinks I've lockjaw." "Will you divorce me for neglect next?" "For cruelty, maybe." "Well, what am I going to do?" "Will I cook you your wee chops now, or will I wait till your tea and make you a sandwich in the meantime?" "Aye, all right." "I'll have a sandwich now, then." " Well, what do you want?" " What have you in?" " Cheese or ham?" " I'll have ham." " All right." " No, I'll have cheese." " Have you a tomato?" " I haven't." "I'll just take it on its own, then, will I?" "COLLETTE:" "You'll have to, won't you?" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "There's that fellow now, Collette." "Come on ahead through." " All right?" " Oh, aye." "That door is open." "This will only take me a wee minute." "EUGENE:" "Sorry to hear about Davy." "DIXIE:" "Aye." "Tell him I was asking for him, will you?" " DIXIE:" "Aye." " And did he send you out to do that?" "DIXIE:" "No, me and couple of boys are just doing him a favour." "He's a very conscientious wee man." "COLLETTE:" "Aye." "He's a very fit wee man, too." "Aye." "Fit as a banjo." "(SQUEAKING ON WINDOW)" "Hey, McConville." "Maguire, you bastard." "What's the smallest county in Ireland?" " County Louth." " BRENDAN:" "Okay." "DIXIE:" "What's the name of the ship in the film Mutiny on the Bounty?" " Oh, God, I hate stupidity." " The Hispaniola." "What are you doing here, you po head?" "Here, don't you be insulting that man." "He's fixing my toilet for me." "Is that right?" "As long as he's not running poteen through it." "You had more than your fair share, Dixie." "Christ, I was laid out for three days after that stuff." "Here, what was the name of the ship in Mutiny on the Bounty?" "Are you serious, mister?" " Aye, I'm serious." " Eugene." "The Bounty." "Och aye, sure, I knew that." "The Bounty, oh, God, trust me." "I wouldn't mind, but he's seen it about five times." "How do you stick it, missus?" "Don't talk to me." "Where'd you two get to know each other, then?" "We were students together." "Aye, I know." "I had to mind this lugubrious bastard for two and a half years." "This is Dixie McConville." "We took turns changing his nappies." "Sounds like you had a great time together." "DIXIE:" "Oh, terrific." "And why were you throwing poteen down the toilet, then, Brendan?" "He wasrt throwing it down the toilet." "Are you mad?" "He was running it through the cistern." "Correct?" "Aye." "Oh, you don't you strain your brain thinking, now, will you?" "See, they used to give us the jam in big tins." "Right?" "Well, you see what I did, Collette, was I made a still." "That's what I'm telling 'em." "He made a still." "It was a work of art." "Was it?" "What you did was, you got the jam and you spooned a clatter of it into a tea urn, right?" "Then you got it all heated up." "Well, we let it ferment." "That's right, it was festering away there." "Then, I hid the worm in the cistern." " It was sitting in the water." " Now, what in the name of God is a worm?" "Ah, well, I call it a worm, see, 'cause it looks like a worm." "It's a spiral of copper pipe." "That's the secret of how you make poteen." "Look." "Look, Collette." " You see that cistern in there?" " Aye." "Well, you see where your cold water runs in there at the bottom?" "Aye." "Well, you make a new hole and you run your copper pipe from the top of your urn in your hole..." "Listening to your man is like watching paint dry." "BRENDAN:" "Then, you connect your worm." "You make another hole the opposite end and you run your drip pipe down, so it's dangling over a bucket." "So you see, Eugene, you've got..." "You've got your permanent supply of cold water cooling your steam down, and she distils out the other end." " Pure poteen." " Talk about journey into space." "Fantastic, isn't it?" "DIXIE:" "Fucking stuff would near blind ye." "I never knew I had a genius living across the street, Brendan." " And you did all this in the Kesh?" " Oh, aye." "EUGENE:" "And did they never twig or nothing?" " Not at all." " Sure, there was an inspection." "Screws, Brits." "Never found a thing." " BRENDAN:" "Yeah." " It's amazing, isn't it?" "Hey, Bren, mate." "Will you fix us one up in there, will you?" "Here, get the jam out of the cupboard there, Collette." "Aye." "Could put it in the baby's bottle." "(EUGENE LAUGHS)" "Do you want a cup of tea, Dixie?" "You're all right, missus." "I'm going on now." "Here, Dixie." "Here, take a can of Guinness, won't you?" "Here." "Sure, Brendan has one on the go there." "Here you are." "I'll take one while I'm standing here." "Fire it in thee." "Well, Maguire, how's the form?" "Ach." "Up and down like a yo-yo." "How many kids have you got now, Dixie?" "Aye sure, I have rakes of the bastards." "BRENDAN:" "Yes, about time you tied a knot in it." "I'm going to have it stuffed and mounted." " Sorry, missus." " How many have you got, Dixie?" "Seven... eight." " I've got four and no more." " Plenty." "Sure, I'm just a novice where you boys are concerned, aren't I?" "I've it all ahead of me." "Huh." "BRENDAN:" "They'll put a halt to your gallop." "EUGENE:" "Oh, aye." "That'll be the start of my sentence." "No remission on that one." "(LAUGHING) Life, unless I make a wee break for it, like, you know?" "Well, God love you men." "You're awful hard done by." "Why don't yous all go and live on an island without us?" " Sure, we are living on an island." " Aye, that's right." "COLLETTE:" "Aye, but you still have to put up with us." "Aye." "We're occupied." "I'd like to see you managing on your own." "I don't know." "We might just go independent yet, you know." "Do you know who's getting out next month?" "No, but you're going to tell me." "Ned Bonner." "Bonner, crazed-out, culchie bastard." "I bought an old caravan off his sister last year." "Bonner never out yet?" "They doubled his sentence for decking a screw." "Oh, sure, he refused a strip search." "Aye." "Decked him?" "He should have bugging buried the bastard." "Twelve of them jumped on him." "Was 12 enough to hold Bonner down?" "The wife went to Australia." "Christ, that bitch." "He's well rid of her." "She's coming back now that he's getting out." "Bonner'll be decking another screw." "He will in his hole." "What do you call an Irishman with a bow and arrow?" "Don't tell us, McConville." " What?" " Eamonn." "(EUGENE CHUCKLING)" "Oh, very good." "DIXIE:" "What do you call an Englishman with a pigeon on his head?" " What?" " Cliff." "(DIXIE CHUCKLING)" "Do you not mean a seagull?" " Sorry, missus?" " COLLETTE:" "On his head." " That's what I said, a seagull." " No, you said a pigeon." " Did not." " Oh, yes, you did." "You did." "You said pigeon." "Well, I meant a seagull." "Oh, a cliff." "I see now." "Oh, very good." "Can't stand people being pedantic." "(MARCHING BAND PLAYING)" " Hear them getting ready for the 12th?" " Aye." " Bloody bonfires." " Desperate, aren't they?" "When we were wee lads, we used to run round there to the bonfire." "Beverly Street." "Scrounge tanners off the old drunks." "Sure, we used to help them gather up the wood." "Can't see wee kids ever doing that again." "God, if they'd known you kicked with the other foot, they'd have put you on the bonfire." "COLLETTE:" "Aye, they're no joking matter." "Mmm." "We were wised up soon enough, werert we?" "Hey, uh, did you hear about Peter McGuigan dying?" "I did." "Read about it in The Irish News." "This was an old lad who was inside with us." "Should never have been there." " They came for the son." " Ah." "Lot of stuff in the house." "The old lad claimed it was his instead of the son, Sears." "So he got the bird." "Well, when he was inside, the son was shot in an ambush." "Did he blame himself, then?" "DIXIE:" "Well, that's it, you know, wrecked him." "Sure, he died of a broken heart." " That's desperate." " Right." "He was one decent old bastard, I tell you." "(HELICOPTER WHIRRING OVERHEAD)" "Do you hear that frigging chopper?" "Trying to drive us all round the bend." "Sure, they do it out of badness, missus." "They don't even want you to get your sleep at night." "What were you in for, Dixie?" "Found a lot of gear in our house." "Only I had nobody to take the rap for me, you know." "I went up the river myself." "Think the wife stitched me up." "You were interned before that, McConville?" "I was, aye, '71." "Did they pick you up in the August, Dixie?" "First day." "Well, they went for the brother, like, but he was on the run." "So they come up to our house and took me." "Well, it wouldn't have been internment without a McConville." "(TOILET FLUSHING)" "Brendan, that's like music to my ears." "EUGENE:" "That's great, Brendan." "Thanks very much now." "I'd better make a move." "COLLETTE:" "Thanks very much indeed, Dixie." "I'm sorry for keeping you back." "You're all right." "Hey, I'd better give you some money." "Give it to Davy when you see him." "God knows when I'll see Davy." "You don't get that much money on the sick." "Okay, give it to me, I'll throw it in to him when I'm taking his ladders round." " Is it still 50p?" " I suppose so." "There you are." " Hey, Maguire, I'm away." " BRENDAN:" "Hold your horses." " DIXIE:" "You coming?" " Aye." "You'd have thought they'd have knocked all these old houses down by now." "Well, they're all due for demolition, Dixie." "We're just biding our time here, you know." "That's right." "I have a wee claim on the go, you know." "And once that's through, then we'll shift." "We're thinking about a house of our own." " What's the claim for?" " It's for this here." " What happened to you?" " Shot by the Brits." " Were you operating, like?" " Not at all." "We were walking home one night on Falls Road, '79." "The soldiers were stopping the cars, you know." "Couple of joyriders just, like, drove straight through the checkpoint." "The Brits opened up on them." "And I was hit, you know." "Collette was with me, werert you?" "Aye, like, but I got into a panic, you know, I just ran." "EUGENE:" "She was halfway up the road, and me lying there." "Wise woman." "Did they hit the joy riders?" "No." "They were lifted, like, but..." "They werert hurt or anything, you know." "The bullet that got me was, like, deflected." "I was right lucky." "Just got me just there, see?" " Like, it's the arse, really, isn't it?" " BRENDAN:" "Well, there's nothing worse." "For God's sake." "So, the whole intestines and the stomach and all was just wrecked on me." "I thought I'd be pissing into a bag for the rest of my life, you know." " But I mended up, didn't I?" " Aye." "Had the bullet, like, been just a fraction of an inch nearer the spine, I'd have been in a wheelchair." "You want to see some of the cases they got up there in the Musgrave." "In the hospital, you know." "They're desperate." "I mean, there's guys got burned just from the neck down." "Just banjaxed, you know?" "You'd be better off dead." "Don't be saying that, Brendan, for God's sake." "Aye, Brendan, some of them people can make more of their lives than we can." "Aye, that's right." "Should never mind Maguire, he's banjaxed from the neck up." "Huh?" " You coming?" " BRENDAN:" "Aye." "Here, Dixie!" "Here." "Do you see that leg there, Dixie?" " DIXIE:" "Hmm." " See how I have the brace on it?" "Did the Brits get you in the leg, too?" "Not at all." "That was the Club Bar bomb, '76." " UVF job, remember it?" " You get around." "A bit of metal just got me there behind the knee." "Near took the leg off me." "Severed a nerve, dropped foot." "There was two killed in that bomb, limbs lost." "Oh, for God's sake, the damage was desperate." "I was lucky." "Aye." "I've another bullet hole in that leg there, you know." " Ach!" "Stop boasting, Eugene." " I'm not boasting." "He just asked me and I'm telling him, am't I?" "That was in the early '70s, you know, that was '73." "I was coming out of Mass, just about to turn up Eia Street in the Antrim Road, you know?" " Murder Mile." " That's right, Murder Mile." "I heard the car slowing down behind me, you know?" "Just looked over my shoulder, like that." "Saw your man." "Window down, the old Smith  Wesson, you know." "Straight at me." "And I just ducked down like that, you know?" "The first shot went over the top of me." "They fired again and got me in the back of the leg." "Sure, I could have been killed, couldn't I?" "Apart from that, you're rightly?" "That's right, Dixie." "Sure, apart from that I can't complain, you know?" " COLLETTE:" "But he does." " Oh, listen." "Do you hear her?" "That's what I have to put up with now." "Doctor, he says to me, he says, "Eugene, you're like a cat." ""You've nine lives." Didrt he?" " You've got more holes than a dartboard." " Aye, that's right." "Sure, you have to make your living somehow, don't you?" "Maguire!" "Bottle and a cork cost a shilling and a ha'penny." "The bottle costs a shilling more than the cork." "How much is the cork?" "Well, I'll be honest with you, McConville." "I don't give a tinkers diddly what it is." "Oh, that's lovely." "Not only is he ignorant, but he wallows in his ignorance." " I'm away." " EUGENE:" "Hang on, Dixie." "The bottle costs a shilling more than the cork, right?" "DIXIE:" "Correct." " Then sure the cork's a ha'penny." " No." "That's wrong, Eugene." "DIXIE:" "Don't give him the right answer, Collette, he goes mad." "Not at all." "If it's a shilling more, that means it's less than a ha'penny." " Correct." " Is it a farthing?" "Look at the face on him." "What did I tell you?" "He'll be out there now breaking your windows." "EUGENE:" "Is it a farthing, Dixie?" " Aye." " (LAUGHING) Very good." "DIXIE:" "Well, at least your wee one'll have some chance of getting brains." " I'll see yous." " All the best, Dixie." " Lf you're passing, drop in, would you?" " Oh, aye." "Hey, McConville." " Hey, Brendan, thanks a million." " Don't mention it, Collette." "EUGENE:" "Hey, Brendan, you'll give us a wee shout in the morning before you go, won't you?" "I'll give you a beep." "And I'll test out your handiwork in a wee while, all right?" "If you get stuck down it, don't send for me." "God, he's a character, your man, isn't he?" "He's a tonic, that Dixie fella." "You had him fairly scunnered, anyhow." "Sure, I've no brains at all, Eugene." " I was just chancing me arm." " You had him bit." "They must have had quite a crack in the Kesh all the same, eh?" "But sure, if you didn't have a laugh, you'd go mad, wouldn't you?" "Aye." "I think I am gonna have to go upstairs and throw myself down." "Aye, sure, go on ahead." "Sure, whenever you wake up, sure'll be time enough for them meat chops." "(FOOTSTEPS ASCENDING)" "Hey, Maguire, this your house?" "No, the one over there with the cherry tree." "DIXIE:" "Very nice." "Do you want your windows done?" "BRENDAN:" "No point." "We're going on our holidays tomorrow." " Want to come over for a drink?" " DIXIE:" "No." "I don't like drinking in the house." "It makes me feel uneasy." "BRENDAN:" "Please yourself." " Give me 50p." " What for?" "The windows." "I want to give it to Davy." "Told you we don't want them doing." "See, you, Maguire, you are one mean bastard." "Good luck, Dixie." "(HELICOPTER WHIRRING OVERHEAD)" "(PEOPLE CHATTERING)" "(PEOPLE CHANTING)" "(PEOPLE SINGING)" " Look, it's going down a bit." " It's really going over." "They're back there." "You see, it's only burning that way." "LORRAINE:" "I've come over funny." "BILLY:" "What do you mean, you've come over funny?" " I just feel all dizzy." " What?" " You feel dizzy?" " Aye." "What do you mean, you feel dizzy?" "I just feel really sick." "(BELCHES)" "Well, you haven't had that much to drink." "It's just I feel all hot and sick." "Go somewhere cool, buy a wee drink." "BILLY:" "Shut up, you." "You want to throw up?" " LORRAINE:" "No, I'm all right." " You sure?" "Do you want to back off a wee bit, get away from the heat?" "Come on back a bit." "Are you all right?" "We should have brought the car along." "Hey, hold that can." "There we go, right." "There you are." "ALL: # It was worn in Derry, Aughrim" "# Enniskillen and on the Boyne" "# Sure, my father wore it as a youth" "# In the bygone days of yore" "# And it's on the Twelfth I love to wear" "# The sash my father wore" "# It is old but it is beautiful" "# And the colours, they are fine" "# It was worn at Derry, Aughrim" "# Enniskillen and on the Boyne" "# Sure, my father wore it as a youth" "# In the bygone days of yore" "# And it's on the Twelfth I love to wear" "# The sash my father wore" "(YELLING INDISTINCTLY)" "# It is old, but it is beautiful #" "(SIREN IN DISTANCE)" "I'm bad enough here on my own at nights, you know." "But if I was in the country, like, not another house for miles," " I'd be doing my nut." " You don't like it?" "All that silence." "But you got a good feed, don't you?" "You bugger." "Did he tell you that one?" " Och aye, your barbeque?" " BILLY:" "Yes." " Were you there, Billy?" " No, that's before I joined up." "Och, right enough, it would have been." "Honest to God, if you'd seen the colour on that one." "Buck idiot, dancing across the field buck bollock naked with blood up his legs." "You never told me that." "You never said you were naked." " Oh, I didn't wanna get..." " LORRAINE:" "Jesus Christ." "He didn't tell you he was naked, did he?" " He did not." " He was in with me, and he says, "We'll get this cow and we'll slaughter the bastard."" "You said to me, I'm pissed off with this" " shite rations we're getting." " That's right." "That's right." "And then you said to me if you could kill something, you'd have it." "And I says, "Well, you're looking..." ""You're looking at 42 sirloin steaks over there."" "So I says, "You kill it, you bugger, and I'll butcher it." You see?" "So, off your man jazz dances across the field, and he says, "Frig this." ""I'm not getting my clothes all dirty with blood", he says, and he strips off, right." "So, he spots a bullock halfway across a field, and all I see is this big white arsehole dancing across a field after a bullock." "So, I goes after him, you know, and the next frigging thing, there he is." "And there I'm saying to him, "Be quiet, for God's sake", you know, 'cause they're sleeping on the corner of the field." "Sure, cows don't sleep." "He has a frigging bullock under his arm and he's going like mad with a knife." " And I'm..." " One cut." " One cut." "One cut." "A wallop." " Oh, hang on." "I jumped on the dirty end, you know, the working parts." " He was covered in shite." " Covered in shite, you know?" "Oh, Jesus." "Finally, the thing went down, you know, and a couple of minutes later when it stopped sort of jiggling about, and he stuck it in the back and took a sirloin cut and a wee bit off the rump at the back of the leg." "How do you get the skin off?" "Ah, that's easy." "It comes off easy if you pull it the right way, you know." " Pull it up the beast, over the head." " I wouldn't fancy that." "Anyway I got the meat off it, you know." "And I goes back and slices it open, threw all that underneath the fire to cook it, like, for the morning." "Just wrapped it in bits of canvas and stuff and we cooked..." "He had the easy job." "I had to go back and bury it." "I had to drag it across a field into a plantation and bury the bastard, you know?" " LORRAINE:" "How did you get clean?" " That was the thing." "I had to go and find a stream." "I was wandering about this bastard forest, bollock naked, looking for a stream." "I just washed my hands in the dew, you know." "Hey, Jacko, right." "I remember coming up for breakfast, you know, we'll give him a steak." "And he says, "Corporal Jackson, would you like a steak?"" "LORRAINE:" "What did he say?" "I said, "Help yourself", and I produced a big fat steak for him." ""What the frig are you at?" He says, "What the frig are you at?"" "I says, "Do you want a steak?"" "He says, "Aye." I says, "What way do you want it done?"" "He couldn't believe it." "But we ate steak for the next six days." "Aye, but you didn't hear the end of the story." " What?" " Oh, God, aye." "See, when he comes home after three weeks at the border, what had I got him for his tea?" "A wee treat." "A nice wee bit of steak." ""Oh, I couldn't eat that", he says." "I didn't have a shite for a week, you know what I mean?" "I was that blocked up." "LORRAINE:" "Jesus, you were lucky the Provos didn't ambush you while you were doing it." "They wouldn't have got one of the steaks, anyway." "Sure, we're in the middle of nowhere, they didn't know where the hell we were at all, you know." "We went back the next day to check up and we covered our tracks." "LORRAINE:" "Aye, well, you're lucky you didn't get fined." "There was no bloody sign of it, honest to God." "Aye, the wee moo-cows knew what was going on, though." "They were looking round for Freddie and he wasrt there, you know?" "He'd disappeared in the night, you know?" "You know what Freddie was doing?" "Freddie was feeding the Ulster heroes." "Right?" "COLLETTE:" "See the way they're knocking down Divis Flats?" "Apparently there's this, uh, asbestos that's become exposed and it's lying around there." " That stuff can kill you, can't it?" " Aye, it's dead dangerous." "God love those women trying to keep their kids away from it." "Sure, I thought that wasrt allowed no more." "I was talking to this woman the other week in the health centre." "And she says to me her head's away with the rats down there as well now." "Is that right?" "That's one thing I hate, rats." "Aye, I know, Eugene." "See, when I saw your man coming out of the hole beside the bath, and me sitting on the toilet," "I thought my heart'd never start again." "I don't know what I says to him, but he seen me coming, he run." "He looked scared, too." "He cured my constipation, anyway." "Like, one rat you can handle, but it's the thought of a whole army of them I can't stand." "Aye." "Eugene, you know them clothes I want you to bring into the hospital when I'm coming out?" "What?" "They're in a British Home Stores bag here on the bed." "Aye, all right." "(BILLY DRUMMING)" "MEN: # It is old but it is beautiful" "# And its colours, they are fine" "# It was worn at Derry, Aughrim" "# Enniskillen and on the Boyne" "# Sure, my father wore it as a youth" "# In the bygone days of yore" "# And it's on the Twelfth I love to wear" "# The sash my father wore #" "I've got one, Eugene." "Go on, then." "# It was old but it was beautiful" " # And the colours, they were fine" " For God's sake." "Hang on, I'll ring the ambulance and get it to take you up to Purdysburn." "# It was worn in Derry, Aughrim" "# Enniskillen and the Boyne" "Kick the Pope." "(EUGENE HUMMING)" "What's the next line?" "BOTH: # My father wore it in his youth" "# In the grand old days of yore" "# And it's on the Twelfth I love to wear" "# The sash my father wore #" "Burn them out." " It's a great song, huh?" " Aye." "It's great, isn't it?" "# This old man, he played one" "# He played knick-knack on my bum #" "Hey, you, it's "drum", isn't it?" "Aye, we used to sing bum." "You must have learnt the goody-goods' version, Eugene." "# With a knick-knack paddy whack Give the dog a bone" " # This old man... #" " What was that song about, anyway?" "I used to think it was about Paddy McMacken down the street from us." "(EUGENE LAUGHS)" "This isn't working, Eugene." "We're not getting to sleep." "No." "I think it's the songs you're singing." " I'll sing you a good song." " Aye." "Sing us a lullaby." "Right." "Now, close your eyes." "All right, my eyes is closed." "Now, where would you like to be most?" "I'd like to be on a desert island." "Right." "Thanks very much." "It's all right." "You can be there, too." "You have to wear nothing but a grass skirt, though." "Flip, it'll be a while before I can wear a grass skirt." "Right, are you ready?" "Aye, I'm ready." "Okay." "# Come all ye young rebels and list while I sing" "I haven't heard that in years." "# For the love of one's country is a terrible thing" "# It banishes fear with the speed of a flame" "# And makes us all part of the patriot game" "# My name is O'Hanlon and I've just gone 16" "# My home is in Monaghan where I was weaned" "# And I've learnt all my life cruel England to blame" "# That's why I'm a part of the patriot game" "# Tis barely two years since I wandered away" "# To join a battalion of the bold IRA" "# I've heard of our heroes and wanted the same" "# And so I'm a part of the patriot game" "# This island of ours has for long been half free" "# Six counties are under John Bull's tyranny" "# And most of our leaders are greatly to blame" "# For sharing their part of the patriot game" "# They told me how Connolly was shot in the chair" "# His wounds from the battle all bloody and bare" "# His fine twisted body... #" "Flip." "Um..." "What is it, Eugene?" "LORRAINE:" "Take the laces out." "Eh?" "No, not them." "Tie a double knot in the top." "Are you awake?" "You're bruising me." "I'm not touching you." "Stop it." "Put your slippers on." "Ah, shut up, you're asleep." "(SIGHS)" "(ENGINE STARTING)" "Eugene." " Eugene!" " What?" "I think I've started." "What?" "My waters are broke." "Are you sure?" "Aye." "I thought I wet myself." "What will I do?" "I'll ring for the ambulance, will I?" "No, I'll get dressed first." "Oh, aye." "I'll go and clean myself up." "Don't panic, Eugene." "Fyffes bananas." "Come on." "Bring those other boxes down." "Go on." "Radiators." "Go on your holidays with fucking radiators." "CARMEL:" "I'm just leaving these here." "Don't you dare phone an ambulance." "We've got the van outside the door." "I'll get Brendan to go over and we'll take you up to hospital." "All right, then." "Thanks, Carmel." " She's a desperate woman, that." " What?" "Well, she says Brendan and her will run us to hospital." "Will they?" "Is this jacket all right, is it?" "That's grand, Eugene." "MAN ON RADIO:" "Crowds of youths threw petrol bombs at police during several incidents in Londonderry early this morning." "In the worst attack, 50 masked youths..." " Don't need a tie, do I?" " No, you don't." "Plastic bullets were fired at rioters, but no one was hurt." "The police fired more plastic..." " Did you make me my sandwiches?" " I did." "An American woman visiting the city has claimed that she was hit by one." "She was treated in hospital but later released." "The police say no one had reported being hit by a baton..." " Where's that?" " Derry." "God, Americans always have to be in the middle of the action, don't they?" "Finally, in the Republic, the price of a pint of beer went up to 1.25 pence from midnight last night." "That's desperate, isn't it?" "Have to start saving now for next year." "You get in front, love." "You sure this is all right, Brendan?" "Would we not be better in the ambulance?" "No, not at all, don't be stupid." "Get in here." "Hurry up." " Now?" " No, that's too high for me now." " Oh, God." " Maybe in the front." "Look..." "That's it." "You get in the back there." " Take your time." " You get in the back as well, Carmel." " I'll get in the back." " I thought you'd been in the van before?" "No, I was in the car before, I told you I was never in the van before." "(BAND PLAYING THE SASH MYFATHER WORE)" "Alpha Charlie, say again, over." "Alpha Charlie, thank you very much, over and out." "All right, lads, pull it up." "You wouldn't believe it." "You would not believe it." " Come on, McCracken." "I'll race you." " No problem." "Go on, get in there, you prankers." "Drop your arse, hold your fanny up and get in." "ALL:" "Clear." "What's she playing at, a week early?" "Honest to God, when I get hold of her, I'm going to knock her shaking." " Billy, you're supposed to be glad." " I am glad." "Quit slobbering." "Key, come on." "Give me the key." "Hang on, hang on, hang on." "She's going to have it before you even get up there." "Look, they don't just pop out, you know." "These things take time with females, you know?" "Give her a big cigar from me." "What is she going to do with a cigar?" " Hey, your dad's going to be pleased." " I know, it's going to be great." "A good party afterwards." "Hey, buddy, where do you get your socks, a barn house?" "They're stinking!" "Look, that's work." "You know, I work," "I don't sit on me fat arse like you." "It's a wonder that wee girl let you anywhere near her." "Right." "I've reassigned the weapon." "Don't worry about it." "Hey, you're gonna be away from here now, you jammy frigger." "I'm moving anyway, for God's sake." " Have you got the magazine?" " Yes!" " Right." " Okay, Billy, look, you ring us tonight." " I will." " And give Lorraine a big slobbery one." " Aye, right." " Wish her all the best." "Listen, I'll see you in a couple of nights for a piss-up, all right, lads." " Magic." " BILLY:" "All the best." "(DOOR CLOSES)" "(BAND PLAYING OUTSIDE)" "You been waiting long, have you?" "I've been here three hours." "Must have had an early start." "Aye." "(MAN SIGHING)" "Listen to that bloody racket going on." " Desperate, isn't it?" " Drive you round the bend." " Nothing better to do with their time." " Pack of old idiots." "I wouldn't go as far as that." "There's bigger idiots than them, you know." "At least they're not murdering and shooting people in their own country." " Oh, jeez, God, oh, God!" " No, put on your mask." " I want to push." " No, no, no." "Keep your mask on, big deep breaths." "Big deep breaths." "Good girl." "That's great." "We have a coffee machine to see us through." "Take a wee cup yourself, will you?" "No, thank you." "I'm not drinking that dirt." "Sure, it's wet and it's warm, that's the main thing, isn't it?" "ROPER:" "Probably it doesn't work, anyway." "She's taking her time." "What in the name of God does she think she's playing at?" "It doesn't work." "Would you like a wee drink of water?" "Just a wee sip." "The heat in here would kill you." "It's close, isn't it?" "What they want these damned things on in the summer for, God only knows." " Suppose it's for the patients." " ROPER:" "A waste of money." " In case they get a chill or something." " Totally unnecessary." "(EXHALING)" "ROPER:" "You wouldn't know whether it was going to rain or snow or sleet or what it was going to do." "There's no shortage of money in this car park." "Doctors." "(SCOFFS)" "They've got it all sewn up." "And they talk about unemployment." "Ain't no such thing as unemployment." "Plenty of work, if they'd only get out and look for it." "People are so damn lazy." "Rather sit on their backside and get paid for it." "What the hell do they want plants in here for, anyway?" " Oxygen." " Eh?" "They give off oxygen, don't they?" "I thought they sucked it up." "Aye." "That's at night." "During the day they give it off." "That's great for people in a hospital with bad chests in the middle of the night!" "They take them out of the wards at night." "(BREATHING DEEPLY)" " You smoke, do you?" " No, you're all right." " You take a smoke yourself, do you?" " No, I don't." "I didn't think you were allowed to smoke in places like this." "There's ashtrays, isn't there?" "Is this your first, is it?" "Aye." "It is, aye." "You didn't fancy going in along with her, did you?" "No." "I thought I'd be in the way, myself." " You didn't fancy going in, did you?" " No, I did not." "That's womers business." " This your first?" " ROPER:" "My first what?" " Child." " Aye, it is and it'll be the last." "I'm not going through all this again." "Drive you round the bend." "Years of not getting to sleep at night." "The gurning and screaming." "And by the time you do get any peace, you're too old to enjoy it." "The cost of raising them, feeding and clothing them." "And whenever they do grow up, you never know, get themselves into trouble, disgrace you." "What is there for them in this country, anyway?" "Nothing." " You want to emigrate, you do." " Emigrate where?" " Anywhere you like." " Sure, there's nowhere to emigrate to." "Everywhere else in the world is as bad as this place." " Is that right?" " Aye, it is." "You're better off never being born at all." "(MOANING)" "Good girl." "Snatch another breath." "Now, big long breath and push." "(BREATHING DEEPLY)" "Good girl." "Okay." "(SCREAMING)" " Breathe in." " I can't." "(WHIMPERING)" "EUGENE:" "It's not working, that." "(SIGHING)" "You'd love to know what was going on in there, wouldn't you?" "Eh?" "Stuck out here." "Oh, bollocks." "(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)" " Mr Roper?" " About time, too." "It's not a girl, is it?" " Are you Mr Roper?" " Yes, I am Mr Roper." " Will you come with me, please?" " Why?" "I just want a wee word with you, okay?" "MIDWIFE:" "How long have you been married?" "COLLETTE:" "Six years now." " Six years, that's a long time." " Sometimes it seems like a lifetime, but other times it feels like I'm just married and just starting out again, you know." " I was married for two years." " Is that right?" "Well, was he killed?" "Oh, God, no way." "Very much alive." "He's in Glasgow at the moment." "God, it felt like 20 years, I'll tell you." "Is that right?" "I mean, that two years aged me." "Like, I was only 28." "Well, I mean, when I say I was only 28, I think now, like, "I was only 28."" "But when I was 28, I thought I was really old, you know?" "That's how innocent I was, I thought I was really old, like, you know." "Because there's all these pressures on you to get married." "Your family pressures, social pressures, like, even the pressure when you're working as a midwife." "You see all the others coming in and having babies like, and they call somebody, say, over 27, 28, like, an elderly prim, which means that they're an old person having a baby." "You know, so you start thinking about that and you start thinking, "God, it's time you were getting on with it", you know." "But I'm 29, you know, like, I'm..." "Aye, aye." "I've been trying for a while, but I think it's time enough, too, you know." "Aye, surely." "I mean the right time is when you feel like it yourself, you know." " This wee fellow is nodding off on me." " Is he?" "Typical wee man." "Give him what he wants and then he falls asleep, eh?" "That's right." "He's lovely all the same, isn't he?" "He's a lovely wee baby, isn't he?" "Oh, God." "His lovely wee mouth." "Aye." "So innocent-looking." "Well, you never know what way he could turn out like." "Like, he could be a real wee monster." "Aye." "Like, I sometimes think about, like, the woman who had Hitler." "Like, when she looked at her wee baby." "Like, she wasrt to know that he'd turn out..." "I mean, it was her fault in a way, wasrt it?" "Like." "Oh, my God, I mean, she's hardly to blame for what he done." "But he didn't know when he was born that he was going to be Hitler, did he?" " Aye, but like..." " Jesus, he didn't even know that he was going to be called Hitler, never mind be Hitler, you know." "Like, it depends on the environment that people are brought up in, you know." " Aye, but like..." " I mean..." "Like, all babies are the same, like when they start off." "How do you mean, they're all the same?" "Aw, what's wrong with you, pet?" "Aye, but like people give their children everything and give them all the love they can, but you don't know how if a child's going to turn on you, you know." "Well, that's it, I mean, you never know when..." "I mean, as you say..." "Like, this could be another wee Hitler." "He's got the right hair colour and everything." "Was he crying?" "We were talking about babies, miss." "We werert talking about your baby." "He's a lovely wee fella." "Can I take him for a minute?" "He's a nice wee mouth, hasn't he?" "Can I take him for a minute?" "There you are." "He's not a bit like you." "Must be like your husband." "Is he coming in to see you?" "Aye." "Bring you a big bunch of flowers?" " I suppose so." " Don't forget to support his head." "Listen." "No, you're not holding him..." "Up a wee bit." "Right?" "Don't be nervous." "Get your hand under his chin." "Give him a wee rub." "I think he wants to be winded." "Okay?" "All right, love, aren't you?" "Oh, God." "Guess I'd better go and do something." "This is my problem, I always end up with a chatterbox." "I'll have to keep away from you." "Keep me talking all day long." "Let's see how this wee dear is doing." "Don't you dare wake up now." "Hello, girls." "(BABY CRYING)" "It's hard trying to sleep during the daytime, isn't it?" "Aye." "Did you have a hard time?" "It was all right, you know." "Well, bad enough." "It was quick." "That's one thing." "How long were you in for?" "Well, my waters went about 9:00 and I delivered at 6:47." "Oh, it's near the same as me." "Seems like a lifetime, though, doesn't it?" "You lose all track of time." "Aye." "It's a great relief when it's over though, isn't it?" "Aye." "I felt like a burst balloon, to tell you the truth." "What are you going to call your wee boy?" "Billy." "What are you calling yours?" "I'm calling her Mairéad." "After my mammy." "Mammy's called Margaret." "Why didn't you call her Margaret?" "'Cause Mairéad's the Irish for Margaret, you know?" "Are you calling your wee boy after anyone?" "After his daddy." "(BILLY FUSSING)"