Revisiting Memories from Northern Ireland’s ‘Prisons Memory Archive’.

A 16 minute essay film (see next page) reflects on the director’s memories of recording the experiences of those who passed through the prisons during the political conflict known as the Troubles in the North of Ireland, which lasted from 1968 to 1998. The Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s quickly turned to violence by the state and by militant groups. Mass internment began in 1971, was replaced by ‘Special Category Status’ in 1972, then followed by a policy of criminalisation in 1976, which led to the hunger strikes of 1981 with ten prisoners dying. Other landmarks included the largest escape in UK history in 1983; and later prisoners’ consent to the peace process, which was pivotal to its success. The prisons were both a touchstone and tinderbox for the conflict, with the north having one of the biggest prisoner numbers per head of population in Europe at the time.