In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement ended thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles, marked by bombings and shootings. Documentarian Rory Duffy’s A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland opens as this decades-long peace starts to wobble under the pressure of Brexit, as Ireland is caught in the middle of the economic war between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
A Fragile Peace centers on three people from Northern Ireland desperately trying to hold that peace together as they are the David to a global political Goliath. Damian is a farmer, father, and a reluctant activist, pulled between raising a family and showing up for a fight he was drawn into out of necessity. Martina is a politician who was involved in the Irish Republican movement as a volunteer for the IRA. Arrested and imprisoned, Martina has a vested interest in not returning to the way things used to be. Aron is younger, an activist trying to figure out what kind of Northern Ireland he’s about to inherit, having never known of The Troubles.
As the Brexit negotiations drag on, old questions about borders, identity, and loyalty resurface — the same questions the Good Friday Agreement was supposed to have resolved in the 1990s. Damian keeps turning up to meetings and protests, trying to make sure his community still has a voice as the U.K. appears to be making decisions on Ireland’s behalf. Martina keeps building relationships, trying to hold neighborhoods together for the cause. Aron pushes further into activism of his own. At first, he didn’t care about politics or what the adults were doing, but as he studied the issue more closely, he knew he couldn’t sit back and let Brexit just happen.
Along with our three subjects, Duffy brings in the bigger political picture, including voices like Senator George Mitchell, one of the original architects of the Good Friday Agreement, and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, both weighing in on the situation. First is the economic security Ireland enjoyed from trade agreements made without U.K. oversight. After Brexit, these agreements have dissolved.
Second is the deep-seated fear that the tensions that ended with the Good Friday Agreement would resurface and soon see the return of borders, border walls, and the violence that defined The Troubles.
A mural honoring IRA volunteer Bobby Sands lines a Belfast street in A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland.
“Aron is younger, an activist trying to figure out what kind of Northern Ireland he’s about to inherit, having never known of The Troubles.”
As an American on the furthest point from Ireland, I can’t help but think, “Not my fight.” Yeah. Pretty bad, right? There are these gatekeepers of news who only give us the U.K. position on Brexit, and for anyone who truly cares about peace, it’s important to understand both sides of a conflict before weighing in, or worse, just blindly following what your side of the aisle thinks. After watching A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland, I’ll admit I never thought about Ireland’s part in Brexit.
Now, we’re not exactly getting both sides of the issue here. A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland comes from a decidedly pro-Northern Ireland/anti-Brexit position. Which is fine. One could argue we only know of the U.K. side of this, which is true. Everything in Duffy’s documentary is new to me. Your political stance will likely bias how you approach the film. To me, much of the film addresses the long history of conflict and the real fear that the Irish may return to the dark days.
As a political doc, A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland is comprehensive in its scope. There is a lot of information about The Troubles from the Northern Irish perspective that would make great source material for any research. Duffy interviews key players from Ireland, the U.K., and even the United States, where President Clinton was instrumental in brokering peace. That was my main takeaway. Many presidents wanted to let the conflict resolve itself, but Clinton saw an opportunity to make peace happen and end the killing once and for all.
A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland works best as a history lesson, and Rory Duffy packs in enough interviews and context to make clear exactly what’s at risk if Brexit restores the border that boxed in Northern Ireland.
For screening information, visit the A Fragile Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland official website.
"…"As a political doc...is comprehensive in its scope.""
