1

‘JUSTANOTHERTEENAGEREBEL’:SPACE,MEMORYANDCONFLICTINANORALHISTORYOFTHEBELFASTPUNKSCENE,1977-1986

FEARGHUSBRIANROULSTON

2

Well,whatthefuckisitabout?LikeIsaid,IdidittostandupforAirdrie.I

did it because of Memorial Device. I did it because, for a moment,

everybody was doing everything, reading, listening, writing, creating,

sticking up posters, taking notes, passing out, throwing up, rehearsing,

rehearsing,rehearsing indarkwindowlessroomsat2pmlikethe future

wasjustupaheadandwebetterbereadyforit.Andnowalreadyit’sthe

rottenpast.That’swhyIdidit,ifyouwanttoknowthetruth.

- DavidKeenan,ThisisMemorialDevice

Butluckyareweaswell/sometimesthereareoystersinsleech/

- MattRegan(LittleKing),Sleech

Tomyparents.

3

ABSTRACT

This thesis is an oral history of the punk scene in Belfast between 1977 and 1986.

Interrogating the idea that punk was a non-sectarian subculture, it argues that the

accounts ofmy interviewees suggest amore nuanced relationship between the punk

scene and Northern Irish society. Through detailed analysis of four interviews, it

describesthepunksceneasastructureoffeelingthatallowedProtestantandCatholic

teenagers and youngpeople to intervene in the sectarianised space ofBelfast in new

ways,withouttranscendingtheinfluenceofsectarianismentirely.Italsosuggeststhat

consideringthewaysinwhichpeoplerememberthepunkscene,viatheinterpretative

oral history methodology first developed by Alessandro Portelli and Luisa Passerini,

offers an insight into how memories of everyday life are shaped by Northern Irish

memoryculturesaswellasbylivedexperiencesofpunkandoftheTroubles.

Thefirstpartofthethesisprovidesaframeworkforthisanalysis.Thefirstchapterargues

thatsectarianismneedstobeunderstoodasadoubly-articulatedstructure,dependent

onthestate,thatpercolatesthroughinstitutionsintoindividualattitudesandbehaviours.

It develops this idea through a history of the key institutions in this process, before

situatingpunkwithinthem.Thesecondchapterdevelopsthisideabyhistoricisingthe

sectarianisation of space in Belfast. It concludeswith an account of the punk scene’s

interventioninthisspace.Thethirdchapteroutlinesthemethodofthethesisandargues

thatoralhistorymakesvisible facetsof thepunkscenethatarenotaccessiblevia the

documentaryrecord.This isparticularly thecasewhenconsideringhow interviewees

composeandexpresstheirmemoriesoftheperiod.

Thesecondpartofthethesisanalysesfourinterviewstodrawoutspecificfacetsofthe

punk scene as a structure of feeling and a spatial intervention, making an original

contributiontoknowledgeaboutpunkinBelfastandaboutyoungpeople’sexperiences

ofspaceandsectarianismduringtheTroubles.Thesespecificfacetsarethepossibility

for transgressive movement offered by punk; the possibility for changing one’s

relationship both to place and to history; and the possibility for changing spaces

themselves through political activism. The central argument here is that attending

4

carefully to how people narrate their historical experiences can illuminate our

understandingofpunk’sinterventionineverydaylifeinNorthernIreland.

Keywords:Punk,NorthernIreland,OralHistory,EverydayLife,HenriLefebvre,Memory,

RaymondWilliams

5

CONTENTSAbstract- 3Acknowledgements– 8Author’sDeclaration– 9TranscriptionandNotation– 10Introduction– 11-23Introduction– 11PunkinBelfast–ahistory– 12Researchquestions– 15

Punk,cultureandsectarianism– 15 Punk,spaceandthecity– 18 Punk,oralhistoryandmemory– 19Thestructure– 20 ChapterOne:Institutions,sectarianismandyouthculture– 24-59Introduction– 24RaymondWilliamsandculturesofdivision– 25 Sectarianismandculture– 26 LifeinanIrishtown?– 30School,universityandformsofdivision– 33Employment,segregationandsectarianism– 38Churchesandreligiousencounters– 41Sport,youthclubsandmanagingtheyoung– 44

Youngpeople,socialityandboundaries– 47Youngpeopleandviolence– 49

Whataboutthepunkscene?– 51ThepunksceneandRaymondWilliams– 54Conclusion– 59ChapterTwo:TheproductionofspaceinBelfast– 60-96Introduction- 60Theearlydevelopmentofthecity– 63Thelate19thandearly20thcenturies– 66PartitionandunionisthegemonyintheNorthernIrishstate– 71Thepoliticsofspaceafter1968andtheimpactofdirectrule– 77 Theviolentdemarcationofspace– 79 Reshapingthe‘defensivecity’– 81Thepunkscene– 84 “It’smusicwewanttohear–notreligion”–gigsandvenues– 85

Iftheyweren’therethere’dbenotrouble:everydayspatialexperience87Lefebvreandsectarianisedspace– 90Conclusion– 95

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ChapterThree:Interpretativeoralhistory,memorystudiesandNorthernIreland– 97-138 Introduction– 97Culturalmemoryandoralhistory– 98GoodVibrationsandtheculturalmemoryofpunkinBelfast– 103MemoryandoralhistoryinNorthernIreland– 106

Punk,memoryandalternativesolidarities– 107Oralhistoryand‘dealingwiththepast’– 110

Portelli,Passeriniandinterpretativeoralhistory– 113Oralhistoryandsocialworlds– 117Narrativetechniquesandforms– 118Intersubjectivityandco-construction– 120Everydaylifeandeverydayspaces– 129

Methodology– 132Conclusion– 137ChapterFour:AlisonFarrell–Epiphanyandtransgressioninmemoriesofthepunkscene– 139-167Introduction– 139Theepiphinalandtheanecdotal– 140“Weweren’tlikepunks…”–settingthescene– 142Epiphanyandtransgression– 144SectarianismandrespectabilityinDungannon– 148Fromthecountrytothecity– 154MobilityinandoutofBelfast– 155 AcottageinBlacklion– 157 DrivingtoPortrush– 159 Hitch-hikingtoLondon– 160PunkasastructureoffeelinginAlison’snarrative– 161Conclusion– 166ChapterFive:GarethMullan–habitusandstorytellinginmemoriesofthepunkscene– 168-203Introduction– 168Field,habitusanddispositions– 171Community,placeandschool– 173 Methodyandfeelingoutofplace– 175 Punk,sectarianismandhabitus– 178Thelimitsofhabitusandhistoricalreflection– 187‘Iwannaseesomehistory’–historicalpracticeinGareth’sinterview– 189 Storytellingandlocalhistory– 193 Collectingandculture– 198Conclusion– 201ChapterSix:PetesyBurnsandDamienMcCorry–punk,politicsandtheproductionofspace– 204-239

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Introduction– 204Space,placeandLefebvre– 208RememberingtheplacesofpunkinBelfast– 210PetesyBurns– 213 TheAnarchyCentre– 215 TheWarzoneCollective– 220DamienMcCorry– 227 Violentspacesandvulnerability– 231 PunkandplaceinDamien’snarrative– 235Conclusion– 238Conclusion– 241-255Introduction– 241Researchquestionsandpunkasstructureoffeeling– 241Bringingtheaccountstogether– 244Memoryculture,lifecourseandoralhistory– 246Contributiontoknowledge– 249Furtherresearch– 252Conclusion– 253Bibliography– 256-279AppendixA– 280-285AppendixB– 286-289AppendixC– 290-293

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSLouReedsaid:“Onechordisfine.Twochordsispushingit.Threechordsandyou'reinto

jazz.”Thismightbetrue,buttheproductionofathesisisunavoidablysymphonicandthe

work herewould not have been possiblewithout the collective help ofmany people.

Firstly,thankstomysupervisorsGraham,LeilaandCatherine,whoserigorousreading

and unstinting kindness has guidedme through the last four years. I want to thank

Graham,especially, forhisenthusiasm,generosityandencouragement throughout the

applicationprocess.

MostofthewritingherewasdoneinthestudyroomattheUniversityofBrighton,and

myfriendsandcolleaguestherehavebeenaconstantsupport.ThankstoAfxentis,Becca,

Louise,Emma,Gab,Gio,James,Joel,Kristin,Lars,Lorenza,Marina,Meg,Melayna,Samand

Viktoria for theirhelp.TheComplexTemporalities reading group–Andrea,Gari, Ian,

Jessica,Kasia,Melina,Struan–providedbothinspirationandoccasional,much-needed,

relief.Katehasbeen the ideal readerofallofmydraftsandremainsan irreplaceable

collaborator.

Outside of the university, my thanks go to my friends in London and Ireland who

remindedmetherewas lifeoutsideof thePhD;toLucy,withoutwhomIwouldnever

havestartedaPhD(andwhomadetheposters);tomycomradesinBrightonSolidarity

Federation (and to all thenon-competitive footballers); toAtticus; to everyone in the

writinggroup;toDebbieattheBritishLibrary;and,ofcourse,toCarla–mercipourtoutes

leschoses.

My family have provided care, patience, amusement and unhelpful suggestions that I

shouldinterviewVanMorrisonthroughout–loveandthankstothem.Finally,mydeepest

gratitudegoestoallofmyinterviewees,whosewarmth,witandpassionformthebest

partofthisthesis.

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AUTHOR’SDECLARATION

I declare that the research contained within this thesis, unless otherwise formally

indicatedwithin the text, is the originalwork of the author. The thesis has not been

previously submitted to this or any other university for a degree, and does not

incorporateanymaterialalreadysubmittedforadegree.

FearghusBrianRoulston,1stMarch2019

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TRANSCRPTIONANDNOTATION

WhereverpossibleIhaveretainedtheoriginalorderingandstyleofthespeaker,which

extends to an attempt to render informal language precisely (gonna for going to, for

instance). An ellipsis in the transcript signifies a brief pause in the formulation of a

sentence. An ellipsis in square brackets signifies an excision made by me after

transcription,generallyforreasonsofclarity.Occasionally,squarebracketswillbeused

withintranscriptstoincludenon-verbalcues(suchaslaughter),contextualinformation,

or clarifications. Occasionally, when my question or statement cuts across the

continuationofanarrativewhileanintervieweeisspeaking,thequestionisincludedin

squarebracketswithinthetext;ingeneral,questionsbymearesignifiedbyaparagraph

break.

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INTRODUCTION

Introduction

ThisthesisisanoralhistoryofthepunksceneinBelfastfrom1977to1986.Itdrawson

theculturalmaterialismofRaymondWilliamsaswellasoncriticalworkonmemory,oral

historyandgeographytodescribethepunksceneinthecityasaspatialisedstructureof

feelingwithinawidercultureof sectariandivision inNorthern Ireland.Aswithother

punk andpost-punk scenes around theworld, theBelfast punk scenewas essentially

somethingaroundandwithinwhichgroupsofyoungpeoplecongregated.Becausethe

methodusedhereisoralhistory,Iaminterestedintwothingsaboutthesecongregations.

Firstly, I am interested in what they were. Or, to put that slightly differently, I am

interestedinwhattheconstellationofplaces,institutions(recordlabels,venues),bands,

andquotidianpracticesthatconstitutedthepunkscenewereinthespecificcontextof

Belfast, and in how this constellation was related to the wider social and cultural

conditionsofNorthern Irelandafter theoutbreakof theviolentconflictknownas the

Troublesin1968.Ifoneelementofthisconflictwassectarianism,orthedividebetween

Northern Ireland’sProtestant andCatholicpopulations, howdid this affect theyoung

people from both communities who took part in the scene? If sectarianism was

manifested through the division and demarcation of space, and through a divided

geographyinwhich“asocialnarrativeofterritorialbelongingandownershipexplains

andindeedjustifiesculturalandpoliticalidentity”,whatkindofspaceswerecreatedby

theconstituentpartsandpracticesofthepunkscene?1

Secondly,Iaminterestedinhowthecongregationsofthepunksceneareremembered

by formerparticipants telling their stories in thepresent.Oral history, asAlessandro

Portelliremindsus,“tellsuslessabouteventsthanabouttheirmeaning”.2Thissuggests

thatwhenanalysingoralsourcesweneedtobearinmindthat“whatisreallyimportant

1Shirlow,Pete,‘FearandEthnicDivision’,PeaceReview13,no.1(1March2001),p67.2Portelli,Alessandro,‘WhatMakesOralHistoryDifferent’,p67,inPerks,RobandAlistairThomson(eds),TheOralHistoryReader(London:Routledge,2003).

12

isthatmemoryisnotapassivedepositoryoffacts,butanactiveprocessofcreationof

meanings”.3Howpeoplecreateandnarratetheirmemoriescantellussomethingabout

theconstructionof subjectivityandabout theresidueof thepastmadevisible in that

construction.Itcanalsotellussomethingabouthowsocialdiscoursesaboutthepast,or

cultural memories, mediate and shape the formation and expression of individual

memories. In addition to considering what the punk scene was, and analysing its

relationshiptospaceandcultureinNorthernIrelandduringtheconflict,thethesiswill

drawontheparticularinsightsofferedbyoralhistorytoconnectindividualmemoriesof

thepunkscenetoNorthernIrishculturalmemory.Itwillaskwhatitmeanstohavebeen

a punk – that is, how punk-ness unravels as a thread through the lifecourse of my

interviewees,andhowtheyrelatetheirsubjectivityinthepresenttotheirexperiencesin

thepast.Alongside this, itwill considerhowthesharedmemoryof thepunkscene is

connectedtocontestationsaroundwidermemorycultureinNorthernIreland,where(as

GrahamDawsonhasnoted)“memoriesofthewar–concerning,forexample,whatisat

stakeintheconflict,thejustificationoforganisedviolence,whathasbeenperpetrated

andsuffered,andbywhom–structuretheidentitiesofparticipantsandunderpintheir

broaderpoliticalaspirationsinrespectofasettlement.”4

Theremainderoftheintroductionhasthreeparts.Itbeginswithabriefhistoryofthe

punksceneinthecity.Thisisfollowedbyanexpansionoftheresearchquestionsabove,

situatedwithintherelevantliterature.Finally,Ioutlinethestructureofthethesis.

PunkinBelfast–ahistory

Even suggesting a beginning for something as evanescent as a music culture means

mobilising aparticularunderstandingofwhat amusic culturewas. It also entails the

impositionofthearchive.TheproteststhatfollowedtheClash’scancelledgigattheUlster

Hallon20thOctober1977–whichwecouldcall themomentwherethenascentpunk

scenesawitselfforthefirsttime,asteenagersfromacrossNorthernIrelandgatheredon

3Ibid.,p69.4Dawson,Graham,‘Trauma,PlaceandthePoliticsofMemory:BloodySunday,Derry,1972–2004’,HistoryWorkshopJournal59,no.1(1March2005),p153.

13

BedfordStreetincentralBelfastandswappedrumoursaboutwhatwasgoingtohappen

–areaconvenientstartingpointforahistoryofBelfast’spunkscenebecausenewspaper

recordsallowustodatethemprecisely.LocalpunkbandRudiwroteasingle,Cops, in

protest at the heavy-handed response of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to the

congregationofpunks,someofwhomwerearrested.5Butthehistoryofthepunkscene

inBelfaststartssomewherebeforethis,withahandfulofyoungpeopleformingbands

and buying records, avidly reading the music press to keep track of the scene’s

developmentinLondon,listeningtoJohnPeelandwatchingTopofthePopsandTheOld

GreyWhistleTest.BarsliketheVikinginBelfastandtheTridentinBangorwereattracting

apunk-ycrowdby1976,andby1977RudihadstartedplayinggigsattheGlenmachen

Hotelinthenorth-eastofthecity.TheUndertones,inDerry,werebeginningtoplaygigs

aroundthesametime.6

In the sameperiod inEngland, punkwas entering aperiodof notoriety after the Sex

Pistols’famousappearanceonBillGrundy’sTodayprogramme,on1stDecember1976.

Thisincident(inwhichtheband,goadedbyGrundy,utteredafewobscenitiesonlive,

teatime television) had an impact in Northern Ireland, as did the media furore that

surroundedit.BrianYoung,theleadsingerandfoundingmemberofRudi,toldme:

OnceGodSavetheQueencameoutsorta‘77,peopleforget,thepress,the

PistolswereonthatBillGrundyshow[…]thepresshypeditupsomething

rotten…Punkhadsortof…onceitgotpopularlikethatanditgotpopular

veryquickthroughlate‘76rightinto‘77…therewerealotof,itactually

lostit,itbecamemoreofa–Imeanitwasstill,don’tgetmewrong,itwas

stillbrilliant,itwasstillreallyexciting,itwasstillthereallyearlydaysover

here–butitsortofinaway,inEnglandcertainly,ithadlostitsinnocence.7

SojustaspunkwaslosingitsinnocenceinEngland–becomingamedia-drivenspectacle

ratherthanado-it-yourself(DIY)movement,inBrian’saccount–itwashittingitsstride

5InterviewwithBrianYoung,2016.6RudiwereapunkbandfromeastBelfast,formedin1975andbest-knownfortheir1978singleBigTime;theUndertones,alsoformedin1975,wereapunkbandfromDerrywhosesingleTeenageKicksbecameasynedochalreferenceforpunkinNorthernIreland.SeeAppendixBforalistofallthebandsmentionedinthethesis,withbriefbiographicalinformationandalinktoaSpotifyplaylist.7BY,2016.

14

inNorthernIreland.TerriHooley,aformerparticipantintheattenuatedbutpersistent

counter-culturallifeof1960sBelfast,openedtheGoodVibrationsrecordstoreinmid-

1977,takingtheleaseonaderelictbuildingonGreatVictoriaStreet–alongwithother

recordstoreslikeCarolineMusicandRockyMongo’s,thisbecameanimportantsitefor

the Belfast punk scene, partly as somewhere to meet and hang out, and partly as

somewhere to buy hard-to-find records from England and the USA. Just Books, an

anarchist book store managed by Dave Hyndmann and a rotating cast of comrades,

openedupshopaboveGoodVibrationsandbecameanothergathering-place,onethat

hadaformativeinfluenceonthemorepolitically-mindedparticipantsinthescene.New

bandsbegantoform.Again,Brian’saccountoftheearlyhistoryofthesceneisinformative

here.“ImeanIwasat[the]firstStiffsgigandthefirstOutcastsgigandtheywerewithin

aweekofeachother in late ‘77 inPaddyLamb’s inBallyhackamore[asuburbofEast

Belfast]”,hetoldme.8StiffLittleFingers(theStiffs)andtheOutcastswerefollowedbya

hostofnewbands inBelfastand inother townaroundthecountry,asdetailed in the

comprehensive2004encyclopediaofthisperiodinBelfast,ItMakesYouWanttoSpit.9

TheBelfastpunkfanzineAlternativeUlsteralsopublisheditsfirstissuein1977.10

AftertheClash’sfamousalmost-giginOctober1977wascancelled–probablybecauseof

aproblemwiththevenue’sinsurance,althoughthereasonsremainsomewhatopaque

andcontested,withsomepunksatthetimeandafterwardsallegingcensorshiponthe

part of the local council – they returned to play theMcMordie Hall, a student venue

associatedwithQueen’sUniversityBelfastandnowcalledtheMandelaHall,inDecember

ofthesameyear.Earlyin1978theHarpandthePoundbothstartedputtingonregular

gigswith local punk bands – the Harp even formed a small organising committee to

arrangeitspunknightsfeaturing,amongothers,TerriHooleyandHectorHeathwood.11

InFebruary,twoRuditracks–BigTimeandNo.1–wererecordedatHydeparkStudios

inTemplepatrickforHooley’snewrecordlabel,alsocalledGoodVibrations;thesewent

onsaleinTerri’sshopinApril1978,makingthemthefirstpunkrecordscutinNorthern

Ireland.3,000copieswerere-pressedbyEMIinDublinandtheBBCDJJohnPeelplayed

8BY,2016.9O’Neill,SeanandGuyTrelford(eds.),ItMakesYouWanttoSpit:TheDefinitiveGuidetoPunkinNorthernIreland(Dublin:ReekusMusic,2003).10Ibid.,p18.11InterviewwithHectorHeathwood,2016.

15

the single on its release. In June, a Battle of the Bands concertwas organised at the

McMordieHallfeaturingsevenlocalpunksbands,andinSeptembertheRamonesmade

their first of several visits toBelfast, a formative experience formanyof thepeople I

talkedtoaboutthescene.InthenextsixmonthsorsoGoodVibrationspressedseveral

more records – Justa Nother Teenage Rebel by the Outcasts, Teenage Kicks by the

Undertones,andothersinglesbyProtex,theXdreamysts,theIdiotsandSpider.In1979,

JohnTDavis’sShellshockRock,adocumentaryaboutpunkinBelfast,premieredinCork.12

Throughoutthe1980s,thepunkscenefragmentedandshrunk,muchasitdidinEngland

acoupleofyearsearlier.Ofmostinteresttothisprojectisthesmallanarcho-punkscene

thatemergedinBelfastfromtheearly1980s.ThefirstflashesofthiscamefromtheA

Centre, a social centreorganisedbyDaveHyndmannandothers,whohadpreviously

been involved in the JustBooksCollectivementionedabove.TheACentreopenedon

November1981,remainingopenforjustsixmonthsorsobeforeclosingdownfollowing

theendofitsleaseandsomeissueswiththeRUC.Theanarcho-punkbandsCrass,Poison

GirlsandConflictallplayedthereinthisperiod,inasetofgigsthatprovedformativefor

anotheroneofmyinterviewees,PetesyBurns.13In1986Petesy,alongwithRabWallace

andsomeothers,openedtheWarzoneCollectiveinabuildingneartheJohnHewittpub

inwhathasbecometheCathedralQuarter.Thisremained themostvisibleremainder

fromtheashesoftheoriginalpunkscenethroughoutthe1980s,althoughmanyofthe

participantsweredifferentandthemusicandfashionhadchangedagreatdeal.14

Researchquestions

Punk,cultureandsectarianism

This thesiswill interrogatetherelationshipbetweenpunkandNorthernIrishculture,

with a particular emphasis on the question of sectarianism. The punk scene, as I

suggestedinthefirstsectionoftheintroduction,waspopularwithbothyoungCatholics

and young Protestants in Belfast. Tim Heron argues that “together with boxing,

12InterviewwithJohnTDavis,2015.13InterviewwithPetesyBurns,2016.14Ibid.

16

greyhoundracingandtheBelfastgayscene,punkwasoneofthefewculturalphenomena

which fostered amicable cross-community relationships” during the conflict.15 The

suggestionhereisthatthepunkscenewasnotonlyaspacewhereyoungProtestantsand

youngCatholics couldmeetduringaperiodwhereworkplace segregation, residential

segregation,academicsegregationandleisuresegregationwerethenorm;itwasalso,as

MartinMcCloonesuggests,characterisedbyan“oppositiontothestatusquo”aswellas

to“thoseaggressiveandviolentopponentsofthestatusquowhohadreduceddailylife

totheabject”–thatis,totheunioniststateandtotheBritishgovernment,butalsotothe

paramilitaryopponentsofthosetwostates.16

Myresearchwillcomplicatethisargumentintwoways.Itwilldosofirstlybythinking

about thenatureof sectarianism inNorthern Ireland, andbydrawingon theworkof

DesmondBell,BillRolston,RobbieMcVeighandotherswhoinsistontheimportanceof

understanding sectarianism as a structural product of the Northern Irish state after

partition in 1921 rather than as a product of interpersonal relationships and

disagreements.17Mysuggestionherewillbethatunderstandingthedoubly-articulated

power of sectarianism, as a structure that creates material conditions and that is

expressedatthelevelofeverydaylife,canusefullycomplicatethewaysinwhichwesee

thepunksceneas interveninginNorthernIrishculture.Thecomplexandintersecting

networks of sectarianism, and the institutions that mediated this sectarianism, are

apparent in the accounts of my interviewees; they do not see the punk scene as

transcendingtheseinstitutionsbutratherasallowingthemtonegotiatethemindifferent

ways.

15Heron,Timothy,‘AlternativeUlster:HowPunkTookOntheTroubles’,IrishTimes,(2December2016),accessedonline9/2/18:https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/alternative-ulster-how-punk-took-on-the-troubles-1.2890644.16McLoone,Martin,‘PunkMusicinNorthernIreland:ThePoliticalPowerof“WhatMightHaveBeen”’,IrishStudiesReview12,no.1(1April2004),p32.FormoreaccountsoftherelationshipbetweenpunkandsectarianismseeStewart,Francis,‘“AlternativeUlster”:PunkRockasaMeansofOvercomingtheReligiousDivideinNorthernIreland’,pp76-90,inIrishReligiousConflictinComparativePerspective:Catholics,ProtestantsandMuslims,Wolffe,John(ed.)(London:PalgraveMacmillan,2014;Heron,Timothy,'AlternativeUlster:PunkandtheConstructionofEverydayLifein1970sNorthernIreland',PopularCultureToday:Imaginaries,9(2015),pp1–17;Bailie,Stuart,TroubleSongs:MusicandConflictinNorthernIreland(Belfast:StuartBailie,2018);Heron,Timothy,‘AlternativeUlster’:lepunkenIrlandedeNord(1976-1983),(unpublishedPhdthesis,EcoledoctoraleSciencesdel'hommeetdelasociété,2017).17 Bell, Desmond,Acts of Union: Youth Culture and Sectarianism inNorthern Ireland (London: PalgraveMacmillan,1990);McVeigh,RobbieandBillRolston,‘FromGoodFridaytoGoodRelations:Sectarianism,RacismandtheNorthernIrelandState’,Race&Class48,no.4,2007,pp1–23.

17

Secondly, I will complicate the narrative of the punk scene as non-sectarian by

positioning the scene itself squarelywithin the field of everyday life. Throughout the

thesisthisterm,thepunkscene,willbeusedasashorthandforvenues,institutionsand

bands,but also for a rangeof spatialised,quotidianpractices–buyingandmodifying

clothes,goingtogigs,gatheringtogetherinpubsandpublicspaces,listeningtotheradio

andsoon.Iwillsuggestthatboththevenues,institutionsandbands,andtheeveryday

life thatmoved through them, constitutewhatRaymondWilliams calls a structure of

feelingthatexistedwithintheordinaryculture(s)of1970sNorthernIreland.18HereIwill

bedrawingonrecentworkbyDavidWilkinson,MatthewWorleyandJohnStreet,who

havecalledforhistoricalresearchthatlocatespunk,asastructureoffeeling,“withinits

(shifting)cultural,socio-economicandpoliticalcontext”,andthatutilisesa“combination

of empirical and archival research with a theoretical method that allows for the

complexities, contradictions and contentious nature of punk's cultural practice to be

embraced”.19Ofparticularinteresttomeistheimportanceoflocatingpunkwithinthe

culturalcontextofNorthernIreland,andofsituatingitsparticipantsasinhabitantsofthis

culture who were of course not just punks, but also engaged in the social world of

NorthernIrelandinmanifoldotherways.

The method employed here means there are limits to the claim being made about

sectarianismandthepunkscene.Mostnotably,therelativelysmallnumberofinterviews

solicitedandthefocusonsubjectivityandmemorythroughgranularanalysisof these

interviewsdoesnotallowforastraightforwardempiricalclaimabouttheethno-religious

compositionofthepunkscene,oranargumentaboutthenumberofCatholicandnumber

ofProtestantparticipants.Analternativewayofcomplicatingthenarrativeofthepunk

scene as non-sectarian would be to read it as either predominantly Protestant or

predominantlyCatholic.20Thescaleoftheprojectundertakenhereisnotlargeenoughto

comprehensivelydebunkeitherof thesenarratives, and indeed the implicit argument

that they both make – that the non or un-sectarian aspects of the scene have been

18Williams,Raymond,TheLongRevolution(London:Pelican,1965).19Wilkinson,David,MatthewWorley,andJohnStreet.2017,‘“IWannaSeeSomeHistory”:RecentWritingonBritishPunk’,ContemporaryEuropeanHistory26,no.2,p410.20Theformerreadingwasexpressedtomeininformalconversation;thelatterreadingwasexpressedbyNorthernIrishplaywrightGaryMitchellinaninterviewwithConnalParr.SeeParr,Connal,InventingtheMyth:PoliticalPassionsandtheUlsterProtestantImagination(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2017),pp185-219.Nodetailedempiricalworkexistsonthissubject,however.

18

somewhatoverstated–isrelatedtotheargumentmadethroughoutthisthesisthatwe

needtoviewsectarianismasstructuralratherthanassolelyinterpersonal.However,the

accountsofmyintervieweesfrombothProtestantandCatholicbackgroundssuggestthat

attheveryleastyoungProtestantsandyoungCatholicsbothparticipatedintheBelfast

punkscene,andthatthisentailedadegreeofcross-communityinteractionthattheywere

markedly unaccustomed to. Further research would be needed in order to fully

corroborateanyofthesethreepossiblehistories.

Spaceandplace

As indicated above, a key product of sectarianism as a structure was its role in the

segregation of space in Belfast. Peter Shirlow and JohnMurtagh call this process the

productionofsectarianisedspace.21Bothbycreatingnewspaces(likeGoodVibrations

or theHarpBar) and by allowing people to behave in transgressiveways in existing

spaces,thepunksceneentailedaninterventioninthissectarianisedurbanlandscape.In

thissense,itconstitutedaspatialisedstructureoffeeling,inwhichpeople’scapacityfor

“feeling[their]ownlifeincertainwaysdifferently”wasintimatelyrelatedtothecapacity

toengageinresistantortransgressivespatialpractices.22

Thethesiswillanalysethisspatialisedstructureoffeelinginthreeways.Firstly,through

anhistoricalaccountoftheproductionofsectarianisedspaceinBelfast,drawingonthe

work of the French Marxist geographer Henri Lefebvre.23 Secondly, through a

mobilisationofthemoreactivist-orientedtheoriesofLefebvre,inwhichheproposesthe

necessityforastruggleovertherighttothecity.24ThisuseofLefebvrewillconsiderthe

ways inwhichparticipants inthepunkscenewereattemptingtoarticulatethatclaim

through a desire to create new spaces of sociality and connection in the city, in

contradistinctiontothesectarianlogicsthathavehistoricallyconstitutedandproduced

spaceinBelfast.

21Shirlow,PeterandBrendanMurtagh,Belfast:Segregation,ViolenceandtheCity(London:PlutoPress,2006),p6.22Williams,TheLongRevolution,p65.23Lefebvre,Henri,TheProductionofSpace,trans.DonaldNicholson-Smith(Malden:Blackwell,1991).24Lefebvre,Henri,WritingsonCities,translatedandeditedbyElizabethKofmanandElizabethLebas(Oxford:Blackwell,1996);TheRighttotheCity:AVersoReport(London:Verso,2017).

19

Thirdly, throughanengagementwithgeographicalandsociologicalworkthat ismore

helpful thanLefebvre for thinkingabout the felt and theexperiential, focusingon the

construction of place and the way in which people make sense of their lived

environment.25NoteveryengagementwithspacebytheformerpunksIinterviewedwas

anexplicitorimplicitattempttodemandanewkindofcity,butbeingpartofthepunk

scenedidmakeallofmyintervieweesthinkdifferentlyaboutthemselvesandaboutthe

placestheyinhabited.TimCresswell’sworkontransgressionandmobility,andPierre

Bourdieu’sworkonhabitus,providewaysofthinkingaboutthisshiftthatdonotrelyon

Lefebvre’sexplicitlyrevolutionaryaccountofspatialcontestation.26

Memoryandoralhistory

Thefinalsetofquestionsforthethesisareinpartaproductofthemethodofinquiry,

whichIamcallinginterpretativeoralhistory.Thisisaformoforalhistorywhich,drawing

onthepioneeringworkofAlessandroPortelliandLuisaPasserini, takesseriously the

complexandmulti-facetedinsightsofpeople’smemories.27Myargumenthereisthata

form of oral history that is attentive to memory, ideology, symbolic structures and

narrativedevicesastheyemergeintheconstructionofinterviewscanproduceinsights

intothemeaningofthepunksceneforitsparticipantsandthenatureofthepunkscene

inBelfastasastructureoffeelingandaculturalformation.Thismeans,firstly,thatIam

workingwithaslightlyexpandednotionofstructureoffeeling–forWilliams,thiswas

thesocialrelationshipsandattitudesthatcouldbeapprehendedthroughtextssuchas

novelsandplays,andforWorleyandWilkinson,itissomethingthatcanbeapprehended

throughthematerialephemeraofthepunkscenestheystudy–fanzines,recordsandso

on.Mysuggestionisthatunderstandingpeople’smemoriesasalsobeingthelucidand

creative products of a particular structure of feeling allows for the production of an

25Pierce,Joseph,andDeborahG.Martin,‘PlacingLefebvre’,Antipode47,no.5(9October2015).26Cresswell,Tim,OntheMove:MobilityintheModernWesternWorld(London:Routledge,2006);Bourdieu,Pierre,TheLogicofPractice,trans.RichardNice(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1990).27Portelli,Alessandro,TheBattleofValleGiulia:OralHistoryandtheArtofDialogue(Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1997);Passerini,Luisa,FascisminPopularMemory:TheCulturalExperienceoftheTurinWorkingClass,trans.Lumley,RobertandJudeBloomfield(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2010[1984]).

20

historicalnarrativethatisattentivetothewaysinwhichindividualsmakesenseoftheir

ownpositioninthesocialworld.

Usinganinterpretativeoralhistorymethodmeans,secondly,thatIwillbedrawingon

theworkofthePopularMemoryGroup,AlistairThomsonandothersinconsideringthe

waysinwhichmemoryisasiteofcontestationandstruggle.28Whatpeopleremember,

howtheyexpressitwithintheco-producedtextoftheinterview,whatculturalscripts

andnarrativestheydrawontodoso,canallrevealtheconnectionbetweenthepastand

thepresentandthepoliticalramificationsofthisconnection.

Intermsofthemethodofthestudyitself,Icarriedout12interviewsintotal,mostofthem

betweenoneandtwohourslong.FortheanalysishereIhavechosentoconcentratein

depthon fourof the interviews,althoughsomeof theothershavebeenused(aswith

Brian’sabove, for instance)either toadumbrateaparticularhistoricalnarrativeor to

speakalongsideoneofthein-depthanalyses.Takingthisapproach(detailedanalysisof

individualinterviewsratherthanabricolageorpolyphonictechnique)isanattemptto

givethenarrativesofmyintervieweesanopportunitytospeakintheirspecificityandfull

expressiveness;itisalsoanattempttomakesenseofthedifferentwaysinwhichpeople

experiencedandrememberpunkasastructureoffeelingandtoanalysethereasonsfor

thesedifferent-but-connectedmemoriesandemotions.

Thestructure

Theremainderofthethesisconsistsofsixchapters.Thefirstchapterdevelopsanaccount

ofthedoubly-articulatedroleofsectarianisminNorthernIrishsociety, identifyingthe

keyinstitutionalsitesforthemaintenanceandpropagationofsectarianism–education,

work, the churches and leisure – aswell as considering its expression at the level of

everydaylife.DrawingontheworkofRaymondWilliams,itthensituatesthepunkscene

asastructureoffeelingwithinthiswidercultureofdivisionandproposesthatitmustbe

28PopularMemoryGroup,‘PopularMemory:Theory,Politics,Method’,inPerks,RobertandAlistairThomson(eds.),TheOralHistoryReader(London:Routledge,1998);Thomson,Alistair,AnzacMemories:LivingWiththeLegend(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994).

21

understoodasfundamentallyenmeshedwithinthiscultureatthesametimeasallowing

youngpeopletorespondtoitinnew(oremergent)ways.

ThesecondchaptergroundsthisaccountinthespecificspacesofBelfast,beginningwith

ahistoricalnarrativeoftheproductionofspaceinthecityandtherelationshipthishas

tosectarianism.ThisopenswiththeVictorianandEdwardianperiodinwhichthecity

tookonarecognisableshape,movesontotheperiodbetween1920and1968inwhich

thenewNorthern Irishstatewasdeveloped inpart through thecontrolof space.The

narrativeconcludeswithaconsiderationoftheemergenceoftheTroublesinBelfastand

particularlyonthewayinwhichthedirectrulegovernmentfrom1972undertookthe

managementandsecuritisationofthecity.Finally,thepunksceneispositionedwithin

thislandscape.

ChapterthreedescribestheinterpretiveoralhistorymethodIhaveusedtoconnectthe

narrativesofmyintervieweestotheissuesofsectarianismandspacedescribedinthe

previoustwochapters.Itsuggeststhataccessingthestructureoffeelingofthepunkscene

throughoralhistory interviewsmakespossibleanunderstandingof thetemporaland

remembereddimensionsoftheparticipants’experiences,andoftheemotionalafterlives

and resonances of events as recalled some thirty years after they took place. In the

contextofNorthernIreland,oralhistoryisalsoanimportantwayofgeneratingstories

about the recentpast thatdonot correspondexclusively tonarrativesof conflict and

division. A detailed consideration of the creative ways in which my interviewees

formulatetheirexperiencesinconversationwithculturalmemorydiscoursesprovides

aninsightintotherelationshipbetweenpastandpresentinNorthernIreland.

Chaptersfour,fiveandsixmoveontodirectanalysisofthenarrativesofmyinterviewees.

ChapterfouranalysesaninterviewwithAlisonFarrell,awomanfromDungannonwho

became interested in the punk scene in the late 1970s andmoved to Belfast shortly

afterwards.Drawingontheoreticalworkontransgressionandmobility,andinparticular

the work of Tim Cresswell on the way in which transgressive acts and differential

capacitiesofmobilityforegroundhowideologyisembeddedinspatiallogics,Iconnect

the epiphanic role punk play’s in Alison’s narrative with the capacity it gives her to

22

transgressboundaries of sectarianismand respectability inNorthern Ireland.29Three

furtheranecdotesaboutmobilityandmovement toldbyAlison thensuggestawayof

thinking aboutpunkas a structureof feeling and the relationshipof this structureof

feelingtofearandviolenceinthe1970sand1980s.

ChapterfiveanalysesaninterviewwithGarethMullan,amanfromsouthBelfastwhowas

involved in the punk scene from the mid-‘70s and who now collects records and

occasionallywritesforpunkfanzinesandwebzines,oftenabouttheStranglers.Punkis

epiphanicforGareth,asitisforAlison,butthischapterarguesthattheepiphinalmemory

of punk is expressed with a different inflection here. Rather than being about the

possibilityofmovement,Gareth’saccountisaboutthepossibilityofchanginghimselfthat

takingpartinthepunksceneoffered.Thisaspectofthestructureoffeelingisunderstood

here through reference to the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his

collaboratorLoïcWacquant,especiallytheirworkonhabitusandtheself.30Bourdieu’s

accountofthehabitusasembodiedhistoryisahelpfulextensiontoWilliams’workon

culture,thechaptersuggests,butdrawingonoralhistorytheoryandaccountsoflocal

and community historical practice also allows us to challenge some elements of

Bourdieu’s framework in which history acts on individuals without their conscious

awareness.

Chaptersixanalysestwointerviews,onewithPetesyBurns,aformermemberofStalag

17 from the New Lodge area of Belfast, and another with Damien McCorry, from

Andersonstown,whoalsoplayedinpunkbandsinthe1970sand1980s.BothPetesyand

Damienconceptualiseandnarratetheirexperienceofthepunksceneasexplicitlyrelated

topolitics,PetesythroughreferencetotheanarchistsocialcentreGiro’s,whichhehelped

tolaunch,andDamienthroughreferencetotheanti-racist,leftistpoliticsoftheClashand

Rock Against Racism. Their memories are analysed through a return to the work of

Lefebvre,particularlythroughhisconceptoftherighttothecity,aswellastorecentwork

in oral history that connects the experience of place to the emergence of particular

29Cresswell,Tim,InPlace/OutofPlace:Geography,IdeologyandTransgression(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,1996).30Wacquant,Loïc,BodyandSoul:NotebooksofanApprenticeBoxer(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2007).

23

structuresoffeeling.Intheconclusion,thethreeanalysischaptersarebroughttogether

to describe the connections and divergences between the four narratives, and a final

argumentaboutsectarianism,spaceandplaceandmemoryismade.

24

CHAPTERONE–INSTITUTIONS,SECTARIANISMANDYOUTHCULTUREIntroduction

Cultureisordinary:thatisthefirstfact.Everyhumansocietyhasitsownshape,itsown

purpose,itsownmeanings.Everyhumansocietyexpressesthese,ininstitutions,andin

arts and learning. The making of a society is the finding of common meanings and

directions, and its growth is an active debate and amendment under the pressures of

experience,contactanddiscovery,writingthemselvesintotheland.1

Theideathatthisthesistracksisthataconsiderationofmemoriesofthepunkscenein

Belfastbetween1977and1986opensupaspaceinwhichwecanseesomeofthelarger

issuesofNorthernIreland’srecenthistoryastheyintersectwiththeexperienceofmy

interviewees.Inordertoilluminatethisspace,thisopeningchapterpositionstheBelfast

punksceneinitsculturalcontext.Forallofmyinterviewees,talkingabouttakingpartin

thepunkscenealsoentailedtalkingaboutbeingyounginNorthernIrelandinthe1970s

and1980sandabouttheirformativeencounterswiththelineamentsofNorthernIrish

society.Theirstoriesdidnottendtosetupastraightforwarddichotomybetweenpunk

asacultureandNorthernIrishculture,forinstancebyconstructingNorthernIrelandas

fully embroiled in sectarian animosity and punk as magically resolving these

contradictions toproduce autopiannon-sectarian community.Rather,Northern Irish

culture functions as amobile backdrop, a series of historical constructions of society

producedbytheintervieweesagainstwhichtheirdifferentnarrativesofthepunkscene

arepresentedandperformed.

ThekeyimagesofNorthernIreland’srecenthistorymyintervieweespositionthepunk

sceneagainstarethoseofsectarianism,segregationandviolenceintheprovince.Sothe

roleofthisfirstchapteristodefinesectarianisminthecontextofNorthernIrelandasan

ordinary culture of division; to consider some of the institutions that formed and

maintained this culture, and the ways in which segregation and state discrimination

intersectedwiththeeverydaylifeofyoungpeople,especiallyinBelfast;andtopropose

1Williams,Raymond,ResourcesofHope:Culture,Democracy,Socialism(London:Verso,1989),p93.

25

an understanding of the punk scene in relation to the definition and mapping of

sectarianismandsegregationofferedinthefirsttwosections.

RaymondWilliamsandculturesofdivision

ThisreadingofNorthernIreland’scultureofdivisionwillbedevelopedthroughthework

ofMarxist literarycriticandtheoristRaymondWilliams.Hisassertionthat “culture is

ordinary,ineverysocietyandineverymind”isausefulstartingpointfortheanalysisof

whatpunkinBelfastcameoutofandintervenedin.2The1958essayinwhichthiswell-

knownformulationisexpressed,CultureisOrdinary,beginswithanelegiacdescription

ofWilliams’childhoodinsouth-eastWales,scatteredwithcluesastotheargumenthe

wantstomakeabouttherelationshipbetweencultureandeverydaylife.Hedescribesthe

cathedral,thecinema,theNormancastlesandthefarmingvalleys,“thesteel-rollingmill,

thegasworks,thegreyterraces,thepitheads”.3Religion,filmsandpopularculture,work,

landscape, history, education – these are someof the sitesWilliamsnames as arenas

wheretheindividualandthesocialmeetandareformedinrelationshiptooneanother.

Culturehereistheshape,purposeandmeaningofsociety,asexpressedininstitutions,

arts,learningandtheeverydaymomentsinwhichpeopleengagewithoneanother.4

ThereareseveralthingsatstakeforWilliamsinthisdefinitionofculture.Hewantsto

insistoncultureaslived,experiencedandthusaccessibletoall;hewantstoacceptthat

culture“mustbefinallyinterpretedinrelationtoitsunderlyingsystemofproduction”,

butnottomovefromthisinterpretationtoanunderstandingofallworking-classculture

assolelythenegativeproductofdominationoralienation–“adyingculture,andignorant

masses, are notwhat I have known or see”.5 Finally, rather than a dying culture and

ignorantmasses,Williams is lionising a “distinctworking-classway of life”,which he

valuesfor“itsemphasesofneighbourhood,mutualobligationandcommonbetterment,

asexpressedinthegreatworking-classpoliticalandindustrialinstitutions”.6

2Ibid.3Ibid.,p92. 4Ibid.,p93.5Ibid.,pp95-96.6Ibid.

26

Translating this understanding into a Northern Irish context presents an immediate

problem.7Thebackdropsuggestedbymyintervieweesisnotoneofadistinctworking-

classwayoflifethatpunkasacultureexpressesorcritiques.Rather,itisasegregated

and sectarianised culture inwhich community and identities are formed against one

another and through their differential and conflictual relationshipswith the state. To

adopt Williams’ understanding of culture as lived and experiential but also formed

throughencounterswithinstitutionalpowerandclassstruggle,itisneccesarytoaccount

forsectarianism inNorthern Irelandand its role increatingseparatewaysof lifeand

separate social experiences. This entails thinking about sectarianism as doubly-

articulated,atthelevelofinstitutionsandatthelevelofeverydaylife.

Sectarianismandculture

JohnWhyte,inhis1990surveyofthevoluminousliteratureproducedabouttheNorthern

IrishTroubles,suggeststhatthereare“almostasmanyinterpretationsofthecommunity

divideasthereareauthors”.8Thequestionofhowtohistoricise,situate,contextualise

andconceptualisethecommunitydivideisacentralonebecauseitdetermineshowthe

conflict itself isunderstood.Broadly, therearethreekeypositions inthe literatureon

sectarianism and Northern Ireland. Firstly, there is one in which sectarianism is an

epiphenomenalexpressionofaconflictthatisreallyabout,forinstance,classstruggleor

a colonial settler-nativedivide; secondly, there is one inwhich sectarianismand thus

religiousidentityisintegraltothedivisionbetweenProtestantsandCatholics;thirdly,

thereisasynthesisofthesetwopositionsinwhich“conflictisindeedwagedbetweentwo

communitieswhosemembersarereligiouslydifferentiated,but[whoare]alsodivided

bybroaderculturaldifferences,nationalallegiances,historiesofantagonisticencounters,

andmarkeddifferencesineconomicandpoliticalpower”.9

7ThereareanalogiesherewithWilliams’problematicelisionofissuesofraceandcolonialisminhisunderstandingofcommunityandnation.FortheformerseeGilroy,Paul,ThereAin’tNoBlackintheUnionJack:TheCulturalPoliticsofRaceandNation(London:HutchinsonEducation,1987);forthelatterseeSaïd,EdwardW,Culture&Imperialism(London:Vintage,1994),especiallytheintroduction.8Whyte,John,InterpretingNorthernIreland(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1990),p103.9O’Leary,BrendanandJohnMcGarry,ExplainingNorthernIreland:BrokenImages(London,AthlonePress,1996),p172;IhaveadaptedthishelpfultaxonomyfromElliott,Laurence,‘ReligionandSectarianisminUlster:InterpretingtheNorthernIrelandTroubles’,ReligionCompass7,no.3(12March2013),pp93–101.Forrepresentativeexamplesofthefirstandsecondpositionssee,respectively,Clayton,Pamela,EnemiesandPassingFriends:SettlerIdeologiesinTwentiethCenturyUlster(London:PlutoPress,

27

For thisproject, thekey theoreticalaccountofsectarianismwillbeRobbieMcVeigh’s,

whichfitsintothethirdcategoryofthattaxonomyabovebutisstrikingforitsemphasis

onthestructuralelementsofsectarianism.McVeigh’scentralpointisthat“sectarianism

must be theorised as a structure”, not as “an aggregate of thedeeds of unpleasant or

deviant‘sectarians’”.10Fromthisposition,hearguesthat“[thisstructure]ismorethana

set of ideologies or a category of practices or an amalgam of individual actions:

sectarianism is themodality inwhich life is livedbyeverybody in theSixCounties”.11

DevelopingthisideaalongsideBillRolstonin2007,McVeighinsiststhatunderstanding

sectarianismasaformofracismandthusasbeingmoreconcernedwithethnicitythan

religioniscentraltomakingthecasethatsectarianism’s“survivalandreplication[…]in

itsmostfundamentalandstructuralsenseisentirelydependentonthestate”.12Thatis

to say, it would bemisguided to construct the punk scene as creating non-sectarian

relationships and attitudes among young people, and from there to construct

sectarianism in Northern Ireland as being primarily or fundamentally a skein of

interpersonal animosities. Desmond Bell, in his 1990 ethnography of loyalist youth

culture,makes a similar argument, noting that inmuchof thediscourse about young

peopleinNorthernIreland“theissueofsectarianismhasbeenreducedtooneofpersonal

prejudice and aberrant cognitions”, occluding the “penetration of sectarianmodes of

experienceintotheroutinizedpracticeofeverydaylifeinUlster”.13Inthissense,then,

thefirstlevelofarticulationatwhichsectarianismoperatesisinstitutionalandstructural.

WhileacceptingMcVeigh’s importantargument that thestate is the locus fromwhich

sectarianismisarticulated,itisalsoimportant–asthefoursectionsoninstitutionsbelow

will suggest – to acknowledge the role of non-state structures in the production and

1996);Bruce,Steve,GodSaveUlster!TheReligionandPoliticsofPaisleyism(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1986).10McVeigh,Robbie,‘TheUndertheorisationofSectarianism’,TheCanadianJournalofIrishStudies16,no.2(December1990),p121;seealsoMcVeigh,Robbie,SectarianisminNorthernIreland:TowardsaDefinitioninLaw(Belfast:EqualityCoalition,2014)andMcVeigh,Robbie,‘CherishingtheChildrenoftheNationUnequally:SectarianisminIreland’,pp620-652,inIrishSociety:SociologicalPerspectives,Clancy,Patrick,SheelaghDrudy,KathleenLynchandLiamO’Dowd(eds.)(Dublin:InstituteofPublicAdministration,1995).11Ibid,p122.12McVeigh,RobbieandBillRolston,‘FromGoodFridaytoGoodRelations:Sectarianism,RacismandtheNorthernIrelandState’,Race&Class48,no.4(1April2007),p5.13Bell,Desmond,ActsofUnion:YouthCultureandSectarianisminNorthernIreland(London:MacmillanEducation,1990),p48.

28

maintenanceofsectarianidentities.BoththeCatholicandtheProtestantchurchsystems,

forinstance,areconnectedtobutnotreducibletothestate.

Additionally,insistinguponthisstructuralunderstandingofsectarianismmustnotelide

thefactthat“sectarianismisthemodalityinwhichlifeislivedbyeverybodyintheSix

Counties”,asMcVeighargues–structuresformidentitiesandexperiences,theyarefelt

andembodied,andthiseverydayandsubjectivelevelofarticulationisimportantformy

analysis of the cultureof division apparent inmy interviewees accountsof life in the

province.The second level of articulationof sectarianism isdescribedbySugdenand

Bairneras“asymboliclabellingprocessthroughwhichcommunitydivisionsaredefined

andmaintained, [providing]an ideological justification fordiscrimination, community

conflictandpoliticalviolence”.14FrankBurton,inhisanthropologicalstudyof‘Anro’or

theArdoyneareaofBelfast,givesagoodexampleofoneof themanifestationsof this

process, which he calls telling. Telling – ascertaining whether an interlocutor is

ProtestantorCatholicbasedonverbalandnon-verbalcues–“furnishesaninsightinto

thenatureanddepthofarivensocietybyilluminatingthecentralityofdifferenceasa

typicalmodeofthought”.15Theusemadeofthese“semiologicalclues”doesnotmeanthat

thedifferencestheyrelyonarebasedinfact,butthataseriesofhistoricalandmaterial

conditionshavemarkedthesocialconstructionsofselfandotherwithwhatBurtoncalls,

inanicephrase,“thesedimentofhistory”.16ThisisanarticulationthatrecallswhatDavid

Cairnshasdescribedas“themundaneeverydayrealityofsectarianismwithinthetwo

rivalcommunities”,onethathesituatesfortheProtestantcommunityasexistinginthe

fields of Orangeism, sport and popular culture.17 This is sectarianism as “a lived

relationship defined by inequalities of power”, to recontextualise Selina Todd’s

descriptionoftherelationshipbetweenclassandexperienceinBritain.18

14Sugden,JohnandAlanBairner,Sport,SectarianismandSocietyinaDividedIreland(Leicester:LeicesterUniversityPress,1993).15Burton,Frank,ThePoliticsofLegitimacy:StrugglesinaBelfastCommunity(London:Routledge&KeganPaul,1978),p37.16Ibid.,p49. 17Cairns,David,‘TheObjectofSectarianism:TheMaterialRealityofSectarianisminUlsterLoyalism’,TheJournaloftheRoyalAnthropologicalInstitute6,no.3(2000),pp437–452;seealsoBrewer,JohnD,andGarethIHiggins,‘UnderstandingAnti-CatholicisminNorthernIreland’,Sociology33,no.2(1May1999),pp235–55,foranaccountofanti-Catholicismasadiscursiveformation.18Todd,Selina,‘Class,ExperienceandBritain’sTwentiethCentury’.SocialHistory39,no.4(2October2014),p501.

29

To reiterate, sectarianismwill be understood here as a doubly-articulated process in

Northern Irish culture that generates a sense of difference between Protestants and

Catholics. The picture is not one of a “simple immutable Catholic-Protestant

dichotomy”.19 But it isone inwhich thestructureof institutionsand thestructureof

societyworktogethertogenerateasetofmaterialandsymbolicconditionsthatseparate

thetwocommunities,conditionsthatarethenexpressedandengagedwithonthelevel

ofeverydaylife.

Thesetwofunctionsofsectarianismaredoubly-articulated:theyareasetofprocesses

thatworktogether togenerate thesocialconditionsof life inNorthernIreland.20This

allows us, hopefully, to stay with Cairns’ useful suggestion that sectarianism can be

understoodasadiscursiveformationthatshapesthe“dichotomisedsocialrelationsof

two religiously labelled communities”, while still holding on to the critical insight of

RolstonandMcVeighinsituatingtheinstitutionsofthestateasformativeofsectarianism,

andavoidinganaccountofsectarianismassomethingequallydispersedbetweenboth

communities.21AnexampleofhowthisprocessworkscanbeseeninEamonnMcCann’s

classicaccountofthestartoftheconflictinNorthernIreland,WarandanIrishTown,first

publishedin1974.

LifeinanIrishtown?

DrawingonMcCann’stextmayseemlikeawrongturn,giventhatitisconcernedwiththe

socialandculturalworldofCatholicDerryratherthanBelfast,butitissignificantdueto

thestrikingaffinitybetweentheopeningpagesofthistextandthefirsttwoparagraphs

ofWilliams’ essay.LikeWilliams,McCanndescribes the structuring institutionsofhis

childhoodintheBogside,aworking-class,Catholiccommunity.22Heidentifieseducation,

19Darby,John,IntimidationandtheControlofConflictinNorthernIreland(Dublin:GillandMacmillan,1986),p26.20ForanaccountofdoublearticulationasawayofunderstandingsocialprocessesseeDeLanda,Manuel,Deleuze:HistoryandScience(NewYork:AtroposPress,2010),especiallypp29-51;theoriginalusageisfromDeleuze,GillesandFélixGuatarri,AThousandPlateaus:CapitalismandSchizophrenia,trans.BrianMassumi(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,1987[1980]).21Ibid.,p439. 22McCann,Eamonn,WarandanIrishTown(London:PlutoPress,1993).Here,asthroughout,IamusingCatholic(andProtestant)torefertothecommunitiesingeneral;ifreferringtoaspecificpoliticalposition

30

leisure (Gaelic lessons, hurling), the state (mainly encountered via the Royal Ulster

ConstabularyorRUCinhisaccount),formalpoliticalparticipation,thefamily,thechurch

andthemediaasformativeinstitutions.Healsosuggestssomeotherimportantsitesless

easily-encapsulated under one institutional umbrella – the symbolic practices of

commemorationthatmarkoutspaceinNorthernIreland,suchasparades,andCatholic

consciousness of the Protestant community as privileged in terms of access to social

housingandemployment.Howdotheseinstitutionsworktoproduceasectarianisedway

oflifeinMcCann’sbriefaccount?

First, there is his all-Catholic education, inwhichhe learned “that Christ died for the

humanraceandPatrickPearsefortheIrishsectionofit”–thisinitiationintothepolitics

of romantic nationalism and Catholicism occurred both in the family and the school,

McCannsuggests.23Secondly,thereareGaeliclessonsandhurlingclasses,bothofwhich

wereinterruptedin1957duringtheIrishRepublicanArmy’s(IRA’s)bordercampaign

whenthelocalmanrunningthemwasarrestedwithouttrialforsevenmonths–gesturing

to an important third institution in the formationof identity inNorthern Ireland, the

police,whointhisnarrativerepresentastatestructurethatsystematicallydiscriminated

againstitsminorityCatholicpopulationthroughthe1922SpecialPowersActthatmade

internmentwithouttrialpossible.24ThefourthinstitutionnamedbyMcCannisthatof

formalpolitics,anarenainwhichtheNationalistPartywasinextricablyboundupwith

theCatholicChurch–henoteswrylythat“thefearthatitwasquitepossiblysinfultovote

against theNationalistPartywasquite real”, foreshadowinghis enthusiastic apostasy

againstpoliticalnormsintheprovince.25

Thefifthinstitutionisthechurchitself,whichforhimisparticularlymanifestintherole

itplaysindeterminingthecurriculumathisschool,StColumbs.Sixth,thereisthelocal

Catholic paper, the Derry Journal (as opposed to the local Protestant paper, the

LondonderrySentinel).Hisexperienceofalloftheseformativeinstitutionsistiedupin

other,morediffuseawarenessesandinteractions–seeingProtestantsmarcheveryyear

Iwilluseeitherunionist,loyalist,nationalistorrepublican,withthegradationsinpositionandpraxisthosetermsimply.23Ibid.,p65.PatrickorPadraigPearseisarepublicaniconwhowasexecutedforhisroleintheEaster1916rising,whichhasaparticularmythicresonanceforIrishrepublicancollectivememory.24Ibid.,p67;foramoredetailedaccountoftheSpecialPowersAct,seechaptertwo.25Ibid.,p68.

31

onthe12thofAugust tocommemorate theSiegeofDerry;26noticing thehighratesof

unemploymentintheBogside,ascomparedtotherelativelyprosperous,Protestantparts

of the city; living in cramped, dangerous slumhousing.27 Summingup,McCann says:

“Ourswasateeming,crumblingareaofugly,tiny,terracehouses,meanstreetswhere

menstoodinsullengroupsatthecornerwhiletheirwiveswentouttoworkandchildren

skippedtosongsofsullenhatred.”28

McCann’saccountofhisexperiencesasachildandyoungpersonintheBogsidearenot

necessarilybeingheldupasrepresentativehere.Foronething,Derrywasverydifferent

fromBelfast; for another, as alluded to above, thenarrativehe is producing entails a

particularteleologyintermsofhisownpoliticalcareer,onewhichispredicatedonhis

description of the stifling influence of Catholicism in ensuring that “no revolutionary

ferment” arose in the area before 1968.29 And, clearly, he is describing a Catholic

childhoodratherthanaProtestantone,andaworking-classoneratherthanamiddle-

classone.Finally,thisisayoungman’schildhoodratherthanayoungwoman’s.Butwe

canperceivetheoutlinesofaframeworkofidentifyformationhere,ofcultureasaway

oflifethatisformeddiscursivelyandmateriallybyencounteringaseriesofstructures

andinstitutions,somemoreeasily-describedthanothers.

Thatis,aswellasataxonomyofinstitutions,thisaccountoffersawayofthinkingabout

theprocessofdoublearticulationinrelationtosectarianisedcultureinNorthernIreland.

At the level of the state and of structural sectarianism, McCann describes the

discrimination of the RUC against the minority Catholic population, and the uneven

patternsofunemploymentandaccesstohousingthatcharacterisedlifeinDerry;atthe

levelofeverydaylifeandsubjectivityhedescribeshowthisisformativeofaparticular

setofbehaviours,attitudesandidentificationswithinthecultureofhiscommunity.This

isnottomakeadeterministicoressentialistpointabouttherelationshipbetweenculture

26TheSiegeofDerry,a1689engagementintheWilliamiteWarsinIreland,hasamythicresonanceforNorthernIrishunionistandloyalistculture,anditsannualcommemorationhasbeenthecatalystformanyriotsinthecity.SeeBardon,Jonathan,AHistoryofUlster(Belfast:TheBlackstaffPress,1992),p157;onthepoliticsofcommemorationinNorthernIrelandseeJarman,Neil,MaterialConflicts:ParadesandVisualDisplaysinNorthernIreland(Oxford:Berg,1997).27McCann,War,p81.28Ibid. 29Ibid.;seePrince,Simon,‘TheGlobalRevoltof1968andNorthernIreland’,TheHistoricalJournal49,no.3(2006),pp851-875.

32

and identity. After all, McCann’s own career as a Marxist writer and activist and

somewhatheterodoxrepublicanistestamenttothemanifoldwaysinwhichindividuals

canmakesenseoftheirsocialandculturalworldinformingaself.AsWilliamspointsout

inCultureisOrdinary,cultureisnotstraight-forwardlydidactic–racistnewspapersdo

notnecessarilymakeracistreaders,forinstance.30

Butwhat isclearfromthisbriefpassageis, firstly, thespatialsegregationofNorthern

Irishsociety,bothintermsofresidentialgeographiesandtheseparationofProtestants

andCatholics in education andwork; secondly, the different anduneven relationship

with the state felt andexperiencedbyProtestantsandCatholics; thirdly, the role this

plays in creating an ordinary culture of division in which identity is formed.31 The

question of spatial segregation is crucial here; this chapter will focus mainly on the

segregationof institutionsrather than thesegregationofspaceassuch,whichwillbe

dealtwithinthefollowingchapter.ButinmovingtoBelfastratherthantheBogsideof

Derry,itisimportanttonotethatintheperiodIammostconcernedwith(themid-1970s

tomid-1980s)thecitywasspatiallydividedalongethno-sectarianlines;soin1972,for

instance,71percentofProtestanthouseholdsinBelfastwereinstreetsthatwerealmost

exclusively Protestant, and 66 per cent of Catholic households aligned to the same

pattern.32Thehistoryandthecausesofthissegregationwillbedetailedinchaptertwo.

Fornowitissimplyimportanttobearinmindthatinstitutionsarenotfree-floatingsites

that individuals dissolve into and emerge from, but geographical spaces that are

interconnected with other networks and infrastructures and thus implicated in the

“[patterns of] sectarianised immobility and the repetitive geography of territorial

disputation”thatcharacterisedurbanBelfast.33Totakeanextremeexamplefromrecent

NorthernIrishhistory,theHolyCrossdisputein2001inwhichCatholicschoolchildren

intheArdoyneareaofNorthBelfastwereforcedtocrossanaggressiveloyalistblockade

atthegatesoftheinstitutioninordertogotoclassisindicativeofhowinstitutionsand

30Williams,ResourcesofHope,p99.31ForaninterestingaccountofhowWilliams’textcanbeusedtounderstandracializedcultureinBritain,seeLewis,Gail,‘RacialisingCultureisOrdinary’,CulturalStudies21,no.6(1November2007),pp866–886.32Boal,Fred,‘EthnicResidentialSegregation,EthnicMixingandResourceConflict:AStudyinBelfast,NorthernIreland’,inPeach,Ceri,VaughanRobinsonandSusanSmith(eds.),EthnicSegregationinCities(London:CroomHelm,1981).33Shirlow,PeterandBrendanMurtagh,Belfast:Segregation,ViolenceandtheCity(London:PlutoPress,2006),p10.

33

experiences of institutions are intimately connected to questions of segregation and

spaceaswellastoquestionsofsectarianism.34

ThefollowingfoursectionswillconsidertherolesofsitesofidentityformationinBelfast,

concentratingparticularlyoneducation,work,religionandleisure.Thisaccountwillalso

delineatethe“co-existenceofnormalityandabnormalityinsuchasmallspace”thatJohn

Darby identified as one of the characteristics of the conflict in Northern Ireland, an

interplaythatisunavoidablewhendescribingtheconditionsofeverydaylifeforyoung

people during the 1970s and 1980s.35 Darby’s point has ramifications for this

introduction to institutions and sectarianism. In giving this schematic account it is

important tobear inmindthatyoungpeople’sexperiencesof theconflict inNorthern

Ireland exist across awide spectrum,with each pole representing radically different

encounters with violence, sectarianism and the state. Presenting a social history of

institutions (rather than a history of experiences) means the needle will gravitate

towards the middle of this spectrum throughout this initial chapter, although young

people’sexperiencesofviolenceduringtheconflictwillbediscussedbelow.

School,universityandformsofdivision

Thepost-warsocialcontracthadamajorimpactonNorthernIrelandintheformofthe

Education (NI) Act in 1947, which reshaped the educational landscape and made

secondaryandtertiaryschoolingaccessibletothosefrompoorercommunities–often

meaningCatholics.36ButthestructuringandmanagementofNorthernIrisheducation

remained a contentious issue.Thedebate on educationhad two sides. Firstly, that of

selection. Unlike in England, where compulsory academic selection ended in 1965,

Northern Ireland retained anational process of academic selectionwhereby students

wereassessedattheageofelevenandthenplacedintoeitheragrammarschooloranon-

34Ashe,Fidelma,‘GenderingEthno-NationalistConflictinNorthernIreland:AComparativeAnalysisofNationalistWomen’sPoliticalProtests’,EthnicandRacialStudies30,no.5(1September2007),pp766–786.35Darby,Intimidation,p136Farren,Sean,‘ALostOpportunity:EducationandCommunityinNorthernIreland1947-1960’,HistoryofEducation21,no.1(1March1992),pp71–82.

34

grammar school, depending on their performance in the exam.37 Secondly, that of

segregation.Until1981,whenLaganCollegeopened,allschoolinginNorthernIreland

was semi-officially segregated along religious lines;38 Lagan’s opening marked the

apotheosis of an anti-segregation campaign that began in the mid-70s with the All

Children Together (ACT) campaign for integration in secondary education.39 State

schools,whileofficiallynon-denominational,weredominatedbyProtestantsintermsof

studentsandstaff;Catholicschools,“whichenjoyedanextremelycloserelationshipwith

theChurch”,werewherethevastmajorityofyoungCatholicswereeducated.40Priorto

theattemptsatreformthatbeganintheearly1970s,theseparationofCatholicschools

fromthestateeducationsystemwaspronounced–TerenceO’Neill,primeministerof

NorthernIrelandfrom1963to1969,boastsinhisautobiographyofbeingthefirstholder

ofthatofficetopubliclyvisitaCatholicschool,in1964.41

Intermsofthewayinwhichyoungpeople’ssocialandculturalidentitieswereformed

viatheseinstitutions,thephysicalseparationofCatholicsandProtestantsisimportant;

however, we also need to be attentive to issues of class, which often cut across the

sectariandivideinthatqualityandmannerofeducationweredeterminedthroughclass

position moreso than through ethno-sectarian position.42 Some grammar schools

extractedfeesfromthefamilyofstudents,andothersdidnot,creatinganobviousclass

split;alessobviousbutmorewidespreadissuecomeswiththenatureofselectionitself,

37Manning,AlanandJörn-SteffenPischke,ComprehensiveVersusSelectiveSchoolinginEnglandandWales:WhatDoWeKnow?(London:LondonSchoolofEconomics,2006),p1;thelocalisationofeducationpolicyinEnglandmeansthatthecomprehensivesystemwasneverintegrateduniversallyacrossthecountry,meaningselectionwas(andindeedis)retainedinsomeareas.38TheBelfastpunkbandRuefrex,knownfortheirpoliticalsloganeeringandespeciallyforthe1985singleWildColonialBoy,acausticattackonIrish-Americansupportforrepublicanviolence,playedabenefitgigforLaganCollegeinthemid-80saspartoftheirwiderattempttoaddressissuesofsectarianism.SeeCampbell,SeanandGerrySmyth,‘FromShellshockRocktoCeasefireSounds:PopularMusic’,inCoulter,ColinandMichaelMurray(eds.),NorthernIrelandAftertheTroubles:ASocietyinTransition(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2008),p243.39Bardon,Jonathan,TheStruggleforSharedSchoolsinNorthernIreland:TheHistoryofAllChildrenTogether(Belfast:UlsterHistoricalFoundation,2009).40Simpson,Kirk,andPeterDaly,‘PoliticsandEducationinNorthernIreland—anAnalyticalHistory’,IrishStudiesReview12,no.2(1August2004),pp163–174.41O’Neill,Terence,TheAutobiographyofTerenceO’Neill:PrimeMinisterofNorthernIreland,1963-1969(London:RupertHart-Davis,1972),p59.O’Neillalsobemoansthefactthatacannypressphotographerusedatelescopiclenstoproduceanimageinwhichthecrucifixabovetheschool,inBallymoney,loomedominouslyoverhishead.42ThispointismadewellbySeamusDunn.SeeDunn,Seamus,‘TheRoleofEducationintheNorthernIrelandConflict’,OxfordReviewofEducation12,no.3(1986),pp233–242.

35

whichtendedtoreinforceprivilegeacrossthespectrumsofclassandreligion.43Therole

ofclasswithintheeducationsystemwillbeparticularlyapparentinGareth’sinterview

inchapterfive.

AsMcCannjocularlysuggestsinnamingChristandPatrickPearseasthetotemicfigures

ofhiseducationalcurriculum,schoolsalsohadawideremitinwhattheytaughtandhow

theytaughtit,atleastupuntilfurtherreformstothesystemin1989.44Intermsofhistory

lessons, forexample, thekeydatesandoverallnarrativesofNorthern Irish, Irishand

Britishhistorydifferedagreatdealfromschooltoschool–animportantpointgiventhe

“emotionally charged uses of history in Northern Ireland”.45 Returning to Williams’

notionofcultureasalivedandcommunalexperience,itseemsapparentthatthisearly

introductiontothehistoricalparametersofthecultureinwhichyoungpeoplewereliving

already reflected the division between Protestants and Catholics.46 Alison Farrell’s

interviewinchapterfourwilldevelopthewayinwhichthisdivisionfunctionedinher

earlyexperiencesofeducationinDungannon.

Here,then,wehaveasystemofeducationfragmentedalonglinesofclass,religionand

genderfromtheageofelevenonwards.47Ina1993pamphletonthecontinuedproblems

of education inNorthern Ireland as they relate to social division, the pro-integration

campaignerandteacherSeamusDunnarguesthat“itissuspectedthattherangeofforms

ofseparation[inNorthernIreland]byreligion,bysexandbyability–thatissocialclass

43Leitch,Ruth,JoanneHughes,StephanieBurns,ErikCownie,CathalMcManus,MichaelLeversandIanShuttleworth,InvestigatingLinksinAchievementandDeprivation(Belfast:TheCentreforSharedEducation,Queen’sUniversityBelfast,2017).44Greer,JohnE,‘EducationReforminNorthernIreland:ThePlaceofReligiousEducationandWorshipinSchools’,BritishJournalofReligiousEducation13,no.3(1June1991),pp190–198.45Barton,KeithC.,andAlanW.McCully,‘History,Identity,andtheSchoolCurriculuminNorthernIreland:AnEmpiricalStudyofSecondaryStudents’IdeasandPerspectives’,JournalofCurriculumStudies37,no.1(1January2005),pp85–116;seealsoBrocklehurst,Helen,Who’sAfraidofChildren?Children,ConflictandInternationalRelations(NewYork:Routledge,2016).46Aretxaga,Begoña,ShatteringSilence:Women,NationalismandPoliticalSubjectivityinNorthernIreland(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1997).47Primaryschoolswerealsosegregatedalongreligiouslines,butgiventhefocusonadolescenceheremyaccountwillconcentrateonsecondaryschoolinganduniversity.However,someresearchhassuggestedthattheformationofsectarianidentitiesisvisibleamongprimaryschool-agedchildren.SeeCairns,Ed,DaleHunter,andLindaHerring,‘YoungChildren’sAwarenessofViolenceinNorthernIreland:TheInfluenceofNorthernIrishTelevisioninScotlandandNorthernIreland’,BritishJournalofSocialandClinicalPsychology,19,no.1(February1980),pp3–6;Connolly,Paul,AlanSmithandBerniKelly,TooYoungtoNotice?TheCulturalandPoliticalAwarenessof3-6YearOldsinNorthernIreland(Belfast:CommunityRelationsCouncil,2002).

36

–mighthavesomethingtodowiththefactthatthissocietyispatriarchal,hierarchical,

conservativeandmale-dominated”.48Furthermore,thestructureoftheeducationsystem

and its associated legislation only gives us a somewhat skeletal understanding of the

experience of being educated in that system. As anthropological work on Belfast

children’splayduringandoutsideofschoolsuggests,theprocessesofidentityformation

atworkintheseenvironmentsweretheproductofacomplexrangeofforces,brought

togetherbythepropinquityoftheyoungpeoplethemselves,andsuggestiveoftheways

inwhichtheir interactionsshapedtheirsenseof thesocialandculturalworldaround

them.49Goingtoandfromschoolcouldentailthenegotiationofsectarianboundariesand

potentialencounterswithviolence,especiallyforchildrenlivinginareaswhereCatholic

andProtestantneighbourhoodsintersected;AnthonyBailey’s1974NewYorkerarticle

aboutschoolchildrenontheOldparkRoadpositsthat“agoodproportionofthechildren

arealreadyathomeinthemidstofviolence,illnessandcruelty”.50

The Education (NI) Act in 1947 also shaped university education, and it has become

commonplacetonotethatmanyofthecentralrepublican,nationalistandsocialistfigures

in the post-1968 conflict were beneficiaries of the new system.51 There were two

universitiesinNorthernIrelandbythe1970s,Queen’sUniversityBelfastandtheNew

UniversityofUlsterinColeraine,whichopenedin1968.From1970to1980therewere

roughly8,000studentsinhighereducationinNorthernIrelandeachyear,witharound

two-thirdsofthesestudyingatQueen’s,andtheremainderattheUniversityofUlster.52

Theformerismoreimportantintermsofthepunkscene,providingaspaceforgigsat

theMcMordieHall;thelatteris interestingintermsofthesectarianstructuringofthe

state.In1963,theLockwoodcommitteedecidedthatanewuniversitywasessentialto

48Dunn,Seamus,TheCommonSchool(Coleraine:UniversityofUlster,1993),accessedonline25/1/18here.49Lanchlos,DonnaM,AtPlayinBelfast:Children’sFolkloreandIdentitiesinNorthernIreland(NewBrunswick:RutgersUniversityPress,2003);forasomewhatlesscriticalrenderingofasimilarthemethatattractedsomecontroversyatthetimeofitspublicationseeFields,RonaM,ASocietyontheRun:APsychologyofNorthernIreland(London:PenguinEducation,1973).50Bailey,Anthony,ActsofUnion(London:Faber,1980),p23.51Prince,Simon,‘TheGlobalRevoltof1968…’,2006,p852.ThiswasalsotheconclusionoftheCameronReportonthedisturbancesof1969;however,somecommentatorshavenotedthatwhilethismightidentifytheimmediatesourceofcivilrightsagitation,ithardlyexplainsits“irreversiblemomentumamongtheCatholicpopulationatlarge”.SeeBew,Paul,HenryPattersonandPeterGibbon,TheStateinNorthernIreland1921-1971:PoliticalForcesandSocialClasses(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,1979),p166.52TheChilverReport:ANewUniversityofUlsterComments(London:HMSO,1982);theUniversityofUlstermergedwithUlsterPolytechnicin1984.

37

meetdemandinNorthernIreland,andproposedfourpossiblelocations–ArmaghCity,

Coleraine,DerryandthenewtownofCraigavon,nearPortadown.53WhenColerainewas

chosenasthesite,acavalcadeofprotestorsmarchedfromDerrytoBelfasttoobjectto

what they regarded as thediscriminatorydecision to place thenewuniversity in the

majority-ProtestanttownofColeraineratherthaninDerry,thesecond-largestcityinthe

province andhome to a sizeableCatholic population.WhileGerardO’Brien’s forensic

1999accountofthecontroversymakesaconvincingcasethatthedecisionwasinline

withstandardBritishdecisionsonuniversityplacement (rather than theproductofa

deliberateorconspiratorialunionistdecisiontoexcludethenorth-west),theprotestsare

furtherevidencethattheeducationofyoungpeoplewasasiteofconsiderablestruggle

throughoutthe1960sand1970s.54

MovingtoQueen’s,whichwastohostanumberofmajorpunkgigs,notablytheClashin

1977, it is possible to get a sense of the uneven and complicated ways in which

sectarianismpercolatedthrough institutionsanddissolved intosocialexperience.The

numberofCatholicstudentsattheuniversityincreasedfromaround20percentinthe

immediatepost-waryearstoaround50percentbytheendofthe1980s.55Inthelate

1960s, it becameanorganisational hub for thenascent civil rightsmovement and its

offshoot,People’sDemocracy,althoughBernadetteDevlin–oneofthecentralfiguresin

thelatterorganisation–retainedmixedfeelingsaboutthemiddle-classradicalismshe

encountered while studying there.56 And while segregation was not an institutional

featureofuniversitylifeasitwasatsecondaryschool,first-handaccountssuggestthat

thesocialworldofQueen’swaslargelyshapedalongthefamiliarcontoursofNorthern

Irishsociety,withProtestantssocialisingmainlywithProtestantsandviceversa,andthe

hegemonicsymbolicandeducationalcultureaunionistone.57

53O’Brien,Gerard,‘”OurMageeProblem”:StormontandtheSecondUniversity’,inO’Brien,Gerard,(ed.),DerryandLondonderry:HistoryandSociety(Dublin:GeographyPublications,1999).54Ibid.55Clarkson,LA,AUniversityinTroubledTimes:Queen’sBelfast,1945-2000(Dublin:FourCourtsPress,2004),p132.56ManyofthestudentsgaveDevlintheimpressionthat“theydidn’treallycarewhatwentonoutsidetheuniversity,solongastheyhadsomethingtotalkabout”.Devlin,Bernadette,ThePriceofMySoul(London:PanBooks,1969),p76.57SeeforinstanceJentry,Corey,ThetroublewithstudyingtheTroubles:howandwhyanepistemiccommunityemerges,unpublishedPhDthesis,TheLondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience(LSE),2017;Goldring,Maurice,Belfast:FromLoyaltytoRebellion(London:Lawrence&Wishart,1991),especiallypp148-149;forahighlytechnicalaccountof‘hiddenprejudice’ormoreaccuratelyofthedivisionofthestudentbodyintobroadProtestantandCatholicgroupingsinQueen’s,seeNiens,Ulrike,Ed

38

Employment,segregationandsectarianism

Formanyyoungpeopleandespeciallythosefromworking-classbackgrounds, leaving

secondary education led to eitherwork or unemployment, rather than university. By

1979,foreverytenunemployedmentherewasoneschoolleaver(meaningsomeonewho

hadleftschoolin1979)alsowithoutajob;intheir1983surveyofdiscriminationand

employmentinBelfast,CormackandOsborneconcludethat:

Fortheseboys,predominatelyfromworking-classhomes,andregardless

ofreligion,theopportunitiesavailabletothemwerediminishing.Their‘life

chances’, in the sociological sense of a working career and associated

opportunities stretchingout in frontof them,wereperhapsevenworse

thanthoseoftheirfathers;andinNorthernIreland,suchprospectswould

havetobethoughtofasdismal.58

AsintherestoftheUK,economicdepression,theabsenceofjobsandtheconcomitant

socialeffectsoftheseconditionsneedtobeunderstoodaspartofthebackdropofthe

punkscene;inNorthernIreland,constraintsonmobilityandtheimpactofsedimented

patternsofdisadvantageandsegregation–ratherthanactivesectariandiscrimination,

althoughthiswasalsoanoccasional factor–hada furthereffectontheway inwhich

youngpeopleencounteredworkor itsabsence.59AsAunger’sanalysisof1971census

datashows,womenmadeuponlyathirdofthoseinemploymentinthisperiod,although

more Catholic womenworked than their Protestant counterparts; there was a small

increaseinthesefiguresby1981,butyoungwomenleavingschoolremainedlesslikely

togointoworkthantheirmalecompatriots.60Itisworthnoting,finally,thatformany

working-class young people, part-time jobs – many of which are invisible to census

Cairns,andSuzanneBishop,‘PrejudicedorNot?HiddenSectarianismAmongStudentsinNorthernIreland’,TheJournalofSocialPsychology144,no.2(1April2004),pp163–180.58Cormack,RJandRDOsborne,‘TheBelfastStudy:IntoWorkinBelfast’,inCormack,RJ(ed.),Religion,EducationandEmployment(Belfast:AppletreePress,1983),p149.59Ibid.,Cormack,RJandRDOsborne,‘Conclusion’,p229.60Aunger,EA,‘ReligionandoccupationalclassinNorthernIreland’,EconomicandSocialReview,7(1),(1975),pp1-18.

39

records–tookonacentralroleintheirlivespriortotheofficialschoolleavingageof16.61

AsMadelineLeonardhasshown,anover-relianceonofficialdataalsotendstoelidethe

roleofwomenininformaleconomiesoflabour.62

Youngpeople’s senseofNorthern Irelandasadividedculturewasalso related to the

employmentoftheirparents,asMcCann’saccountabovesuggests;forWilliamstoo,“the

steel-rolling mill, the gasworks … the pitheads” are key images in his landscape of

working-classlifeontheWelshborders,andthegapbetweenhisfather’sworkinglife

and his was a life-long source of anxiety.63 Belfast in the 1970s and 1980s had

experiencedasharppost-warindustrialdecline;atthebeginningofthe1950s,linenand

shipbuilding contributed one-third of all manufacturing jobs between them, but

industrialemploymentdeclinedsharplythroughthe1960sandintothe1970s,offsetby

an increase in jobs in the service industry. Between 1973 and 1991, the number of

workersinmanufacturingdroppedfrom67,000to18,000,andmajoremployerssuchas

Harland&Wolff,Mackie’sandShortsBrothershadbecomereliantonBritishsubsidies

to survive; all of these employers traditionally employed the Protestant rather than

Catholic working-class.64 The service industry expanded from the 1970s onwards,

althoughitisdifficulttomapoccupationalchangeovertimewithanydegreeofaccuracy

because employment categories change from census to census; Shorts remained the

largestnon-governmentemployerin1988withaworkforceof7,800.65

From1972onwards under direct rule fromWestminster, a huge expansion in public

sector employment partially alleviated some of these job losses, although Borooah

suggests this largely benefited the middle rather than working-classes of both

communities;between1970and1974,publicsectoremploymentroseby40percent.66

61McManus,Cathal,‘“BoundinDarknessandIdolatry”?ProtestantWorking-ClassUnderachievementandUnionistHegemony’,IrishStudiesReview23,no.1(2January2015),pp48–67.62Leonard,Madeline,‘WomenandInformalEconomicActivityinBelfast’,pp235-250,inIrishSociety:SociologicalPerspectives,Clancy,Patrick,SheelaghDrudy,KathleenLynchandLiamO’Dowd(eds.)(Dublin:InstituteofPublicAdministration,1995)63Williams,ResourcesofHope,p93. 64Plöger,Jörg,BelfastCityReport(London:CentreforAnalysisofSocialExclusion,2007),pp9-10.65Gregory,IanN.,NiallA.Cunningham,CDLloyd,IanG.ShuttleworthandPaulS.Ell,TroubledGeographies:ASpatialHistoryofReligionandSocietyinIreland(Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,2013),p211;Goldring,Belfast,p43.66Borooah,VaniK.,‘GrowthandPoliticalViolenceinNorthernIreland,1920-96’,inBorner,SilvioandPaldam,Martin(eds.),ThePoliticalDimensionofEconomicGrowth(London:Macmillan,1998)

40

UnemploymentinBelfastpeakedat17percentin1987,butwasunevenlydistributed

acrossthecity–forinstance,inpartsofwestBelfastalmost40percentoftheworking

populationwasunemployedinthisperiod.67

Intermsofsegregationandsectarianism,araftofmid-70slegislationaimedatreducing

discrimination in unemployment had little effect, with Catholic male unemployment

remaining at 35 per cent (nationally) in 1987 – two-and-a-half times that of their

Protestantcounterparts.68AccordingtoOsborneandCormack,indirectdiscrimination–

so, for instance, advertising for workers in newspapers read near-exclusively by

Protestants–remainedanissuewellintothe1980s,despitethelaunchin1976ofthe

FairEmploymentAgencyaimedatdealingwithworkplacediscrimination.69Inthissense,

young people’s encounters with the sectarianised structure of everyday life were

conditionedthroughtheirencounterswiththepost-industrialemploymentlandscapeof

Belfast,eitherbytryingtogetajobthemselvesorthroughtheemploymentstatusoftheir

parents.Thisaspectofyouthexperiencewillbeconsideredinmoredepthinthesixth

chapter’saccountoftheThatcheritepolicies(slightlybluntedinthecontextofNorthern

Ireland’srelianceonpublicsectoremployment)appliedtothecityinthe1980sandthe

impactthesehadonPetesyBurns’attemptstorunananarchistsocialcentreinwhatis

nowtheCathedralQuarter.MattWorley’seffortstohistoriciseOi!,asubsetofpunkmusic

that emerged in the early 1980s, as “both a reflection of and response to” structural

changesintheBritisheconomy,arehelpfulhere–“classandlocality,ratherthanformal

politicsor ideology, servedas theprismthroughwhich theprevailingconcernsofOi!

wereviewedandunderstood,”heargues.70

AconsiderationofthebroadeconomicconditionsofBelfastinthe1970sand1980sis

informative because it allows us to think about the punk scene as embedded in and

respondingtothesestructures,whichareformativeofsectariancultureanddivisionbut

alsotheproductofglobaleconomicshiftsandchangesintheBritishpoliticallandscape

67Plöger,BelfastCityReport,2007,p11.68McCrudden,Christopher,‘TheNorthernIrelandFairEmploymentWhitePaper:ACriticalAssessment’.IndustrialLawJournal17,no.1(1January1988),pp162–181.69Cormack,RJandRDOsborne,‘UnemploymentandReligioninNorthernIreland’,TheEconomicandSocialReview,Vol17,no.3(April1986),pp215-225.70Worley,Matthew,‘Oi!Oi!Oi!:Class,Locality,andBritishPunk’,TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory24,no.4(1December2013),pp606–36.

41

suchastheelectionofMargaretThatcherin1979.Asthefollowingsectionwillsuggest,

asimilarlywidelensishelpfulinthinkingabouttheroleofreligionasaninstitutional

site.

Churchesandreligiousencounters

RichardRose’s1968LoyaltyStudy,surveying757Protestantsand534Catholics,found

that99percentofrespondentsidentifiedthemselvesasreligious,withtheProtestants

split into various sects – Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Free Presbyterian, and a

minorityofmoreesotericProtestantsub-categories.71Thisreflectsasociety inwhich,

whateverthemeaningencapsulatedbyreligiousidentificationentailsinasubjectiveor

philosophical sense, choice of church was a socially meaningful label with material

consequences.72Thissectionwillconsiderthewaysinwhichyoungpeoplewouldhave

encounteredreligious institutions intheireveryday lives,bothassocialspacesandas

putativemoralarbiters.WritingrecentlyaboutIrelandinthe1970s,CaroleHolohanhas

positedthat“anxietiesaboutsocietalchangesurfacedindebatesaboutyoungpeople”in

this period, drivenby “fears that traditionalmoral valueswouldbeunderminedby a

youthculturethathadurbanandinternationalroots”.73WhilethepictureinNorthern

Irelandismorecomplexgiventhedifferentlyadversarialroleofreligiousidentityinthe

province,onefacetofthestructureoffeelingwithinthepunkscenecanbeunderstoodas

arejectionoftraditionalismaswellas,oreveninsteadof,arejectionofsectarianismas

such.Theroleofthechurchesastraditionalinstitutionsisthereforeworthconsidering

here.

As already discussed, the church had amajor role in the shaping of education in the

province;italsoprovidedanumberofyouthclubsandorganisations,discussedbelow.74

Intermsofformalchurchattendance,NorthernIrelandhasconsistentlyrankedhigher

71Rose,Richard,GoverningWithoutConsensus:AnIrishPerspective(Boston:BeaconPress,1971) 72SeeBell,John,ForGod,Ulster,orIreland?Religion,IdentityandSecurityinNorthernIreland(Belfast:InstituteforConflictResearch,2013),pp17-35,forausefuloverviewoftheliteratureonreligiousidentificationinNorthernIreland.73Holohan,Carole,‘ChallengestosocialorderandIrishidentity?Youthcultureinthesixties’,IrishHistoricalStudies,vol.38,no.151(2013)pp389-405.74SeeElliott,Marianne,TheCatholicsofUlster:AHistory(London:Penguin,2000)foracomprehensiveaccountoftheroleoftheCatholicchurchinUlsterbothbeforeandafterpartition.

42

thanotherregionsoftheUnitedKingdom,andCatholics inNorthernIrelandattended

massmorefrequentlythantheircounterpartsintheRepublicofIreland.Thisisinsome

waysarathercrudemetric,notleastbecausereligionasaformofculturalknowledgecan

leave aheavy residueon societies and individuals evenas its tangible accoutrements

disappearorarediscarded.75Perhapsthisdispersalofresidualculturalknowledgeisthe

mostprominentroleplayedbybothProtestantandCatholicchurchesinyoungpeople’s

livesinthe1970sand1980s.Thisalsobringsanotherkeyinstitutionalsite,thatofthe

family,intofocus.

In John Bell’s 2013 ethnography of religious practices in Northern Ireland, his

interviewees recall a familial desire to ground them in their different religious

backgrounds,evenwithinfamiliesthatwerenotostentatiouslyornotablyreligious.They

describebeingsenttoSundayschool,theBoys’Brigade,andtheGirl’sFriendlySociety

(Protestantorganisations)andMassor theNovena(forCatholicrespondents),even if

theirfamilieswerenotregularchurchattendees.76Strikingly,though,forworking-class

Belfast Protestants something of a divide openedup in the 1970s between themand

mainstream Protestant churches; a similar dynamic does not exist for working-class

Catholicsandtheirchurch,althoughaparallelcouldbedrawnwiththecriticalattitude

of self-identified republicans towards institutional Catholicism.77 This critical attitude

wasalsosharedbythosewhofelt thechurch’spositionduringtheconflictwaseither

hypocritical or excessively ecumenical in its attitude towards the Catholic working-

class.78

Ifweallowforthemomentanartificialseparationbetweenthechurches’diffusespheres

of influence (youth clubs, education) and their direct sphere of influence, they are

relevanttotheeverydaycultureofyoungpeopleintwoways.Firstly,inClaireMitchell’s

suggestive formulation, religion formed “a kind of cultural reservoir from which

categorizationsof self andother [were]derived”.79That is, theywere generativeof a

75Mitchell,Claire,Religion,IdentityandPoliticsinNorthernIreland:BoundariesofBelongingandBelief(London:Routledge,2017).76Bell,ForGod,pp40-42.77Ibid,pp64-71.78See,forinstance,FallsThinkTank,OurselvesAlone?VoicesfromBelfast’sNationalistWorking-Class(Newtownabbey:IslandPamphlets,1996),pp12-13.79Mitchell,Religion,IdentityandPolitics,2017,p15.

43

cultural imaginary of Protestantism or Catholicismwhich inculcated an awareness of

sectariandifference,evenwhen–aswasthecasethroughouttheconflict–theyurged

church attendees to forego the violent politics of sectarian difference. The epiphanic

momentof identificationwiththepunksceneentailedsomekindofmovementwithin

thisculturalimaginary,aswillbediscussedbelow.

This takes us to the second way in which the churches are relevant. If religion as

dispersed through the influence of the church created a cultural reservoir, this

encouragedyoungpeopletodrawnotonlyonsectariandifference,butalsoontradition,

understoodasakindofinstitutionalanchorwithineverydaylife“usedtomakesenseof,

and cope with, political and structural conditions”.80 As in Holohan’s account of the

tensionbetweenyouthcultureandtheCatholicchurchintheRepublicofIreland,there

isamanifesttensionbetweenpunk’sself-professedcommitmenttothedemolishingof

traditionandthisanchoringtendency.81FrancesStewarthasarguedthatthepunkscene

in Northern Ireland should be understood under the rubric of “the spontaneous or

organicapproachestopeace-buildingthattakeplacewithinandbetweentheProtestant

andCatholiccommunities”;whileIhavesomereservationsaboutthisapproach,which

tendstoconstructpunkassomehowexistingoutsideofthematerialandsocialconditions

inwhich itwas formed, her account does have the useful effect of placing punk as a

cultural form squarely within the religious dimensions of the conflict in Northern

Ireland.82Punk’srejectionoftraditionwasalsoawayforyoungpeopletocometoterms

with the aspects of religion that did not directly relate to the relationship between

Protestants and Catholics, but entailed more general prohibitions on sexuality,

respectability and lifestyle; this will be considered in more detail in the analysis of

interviews,below.83Itisstriking,forinstance,thatina1991attitudinalsurveyofchurch-

80Ibid,p139.81Robinson,Lucy,‘ExhibitionReviewPunk’s40thAnniversary—AnItchySortofHeritage’,TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory,7September2017.82Stewart,Francis,‘“AlternativeUlster”:PunkRockasaMeansofOvercomingtheReligiousDivideinNorthernIreland’,pp76-90,inIrishReligiousConflictinComparativePerspective:Catholics,ProtestantsandMuslims,Wolffe,John(ed.)(London:PalgraveMacmillan,2014);seealsoStewart,Francis,PunkRockisMyReligion:StraightEdgePunkand'Religious'Identity(London:Routledge,2017).83ForanaccountoftherelationshipofthechurchtoqueersexualitiesinNorthernIrelandseeDuggan,Marie,QueeringConflict:ExaminingLesbianandGayExperiencesofHomophobiainNorthernIreland(London:Routledge,2016).

44

goersinBelfast,bothProtestantsandCatholicswerefoundtoinhabit“abroadlysimilar

moraluniverse”intermstheirrepudiationofbothpre-maritalsexandhomosexuality.84

Sport,youthclubsandmanagingtheyoung

What young people did outside of the closely-connected institutions of the education

systemandthechurchesis,becauseofitsvariousnessandtransience,bothofparticular

interesttothisaccountandrathermoredifficulttoturnintohistory.Someimmediate

routesarevisible.SportinNorthernIrelandwasentangledinthepoliticsofcommunal

divisionandsectarianism,bothatanationalandagrassrootslevel.85Involvementinthe

GaelicAthleticAssociation(GAA),despitetheorganisation’sofficiallyapoliticalstance,

entailedanengagementwiththepoliticsofnationalism;giventhetendencyofthepolice

andthearmytotreatGAAmemberswithsuspicionandsometimesviolence,itcouldalso

entailabluntreminderofthesectarianmanagementofspaceintheprovince.86While

sports such as hockey and cricketmay not have entailed the explicit signification of

identitythatmarkedouthurlingandcamogieplayersasCatholic,forhistoricalandsocial

reasonstheytendedtoattractmostlyProtestantyouths;rugby,whileostensiblyoffering

arareexampleofanunsegregatedsocialspaceforyoungpeople,wasnear-exclusively

the preserve of themiddle-classes and thosewho felt comfortablewith themores of

Britishculture.AsJohnDarbysuggestsinanoverviewoftheanthropologicalliterature

on Northern Ireland, “social mixing across the religious divide was almost entirely

confined to middle-class settings – golf and tennis clubs, formal dances – where a

superordinate goal or interest cut across religiousbarriers”.87Rugbyand rugby clubs

wouldfitintothiscategory.

84BoalW.,Frederick,MargaretC.KeaneandDavidN.Livingstone,ThemandUs?AttitudinalVariationAmongChurchgoersinBelfast(Belfast:TheInstituteofIrishStudies,1997),p150.85Sugden,JohnandAlanBairner,Sport,SectarianismandSocietyinaDividedIreland,(Leicester:LeicesterUniversityPress,1993);seealsoBairner,Alan,‘Soccer,Masculinity,andViolenceinNorthernIreland:BetweenHooliganismandTerrorism’,MenandMasculinities1,no.3(1January1999),pp284–301.86OnthenationalistpoliticsoftheGAA,seeCronin,Michael,‘DefendersoftheNation?TheGaelicAthleticAssociationandIrishNationalistIdentity’,IrishPoliticalStudies11,no.1(1January1996),pp1–19.87Darby,Intimidation,p29.Therewereexceptionstothispattern,ofcourse.AsShirlowandMurtaghsuggest,inBelfastpastimessuchaspigeon-racing,boxingandcard-playingwerepopularwithbothCatholicsandProtestants;inruralNorthernIreland,cooperationandneighbourlinessbetweenbothcommunitiescoexistedwithsectarianismandconflict.Onthis,seeShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast;Donnan,Hastings,andGrahamMcFarlane,‘SocialLifeinRuralNorthernIreland’,Studies:AnIrishQuarterlyReview74,no.295(1985),pp281–298;Cashman,Ray,‘CriticalNostalgiaandMaterialCultureinNorthernIreland’,TheJournalofAmericanFolklore119,no.472(2006),pp137–160.Andevenasportasindelibly

45

Football,playedandwatchedbybothProtestantsandCatholics,wasaninterestingsite

ofcontestation.GarethMulvenna’srecentworkhashighlightedtheconnectionbetween

footballfandom,hooliganismandviolenceforyoungloyalistmeninBelfast;thisfollows

similar research by Alan Bairner.88 The symbolic content of football fandom and its

mobilisationoflargenumbersofpeoplecertainlymakesitasitewheresectariandivision

wasespeciallyvisiblyarticulated,despitetheeffortsmadeatagrassrootsleveltocreate

teams comprised of Catholics and Protestants, and despite the fact thatmany of the

NorthernIrishnationalteam’smostprominentplayerswereCatholic.Footballfandom

was, additionally, one part of the relationship between young people and sectarian

territoriality – as in Britain, associationwith particular clubswas generally linked to

affiliation with particular urban locations, although in Belfast this association had a

sectarianinflection.

Sport,then,waspartofthenetworkofinstitutionspassedthroughbymanyyoungpeople

inBelfastinthe1970sand1980s;itwasoftendirectlylinkedtoeducation,asforinstance

inCatholicSchoolsdirectedbytheChristianBrothers,whichtendedtohavestronglinks

withtheGAA.TheScouts,theBoysBrigade,thevariousyouthoutcroppingsoftheOrange

Order,thevariousyouthoutcroppingsoftherepublicanmovement,wereallpartofthis

constellation;89sotoowereyouthclubs,whichwereheavily-fundedbythestatefromthe

late‘60sonwardsaspartofamore-or-lessexplicitdrivetokeepyoungpeopleoccupied

andoffthestreetsascommunalviolenceandprotestsbecamefeaturesofurbanlifein

Northern Ireland.90 The director of the Northern Ireland Association for Youth Clubs

warned in 1976 that “unless there was a positive plan for youth development [in

associatedwithBritishnessascrickethasconsistentlyhadsomeCatholicparticipants,particularlyinruralNorthernIreland–seeCarter,Thomas,‘IntheSpiritoftheGame?Cricket&ChangingNotionsofBeingBritishinNorthernIreland’,JournaloftheSocietyfortheAnthropologyofEurope3,no.1(1March2003),pp14–26.88Mulvenna,Gareth,TartanGangsandParamilitaries:TheLoyalistBacklash(Liverpool:LiverpoolUniversityPress,2016);Bairner,‘Soccer,MasculinityandViolence’,1999.89McCready,SamandRichardLoudon,InvestinginLives:TheHistoryoftheYouthServiceinNorthernIreland(1844-1973)(Belfast:YouthCouncilNorthernIreland,2015),especiallypp111-149;seealsoBell,ActsofUnion,whichmakestheinterestingpointthatyoungwomenareconsistentlylesslikelytojointhesekindsoforganisationsthanyoungmen.90McNeilly,Norman,Exactly50Years:TheBelfastEducationAuthorityanditsWork(1923-1973)(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,1973),p188;seechaptersixforanaccountofhowtheCosmosyouthclubinwestBelfastprovidedacommunityspaceforyoungpeopleaimedatkeepingthemoutofthewayofsectarianviolence.

46

NorthernIreland]the‘scarring’ofyouththathadtakenplaceinNorthernIrelandwould

eruptincontinuingsectarianismandviolenceinafuturegeneration”.91

Similarly,itisstrikingthatbytheearly1980sBelfasthadthemostleisurefacilitiesper

capitaofanycityintheUK,astheBritishgovernmentpouredmoneyintotheproduction

ofsportshalls,swimmingpoolsandgyms.Between1973and1975centralgovernment

capital expenditure on leisure increasedmore than threefold, and between1977 and

198414leisurecomplexeswerebuiltinBelfast.92Again,thiscanbepositionedaspartof

amoralpanicaboutthecapacityandwillingnessofyoungpeopletotakepartinpublic

protestortojointheparamilitaries.SugdenandBairnersuggestthat“thoseinvolvedin

theplanningofBelfast’sleisureservicesunderstoodthatthemoneywasmadeavailable

by central government first and foremost in the hopes that the provision of leisure

servicesinsomewaymightoffsetthetendencytowardscivildisorder”.93Notably,while

thesestatisticsmightcastsomedoubtontherhetoricalclaimtoboredombelovedofpunk

songsandfanzinesinBelfastasintherestoftheworld,itprovednearlyimpossibleto

produceleisurefacilitiesthatwouldbeusedbybothProtestantsandCatholics;again,this

isrelatedtosectarianisedspaceinthecity,whichpositionedevenostensibly‘neutral’or

cross-community sites within a geography of fear and possible violence.94 As one of

RichardJenkins’intervieweesinaworking-classProtestantestateinBelfasttoldhimin

thelate1970s:“Intheleisurecentretherearesports…butyoucan’treallyrelaxinthere

becauseCatholicsgo.Asyouknow,ProtestantsandCatholicsdon’tmix,soyougetdirty

looksifaProtestantisseentalkingtoaCatholic.”95

Statespendingonleisure,then,emergedfromadiscursiveconstructionofyoungpeople

as adiscreteentity tobeworriedabout, and tobeworkeduponby statepolicy.This

concern entailed themobilisation of what Desmond Bell calls a “correctional stance”

91Bell,ActsofUnion,p43.92SugdenandBairner,Sport,SectarianismandSociety,p112.93Ibid.,p115.94Ibid.,p117;ontheuseofboredomasaconceptinpunkmusicseeWorley,Matthew,NoFuture:Punk,PoliticsandYouthCulture,1976-1984(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2017),pp.111-139.Itgoeswithoutsayingthatleisurecentrescanbeveryboring.95Jenkins,Richard,HightownRules:GrowingUponaBelfastHousingEstate(Leicester:NationalYouthBureau,1982),p21;seealsoBairner,Alan,andPeterShirlow,‘WhenLeisureTurnstoFear:Fear,Mobility,andEthno-SectarianisminBelfast’,LeisureStudies22,no.3(1January2003),pp203–221.

47

mobilising“apanoplyofpsychologicalandeducationalexpertise”.96Inthatsense,thisis

ahistoryofstatepracticesofobservation,controlandpoweraswellasasocialhistoryof

youth cultures.97 Thepunk scene should be understood in this context aswell as the

contextofsectarianism.

Youngpeople,socialityandthedemarcationofboundaries

Acrosstheinterconnectedareasofeducation,work,organisedreligionandleisure,there

isasenseoftheordinarycultureofdivisionthatshapedthewayyoungpeoplelived,and

shapedtheirunderstandingof theworld.This isaculturethatretaineda tendencyto

disadvantageCatholics inmattersofemploymentandrepresentation. It isalsoone in

which a network of institutions are criss-crossed by discourses of correction and

concernsaboutthebehaviourofyoungpeople,theirvulnerabilitytoconflictandviolence,

butalso theirpotential tobecomethreateningorviolent themselves.AndasWilliams

shows, the formationof cultural identity isnot solely amaterialprocess– it is alsoa

discursiveonethatfunctionsintherealmofthesymbolicandtheimaginary.Theroleof

youngpeopleinthesymboliccreationofdifferenceandthedemarcationofboundaries

betweenProtestantandCatholicisthefinalareatobeconsideredhere.

ForyoungProtestantmen,theparadingtraditionandthe12thofJulybonfirescelebrating

WilliamofOrange’svictoryattheBattleoftheBoyneservedasroutesintoaspecifically

loyalist culture. Following the intense violence of 1968 and 1969 in Belfast, and the

concomitantpopulationshiftsdescribed inchapter two, theseterritorialengagements

tookonaspecificfreight.“Thefusionofthehistoricalandthespatialbynewlevelsof

symbolicinvestment”–theparticularcontemporaryresonanceofloyalisttriumphalism

duringtheconflict–wasonethat teenagers,especially teenagers in interfaceareas in

Belfast,playedarolein.98WhiletheOrangeOrderwasprimarilythereserveofolder(and

oftenmore ‘respectable’) members of the community, ‘Blood and Thunder’ parading

96Bell,ActsofUnion,pp43-4597DickHebidge’sargumentthat“inoursociety,youthispresentonlywhenitspresenceisaproblem,orisregardedasaproblem”,isrelevanthere.InHebidge,Dick,HidingintheLight(London:Routledge,1988),p17.98Feldman,Allen,FormationsofViolence:TheNarrativeoftheBodyandPoliticalTerrorinNorthernIreland(London:TheUniversityofChicagoPress,1991),p35.

48

bandsoftenattractedyoungerProtestants;99youngpeoplewerealsointimatelyinvolved

in the setting up of the bonfires lit the night before the July parade.100 Both of these

activitiesentailadirectengagementwiththepoliticsofsectarianism,bothintermsofa

positivecommunityidentificationandanegativeidentificationoftheconstructedother.

While none of my interviewees discuss any direct involvement in these practices or

institutions,GarethdoesreferseveraltimestotheTartanGangs,anothermanifestation

ofloyalistyouthculture,asacounterpointtohisownexperiencesasapunk.101

TheCatholicexperienceofthissymbolicterritorialsectarianisminBelfast isdifferent.

Frank Burton’s anthropological study of ‘Arno’ (his pseudonymic rendering of the

Ardoyne area of West Belfast) suggests how sociability was generative of sectarian

difference,albeitwithoutthestate-sanctionedvisibilityofloyalistterritorialism.Burton

arguesthatthecultureoftheArdoyneisgivencohesionthroughdifferentiation,andthat

thenarrowingofspatialparameterswithinaconflictsituationintensifiesthisprocess.

As inmostwarsituations,a foreshorteningand intensifyingof temporal

experienceappears.SotooinAnro[Burton’spseudonymfortheArdoyne,

usedthroughoutthetext],whereittakestheformofthesearchfor‘crack’

…Theeffectofconcentratingthemajorityofindividuals’leisurepursuits–

gossiping,dancing, singing,drinking, sexualencounters,playingmusic–

momentsfromtheirhome–istotightenthemeshofsociabilityamongthe

residents.102

This mesh of sociability, in Burton’s felicitous phrase, encircled young people and

especiallyteenagersasitdidadults.Whilethestrikingbutideologically-drivenclaimby

MalachiO’Dohertythat“ourneighbourhood[inwestBelfast]wasbeingtakenthrougha

rapid induction into republican culture with cheap drink and musical propaganda”

99Jarman,Neil,‘ForGodandUlster:BloodandThunderBandsandLoyalistPoliticalCulture’,inTheIrishParadingTradition:FollowingtheDrum,pp158-172,T.G.Fraser(ed.)(London:PalgraveMacmillanUK,2000);seealsoBryan,Dominic,OrangeParades:ThePoliticsofRitual,TraditionandControl(London:PlutoPress,2000),especiallychapterten.100Healy,Julie,‘LocalityMatters:EthnicSegregationandCommunityConflict—theExperienceofProtestantGirlsinBelfast’,Children&Society20,no.2(1April2006),pp105–115;seealsoSchalliol,David,‘BonfiresofBelfast’,Contexts15,no.3(1August2016),pp50–59.101SeeMulvenna,TartanGangs.102Burton,ThePoliticsofLegitimacy,p35.

49

shouldbetreatedwithsomecaution,itisreasonabletosuggestthatsociallifeinmajority-

Catholic enclaves entailed some engagement with the politics of republicanism, and

violent republicanism, for youngpeople.103 The suggestion fromboth interviewees in

chapter six that punk offered them an alternative understanding of their situation in

NorthernIrelandwouldseemtobearthisout.However,itisalsoimportanttonote(asis

apparent in terms of contemporary Northern Ireland from the Institute for Conflict

Research’s Segregated Lives report, for instance) that these experiences are widely

differentacrossdifferentlocations,andevenwithinBelfastitself–growingupasayoung

CatholicinruralFermanaghentailedamarkedlydifferentsetofexperiencesthandoing

soinamajority-Protestanturbanenclave,forexample.104

Youngpeopleandviolence

Between1969andMarch1998,1,108youngpeoplebetweentheagesof12and23were

killedinNorthernIrelandbecauseoftheconflict,accountingforalmost30percentofthe

total number of deaths. Shootingwas themost common cause of death, followed by

bombsandexplosions.Youngmenweremoreatriskthanyoungwomen;themajorityof

thesedeathstookplaceinurbanareas,with58percentofalldeathsforthoseunderthe

age of 18 occurring across five Belfast postcodes.105 Particularly for Catholic young

peopleinworking-classareas,harassmentfromthepoliceandthearmybecamepartof

the fabricofeveryday life;youngCatholicsandyoungProtestants joinedparamilitary

organisationsaswellastakingpartinthemoreinformalactsofterritorialmarkingand

protestdescribedabove.Thisviolentcontextisimportanttobearinmindassomething

that cuts across the institutional and quotidian spaces described below and above,

althoughitisnotthemainfocusofthechapter.

Formyinterviewees,encounterswiththestatemainlytooktheformofthepoliceandthe

army.Theformer,theRoyalUlsterConstabulary(RUC),werethroughoutthe1970sand

103O’Doherty,Malachi,TheTellingYear:Belfastin1972(London:GillandMacmillan,2007),p42.Ofcourseallclaimsareideological–whatisbeinghighlightedhereisthatthethrustofO’Doherty’stextisdrivenbyhisrejectionofthemoralclaimofviolent-forcerepublicanism.104InstituteforConflictResearch,SegregatedLives:SocialDivision,SectarianismandEverydayLifeinNorthernIreland(Belfast:InstituteforConflictResearch,2008)105Smyth,Marie,MikeMorrissey,andMarieThereseFay,MappingTroubles-RelatedDeathsinNorthernIreland1969-1998(Derry:INCORE,1998).

50

1980sanear-exclusivelyProtestantforce;thelatterarrivedinBelfastin1969duringthe

sectarian rioting that will be discussed in the following chapter. The Patten Report

suggests that around 70 per cent of Protestants thought that the RUC treated both

communitiesfairly,withbetweenonequarterandonethirdofCatholicsinagreement.

Interestinglyforthisaccount,around45percentofthoseagedbelow35feltthatyoung

people (from both communities) were discriminated against by the police.106 Robbie

McVeigh’scomprehensivesurvey in1994assertedbluntly that “theresearchsuggests

that there isaveryseriousandwidespreadproblemofharassment fromthesecurity

forces [that is, both the army and the police] in Northern Ireland”, a problem felt

especiallysharplybytheyoung.107Themostdamningindictmentofthetacticsofthestate

inpolicingyoungpeopleisthatoftheHelsinkiCommitteeforHumanRights,whichfound

in1992that“harassmentofchildrenunder18isendemic,isdirectedagainstchildrenof

bothtraditions–nationalistandunionist–andisinviolationofinternationalagreements

andstandards”.108

Inthecontextofthepunkscene,largegroupsofyoungpeoplecongregating,drinkingand

takingupspaceinthecityinevitablyencounteredthepolice.Rudi’ssingleCops–which

incorporates thechant ‘SSRUC’ in itschorus–offersan indicationof therelationship

theseencountersentailed,althoughRudi’ssingerBrianYoungwasatpainstostressto

me that the song has been unmoored from its original intention, which was to be a

critiqueofthepolice’sheavy-handedtreatmentofthecrowdafterthecancelledClashgig

in1977ratherthanexpressingacritiqueofthepoliceassuch.109Butitisclearthatthe

encountersmyintervieweesdescribewiththepoliceandthearmyaremostlynegatively-

connoted,whichisinlinewiththereportssummarizedabove.If,schematically,weaccept

106ANewBeginning:PolicinginNorthernIreland–TheReportoftheIndependentCommissiononPolicinginNorthernIreland(Belfast:IndependentCommissiononPolicinginNorthernIreland,1999)107McVeigh,Robbie,It’sPartofLifeHere:TheSecurityForcesandHarassmentinNorthernIreland(Belfast:CommitteeontheAdministrationofJustice,1994),p198;108ChildreninNorthernIreland:AbusedbySecurityForcesandParamilitaries(NewYork:HumanRightsWatch/Helsinki,1992).109InterviewwithBrianYoung,2016.Theformulation‘SSRUC’–connectingtheNorthernIrishpoliceforcewiththeSchutzstaffelorSS,aparamilitaryorganizationnotoriousasenforcersoftheGermanNationalSocialistregime–wasusedinbothrepublicanandloyalistdiscoursescriticaloftheroleoftheRUC.See,forinstance,Pritchard,Tim,‘TheRUCarenotsobad’,TheGuardian,31/5/200,accessedonlinehere:https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/may/31/northernireland.comment1,22/6/18.KristinRosspointsoutthattheCompagniesRépublicainesdeSécurité,orCRS,France’sreservepoliceforce,weresubjectedtochantsof‘SSCRS’bystudentsandworkersin1968.Ross,Kristin,May’68anditsAfterlives(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2002),p107.

51

that an element in Catholic identity-formation and culture in the 1970s entailed a

mistrustofthemechanismsofthestate–andconverselythatProtestantcultureentailed

amore positive identificationwith thesemechanisms – then it is striking that young

peoplefrombothcommunitiesexperiencedharassmentintheireverydaylives,although

againitisimportanttonotethattheseexperiencesofharassmentwouldhaveentailed

numerouslocalisedvariationsandpatterns.

Finally,asHelenBrocklehurstandEdCairnshaveshown,someyoungpeopletookpart

inparamilitaryviolenceeitherwiththeProvisionalIrishRepublicanArmy(PIRA)orwith

the various loyalist paramilitary organisations that proliferated after 1968.110 A full

considerationofthisdynamicofmilitarisationanditsrelationshiptosectariancultures

isbeyond the scopeof this study,but– asnotedabove–bothof the interviewswith

Catholicpunksaremarkedbytheshadowofthegunman,inthattheyunderstandtheir

involvementinthesceneashavingbuttressedthemagainstinvolvementinparamilitary

activity.Gareth’scontrastbetweenhisexperienceofyouthcultureandthatoftheTartan

gangs–whoinitiallyfunctionedasakindofhypermasculinesubculturewithsectarian

overtones, but later becamemore directly involved in paramilitary violence – is also

notablehere.111

Whataboutthepunkscene?

Inthiscontext,whatdoesitmeantocallthepunksceneinBelfastnonorun-sectarian?

There are reflections on the punk scene contained in autobiographies,112 films and

documentaries,113 and an extensive listing of bands and records alongside

autobiographicaltextsinthecommunityhistorytextItMakesYouWanttoSpit.114This

last text has evolved into a website, Spit Records, maintained by Sean O’Neill, which

110Brocklehurst,Who’sAfraidofChildren;Cairns,Ed,CaughtinCrossfire:ChildrenandtheNorthernIrelandConflict(Belfast:AppletreePress,1987).111Mulvenna,TartanGangs.112Sullivan,RichardandTerriHooley,Hooleygan:Music,Mayhem,GoodVibrations(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,2010);McDonald,Henry,Colours:IrelandfromBombstoBoom(Edinburgh:MainstreamPublishing,2004).113D’sa,LisaBarrosandGlenLeyburn,GoodVibrations(London:TheWorks,2013);Davis,JohnT,ShellshockRock(Belfast,1979).114Trelford,GuyandSeanO’Neill(eds.),ItMakesYouWanttoSpit:AnAlternativeUlster1977-1982(Dublin:ReekusMusic,2003).

52

containsawealthofephemeraandarchivalmaterial,includinggigposters,ticketstubs,

fanzines, badges, information on venues and information on record shops.115 Martin

McCloonehaswrittenaboutthesceneaspartofhisworkonIrishmusiccultures,and

morerecentanalysesofNorthernIrishpunkspecificallyhavecomefromFrancisStewart

andTimHeron.116A central component of all of these texts, expressedwithdifferent

inflections and subtleties, is the contention that as Heron puts it, “non-sectarianism

withinthesubculturewasthenorm,nottheexception,atatimewhenamicablecross-

community interaction, especially between young people coming fromworking-class

neighbourhoods,wasararity”.117

Thenatureofthisclaimaboutthepunkscene,andhowitrelatestothememoriesand

narrativesofformerparticipants,isconsideredthroughoutthisthesis.DesmondBell,in

hiscritiqueofstatepracticesofcorrectionandcontrolin1970sBelfast,describestheir

motivation as the quashing or ameliorating of sectarianism between young people.

Sectarianism,withinthisrubric,wasunderstoodas“astructureofpersonalprejudice”.118

Thisisclearlyinadequate,astheaccountabovesuggestsandRobbieMcVeigh’saccount

ofsectarianismasastructure thatexistsoutsideof interpersonalrelationshipsmakes

clear.Segregatedschools,segregatedresidentialcommunities,unemploymentpatterns

andexperiencesofstateviolencearethematerialpreconditionsforsectarianismasitis

embodiedandexpressedatthelevelofyouthculture.Inthissense,tocallthepunkscene

non-sectarianistogiveitbothtoomuchandtoolittlecredit.Ontheonehand, it isto

think of its participants as primarily engaged in a liberal politics of recognition and

contact, as a sub-committee to what Bell calls “the caring agencies and committed

professionalsoftheBritishwelfarestate”,andtoundersellitsdesireforthecreationof

different rhythms and different relations.119 On the other hand, it is to think of it as

115O'Neill,Sean.(2018),SpitRecords–PunkRockfromNorthernIreland(1977-1982).[online]Spitrecords.co.uk.Availableat:http://www.spitrecords.co.uk/[Accessed9Feb.2018].116Stewart,Francis,‘AlternativeUlster’,2014;McLoone,Martin,‘PunkMusicinNorthernIreland:ThePoliticalPowerof“WhatMightHaveBeen”’,IrishStudiesReview12,no.1(1April2004),pp29–38;,Heron,Timothy,'AlternativeUlster:PunkandtheConstructionofEverydayLifein1970sNorthernIreland',PopularCultureToday:Imaginaries,9(2015),pp1–17;seealsoBailie,Stuart,TroubleSongs:MusicandConflictinNorthernIreland(Belfast:StuartBailie,2018).117Heron,Timothy,‘AlternativeUlster:HowPunkTookOntheTroubles’,IrishTimes,(2December2016),accessedonline9/2/18:https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/alternative-ulster-how-punk-took-on-the-troubles-1.2890644118Bell,Desmond,ActsofUnion,p44.119Ibid.,p47.

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capable of somehow transcending or existing outside of the formidable structures of

spatialisedsegregationandinstitutionaliseddisadvantagethatconstituteandreproduce

sectarianism.

SohowshouldweunderstandthepunksceneinBelfast,ifnotasuncomplicatedlynon-

sectarian?Firstly,with adefinitionofwhat ‘thepunk scene’, used fairly freely above,

actuallymeans.Throughoutthethesisthistermwillbeusedasshorthandforvenues,

institutions (record labels, record shops) and bands, and also for the constellation of

spatialised,quotidianpracticesthatmakeuptheeverydaylifeofitsparticipants–buying

and modifying clothes, going to gigs, gathering together in pubs and public spaces,

listeningtotheradioandsoon.ThesetogetherconstitutewhatRaymondWilliamscalls

a structure of feeling that existed within the ordinary culture(s) of 1970s Northern

Ireland,andcanstillbeapprehended–inasedimentaryform–intheoralaccountsof

formerparticipants.Thatistosay,readingthepunksceneasastructureoffeelingmakes

itpossibletoteaseoutitscomplicatedrelationshipwithNorthernIrishculture(andwith

sectarianism), to recognise its capacity to generate relational moments in which my

intervieweesencounteredaspectsoftheireverydaylivesdifferently,andtoapprehend

itsaffectivedimensionsandpoliticalpossibilitieswithoutextricating thesehopesand

feelingsfromtheconditionsoutofwhichtheyemerged.

Sceneispreferredheretoalternativetermssuchassubcultureforseveralreasons.As

RichardAPetersonandAndyBennettargue, theconcept isuseful for itsemphasison

fluidity,bothintermsoftheexperiencesofthosewhomakeupthesceneandintermsof

thesceneitself.120Firstly,itavoidsthetotalisingimplicationsofsubcultureasawayof

thinking about groups of people congregating around a set of venues, gigs, practices,

shopsandsoon–somepeopleimmersethemselvesinscenesmoredeeplythanothers,

and it ispossible tobeapunkat the same timeas formingmanyother relationsand

120Bennett,AndyandRichardAPeterson(eds),MusicScenes:Local,TranslocalandVirtual(Nashville:VanderbiltUniversityPress,2004);seealsoBennett,Andy,‘ConsolidatingtheMusicScenesPerspective’,MusicinSociety:TheSociologicalAgenda32,no.3(1June2004),pp223–234;foraninterestingempiricalstudymobilisingsomeoftheseconceptsseeGreen,KatieVictoria,‘Tryingtohavefunin‘NoFunCity’:LegalandillegalstrategiesforcreatingpunkspacesinVancouver,BritishColumbia’,Punk&PostPunk,7,no.1(March2018),pp75-92.AlanO’Connormakestheimportantpointthatanemphasisonfluidityandhybridityshouldnotoccludetheimportanceoflocalandmaterialconditions,orthelabourthatcreatingandmaintainingascene’sinfrastructureentails–seeO’Connor,Alan,‘LocalScenesandDangerousCrossroads:PunkandTheoriesofCulturalHybridity’,PopularMusic21,no.2(2002),pp225–236.

54

identificationswithintheworld,apossibilitythatwillbeimportant inconsideringmy

interviewees’relationshiptowiderculturesinNorthernIreland.Secondly,thenotionof

scene asmobilised by Bennett is helpfully attentive to the geographicalmessiness of

thesekindsofassemblages,thefactthattheydonotneatlycorrespondtoaparticular

network of streets or venues even if these streets or venues are where the scene is

expressedmost vividly.Whilemuch of the work in this area has focused on ‘virtual

scenes’–“newlyemergentformation[s]inwhichpeoplescatteredacrossgreatphysical

spacescreatethesenseofsceneviafanzinesand,increasingly,throughtheinternet”–

theemphasisherewillbeon‘translocal’scenes,or“widelyscatteredlocalscenesdrawn

into regular communication around a distinctive form of music or lifestyle”.121 This

allowsforasustainedawarenessoftheconnectionsbetweenpunkinEnglandandpunk

inBelfast(sotheroleoftheClash’scancelledgigattheUlsterHallin1977ingalvanising

thelocalscene,forinstance);italsoallowsforasustainedawarenessofthewayinwhich

punkexistedoutsideoftheenvironsofBelfast,insmallertownsacrosstheprovince.A

furtherconsiderationofthisdynamicwillformpartofchapterfourinrelationtoAlison

Farrell’smemoriesofbeingapunkinbothDungannonandinthecapitalcity.

ThepunksceneandRaymondWilliams

A structure of feeling, in RaymondWilliams’ work, is a way of describing attitudes,

behavioursandemotionsintheirhistoricalcontext.InTheLongRevolution,writtenin

1961, he suggests that the phrase is intended to capture “a particular sense of life, a

particular community of experience hardly needing expression” – something thatwe

might be aware of when listening to conversations between people of different

generations,forexample,whoidiomatically“neverquitetalk‘thesamelanguage’”.122If

thewayof lifedescribedabove is apattern–a setof institutions, ideologies, cultural

engagements,andrelationships,thatcanbeunderstoodasrepresentativeforacertain

subjectinacertainperiodandspace–thestructureoffeelingistheimpressionlefton

peoplebythispattern.“Itisasfirmanddefiniteas‘structure’suggests,yetitoperatesin

121Ibid.,p4.122Williams,Raymond,TheLongRevolution(London:Pelican,1965),p64;alaterformulationcomesinWilliams,Raymond,MarxismandLiterature(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1977),pp128-136.

55

themostdelicateandleasttangiblepartsofouractivity”,Williamsexplains.123Thetwo

concepts together – that of structure, which retains an awareness of limits and

institutionsasformativeofexperience,andthatoffeeling,whichallowsustoattendto

the(remembered,narrated)subjectivequalitiesofthatexperience–areausefulwayof

thinkingaboutthepunksceneasaspaceforthesharedencounters,actions,affectsand

emotionsthatconstitutesociality.

Inthisspace,Williamssays:

Most distinctly, the changing organisation is enacted in the organism

[society],thenewgenerationrespondsinitsownwaystotheuniqueworld

it is inheriting, taking up many continuities, that can be traced, and

reproducingmany aspects of the organisation,which can be separately

described,yetfeelingitsownlifeincertainwaysdifferently,andshaping

itscreativeresponseintoanewstructureoffeeling.124

Thisslightlyclumsyyetinfinitelysuggestivephrase–“feelingitsownlifeincertainways

differently” – seems to me to be a good account of how the punk scene affected its

participantsandrelatestosectarianism.125Furthermore,thecautionofthisdescription

helps avoid sweeping claims about the scene’s relationship to the doubly-articulated

sectarianismdescribedabove.ThepunkscenewasaresponsetoNorthernIrishsociety

inwhichparticipantscouldbothreproducesectarianpatterns(politeavoidanceofany

potentiallydivisivepolitical topics, for instance,whichwasa featureofgolf clubsand

dinnerpartiesasmuchasofpunkgigs)andchallengethem(bytheoppositeofavoidance,

for instance, and the creation ofwhat Sarah Tuck calls an agonistic attitude towards

identity).126 In this sense it is a structure of feeling containing emergent practices –

showingyoungpeople attempting to create “newmeanings andvalues” – that areby

123Williams,TheLongRevolution.124Ibid.,p65.125SeeMiura,Reiichi,‘WhatKindofRevolutionDoYouWant?Punk,theContemporaryLeftandSingularity’,Mediations25.1(2010),pp61-80,foranaccountofthepunkscenethatdescribesitspoliticsinasimilarwaybutissharplycriticalofitsdesiretochangethepunksubjectwithoutchangingtheirexternalconditions.126Tuck,Sarah,AftertheAgreement:ContemporaryPhotographyinNorthernIreland,unpublishedPhDthesis,theUniversityofBrighton,2015.

56

turnsalternativeandoppositional.Williamsclarifiesthisdistinctionbetweenalternative

andoppositionalasone“betweensomeonewhosimplyfindsadifferentwaytoliveand

wishestobeleftalonewithit,andsomeonewhofindsadifferentwaytoliveandwishes

tochangethesocietyinitslight”.127Inadditiontobeingeitheralternativeoroppositional,

ofcourse,theycanalsoreproducedominantculturalnarrativesandvalues–sexism,or

sectarianism,forinstance.

Inadopting thisapproach– that is, interrogating thenatureofpunkasa structureof

feeling in the cultures of 1970s Northern Ireland – my analysis will draw on recent

historicalworkontheBritishpunkscenebyDavidWilkinsonandMattWorley,whoboth

mobilisetheconceptofstructureoffeelingtothinkaboutpunkscenesinManchesterand

inBritainrespectively.128BothWilkinsonandWorleywanttohistoricisepunk,placeitin

asocialandpoliticalcontext,andtakeitseriouslyasaculturalresponsetothatcontext.

Ina2017reviewarticlewithJohnStreet,theycallforahistoricalpracticeinformedby

Williams’ culturalmaterialism that entails “the combinationof empirical and archival

researchwithatheoreticalmethodthatallowsforthecomplexities,contradictionsand

contentious nature of punk's cultural practice to be embraced”.129 While broadly

sympathetic to this approach, Iwould add that an oral historymethodology suggests

somefurthercomplexities.Howwasthepunksceneexperiencedasaneverydayaswell

asanexceptionalsetofpractices?Howdoesthemeaningascribedtopunk-nesschange

whendescribedbysomeonewhowasapunkforafewyearsasateenager,thirtyyears

ago?Whatdoesthisshiftingsemioticandsubjectivecontenttellusaboutpoliticaland

socialchangesinthatthirtyyearperiod?

In posing these questions, my approach will differ somewhat from that of Worley,

WilkinsonandStreet,giventheirfocusonthearchivalanddocumentaryrecordofthe

punkscene.IshareWorley’ssensethat“notonlydidpunkengendercreativity, italso

127Williams,Raymond,‘BaseandSuperstructureinMarxistCulturalTheory’,inCultureandMaterialism(London:Verso,2005),p47.128Wilkinson,David,Post-Punk,PoliticsandPleasureinBritain(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2016);Worley,NoFuture.129Wilkinson,David,MatthewWorley,andJohnStreet,‘“IWannaSeeSomeHistory”:RecentWritingonBritishPunk’,ContemporaryEuropeanHistory26,no.2(2017),p410;seealsoStreet,John,MatthewWorley,andDavidWilkinson,‘“DoesItThreatentheStatusQuo?”EliteResponsestoBritishPunk,1976–1978’,PopularMusic37,no.2(2018),pp.271–89.

57

forged cultures that challenged prevailing social (and socioeconomic) norms in

irreverentandprovocativeways”,andagreewithhissuggestionthatit“bothreflected

livesbeinglivedanduncoveredportalstootherworldsandideas”.130ButwhatIwantto

argueforisaslightlybroadenedsenseofthestructureoffeeling,onethatisnotsimply

appliedtowhatwecantracethroughtheresidueofthepast(zines,records,newspaper

interviews and so on) but also to people’smemories of the past; memories that are

formedrelationallywithinandagainsttheseculturalrepresentations,butnotreducible

tothemintheirfullexpressivenessandcomplexity.Myintentionhereistoconsiderthe

wayinwhichmemoriesofthepunkscenearemarkedbytheinstitutionalconditionsand

discourses circulating at the time as well as by the conditions of the contemporary

moment,butnottoarguethatthesememoriesareexclusivelyexpressionsofdomination,

institutionalpowerorsectarianism.ThisapproachfollowstheargumentofthePopular

MemoryGroupthat“memoriesofthepastare,likeallcommon-senseforms,strangely

composite constructions, resembling akindof geology, the selective sedimentationof

pasttraces”;thesearetracesofsectarianstructuresbutalsotracesofdisputationand

discomfortwithinthosestructures,inthiscontext.131

Williams, inhis1971 lecture inmemoryof theFrenchphilosopherLucienGoldmann,

takesanotherstabatdefiningthestructureoffeelingasitoccursinliterature–here,itis

“a fiction, in which the constituting elements, of real social life and beliefs, were

simultaneously actualised and in an important way differently experienced, the

difference residing in the imaginative act, the imaginative method, the specific and

genuinelyunprecedentedimaginativeorganisation”.132Thisseemstometobeveryclose

towhatWorleysuggestswecanaccessviaareadingof theremaindersofpunkasan

imaginative act. Considering the form and style of this imaginative act (as Williams

considerstheformandstyleofthe19thcenturynovel,forinstance)givesthehistorian

accesstothepunksceneasastructureoffeeling,asasocialexperienceinsolution.My

addendum to this approach is simply to follow Alessandro Portelli’s lead in

understandingpeople’snarrativesofthepastascreativetextsproducedboththrough

theexperienceoftheeventsbeingnarratedandthepressuresofmemory,discourseand

130Worley,NoFuture,p254. 131PopularMemoryGroup,‘PopularMemory:Theory,Politics,Method’,inPerks,RobertandAlistairThomson(eds.),TheOralHistoryReader(London:Routledge,2003),p78.132Williams,Raymond,‘LiteratureandSociology’,inCultureandMaterialism(London:Verso,2005),p25.

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language.Inthissense,Iwanttosuggestthatwecanaccessthestructureoffeelingofthe

punkscene inBelfast throughthememoriesofparticipants,andnotonly throughthe

documentaryephemeraithasleftbehind.133

Attendingtothepunksceneasasiteforagroupofyoungpeople“feeling[their]ownlife

incertainwaysdifferently”andadoptinganoralhistorymethodologymeanstheanalysis

will bemore engaged in accounts of experience than in semiotic analysis. It couldbe

productive to consider the different semiotic inflections of Belfast punks to their

counterpartsinLondonorManchesterbythinkingabout,forinstance,howtheplayful

appropriationofnationalistsymbolsliketheUnionJackortheQueen’sportraittakeona

differentsetofsignifications in theNorthern Irishcontext.134 Indeed, in the interview

analysedinchapterfiveGarethoutlinesthisproblem.ButthisaspectoftheBirmingham

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (BCCCS’) analysis of youth subcultures is

secondary toanaccount thatwillbe focusedmoreon thewaypeople rememberand

narratetheirexperienceofbeinginvolvedinthepunkscenethanit isonthematerial

cultureofthesceneitself.Morefoundationalforthisprojectis“thebasicpremiseofyouth

culture harbouring implicit and explicit political meaning”, a basic premise that this

project shareswith thework done by Stuart Hall, AngelaMcRobbie, Stan Cohen and

othersinthe1970s.135

DavidWilkinson–whoseconceptualisationofthepost-punksceneinManchesterIam

indebted to – argues that “freedom and pleasure are surely among themost deeply,

personally ‘felt’ experiences within an encompassing hegemonic process. They are

irreducibletopurelyabstractandconceptualunderstandingsiftheirvariedexpressions

–dominant,alternative,oroppositional–aretohaveanygenuinehold”.136Thisemphasis

on feltexperienceas“themeansbywhichpeopleencounteredandremadetheworld

aroundthem,ofteninrelationwithothers”willbeechoedinmyinterviewanalysisinthe

133Portelli,Alessandro,TheDeathofLuigiTrastulliandOtherStories:FormandMeaninginOralHistory(NewYork:SUNYPress,1991).Themethodologicalimplicationsofthiswillbeconsideredinchapterthree.134Hebidge,Dick,Subculture:TheMeaningofStyle(London:Penguin,1979).135Worley,‘Oi!Oi!Oi!’,p609;Hall,StuartandTonyJefferson,ResistanceThroughRituals:YouthSubculturesinPost-WarBritain(London:Routledge,1989).136Wilkinson,Post-Punk,p21.

59

finalthreechapters.137ApprehendingthestructureoffeelingofthepunksceneinBelfast

throughoralhistoriesbothmakesitpossibletoaskdifferentquestionsaboutthesefelt

experiencesandtoaccessdifferentbitsofthem;sothefeltexperiencesofthosewhose

bandneverlefttheirfriends’garage,orwhosezineneverprogressedbeyondadoodleon

aschooljotter,orwhosepositionorsubjectivityleadsthemtothinkthattheirnarrative

existsonthemarginsofthesceneandsooutsideofitshistoricisation.Inthissense,the

ambitofthestructureoffeelingiswidenedintheanalysisthatfollows.

Conclusion

This chapterhasargued that youngpeople’s everyday lives inNorthern Irelandwere

shapedbyvariousinstitutionsthatmediatedtheirrelationshipswithsociety.Itfollowed

thisclaimwithanhistoricalaccountofsomeofthemostsignificantoftheseinstitutions

–schools, jobs, leisureactivities,churchesandthevariousorganisationsandactivities

associatedwithProtestantandCatholiccommunities–astheywouldhaveintersected

withthelivesofyoungmenandwomeninthe1970s.Onthisbasis,adoublyarticulated

understandingofsectarianismhasbeenproposed,onethatbearsinmindthestructural

violenceofthestatebutalsoattendstosectarianismaspartoflivedexperience.

With this understanding inmind, the status of the punk scene as non-sectarian was

considered.Ratherthanthinkingofthesceneasnon-sectarian,thesuggestionisthatwe

thinkofitasaconstellationofpracticesandinstitutionsformingwhatRaymondWilliams

callsaparticularstructureoffeeling–onethatcancreatemomentsthatinteractwiththis

doubly-articulatedsectarianismindifferentwaysatdifferenttimesandspacesbutthat

isnonethelessaproductoftheconditionsgeneratedbythestructuralsectarianismofthe

post-partitionstate.Thefollowingchapterwillpickuponthefinalclauseofthissentence

and consider punk in Belfast as a set of spatial interventions. This entails grounding

sectarianismasastructurethatpoliticisedspaceandpeople’sengagementwithspace,

especiallythroughsegregationandsegregation’ssubjectiveandmaterialeffects.

137Todd,‘Class,ExperienceandBritain’sTwentiethCentury’,p508.

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CHAPTERTWO:THEPRODUCTIONOFSPACEINBELFAST

IntroductionThepreviouschapterbegantheprocessofthinkingaboutthepunksceneasastructure

offeelingwithinthesectarianandviolentcontextofBelfastinthe1970s,butonlyalluded

toanimportantaspectofsectarianismandviolence–theirrelationshipwithspaceand

place, and specifically with the construction of sectarianised space in the city. This

relationshipiscentraltomythesisbecause“theconstructionandunderstandingofplace-

bounded identities” is a powerful framework for understanding how sectarianism is

maintainedandproduced,andhowviolenceisenacteduponpeople.Itisalsoimportant

becausethestructureoffeelingwecanapprehendinmemoriesofpunkinBelfastisgoing

to be understood here as related to my interviewees’ engagements in space and

relationshipswith place.1With this inmind, the chapterwill beginwith an historical

account of Belfast as a divided city, and particularly of the production of uneven or

asymmetricalspace,drawingonthetheoreticalworkoftheFrenchMarxistgeographer

HenriLefebvre.Itwillfollowtherootsofthisdivisionintothemid-1970s,whenthepunk

scene emerged, and conclude this section with an account of the sites that became

importantforthosetakingpartinthisscene.Thishistoricalaccountisalsoimportantin

makingthedistinctionbetweenthecentreofBelfast(wherethemajorityofthevenues,

recordshopsandgathering-placesthatwereimportantforthepunksceneexisted)and

the surrounding areas,wheremanyofmy interviewees actually lived, andwhere the

relationshipbetweenspace,placeandidentityIamdescribingwasnecessarilydifferent

thanthesamearticulationinthecentreoftown.

Tothinkaboutthisrelationship,ahistoricalgroundinginthespecificconditionsofspatial

segregationinBelfastisneccesary,evenifthiswillinitiallytakeusratherfarfromthe

punkscene.Punk-ness,asarguedinthepreviouschapter,wasnotafixedidentity–itwas

ashiftingonethatcouldbeinflecteddifferentlyindifferentfields,andreaddifferentlyin

1 Shirlow,PeterandBrendanMurtagh,Belfast: Segregation,Violenceand theCity (London:PlutoPress,2006),p6.

61

differentplaces.Becauseof this it is important tohavea senseof the trajectoriesmy

interviewees describe across the city as a whole and the spatial history that these

trajectoriesrelateto,notjustoftheirmemoriesofgigsandsocialityinthecentreoftown.

The following sectionswill lay out that spatial history; because this chapter entails a

movementbackintothe19thcentury,accountsbymyintervieweeswillbeusedsparingly

here until we reach the section on the emergence of the punk scene’s particular

geographyinBelfast,althoughwhatisbeingsetupremainsessentialtotheanalysisof

theirnarrativesintheremainderofthethesis.Inthefinalsections,giventherelativelack

ofsecondaryliteratureonthegeographyofthepunksceneinBelfast(comparedtothe

extensivesecondary literatureon, for instance,educationthat isdrawnonabove) the

interviewswillbeusedfairlyextensively.

Bearing in mind the argument in the previous chapter that we need to understand

sectarianism as doubly-articulated (as a function of the state and as part of lived

experience in Northern Ireland), this section will suggest that segregation and the

divisionofBelfastintoCatholicandProtestantresidentialenclaveshasamulti-layered

history.Thisdoesnotentailanattempttoreturntoanoriginarymomentthatwillprovide

the key to Northern Ireland’s past; nor does it entail an attempt to read this history

teleologically to suggest that the roots of the conflict from1969 lie inexorably in, for

instance,theElizabethanorStuartsettlementsofthe16thand17thcenturies.Rather,I

willarguethattherearethreeperiodsinwhichfacetsofthepatternofsegregationthat

myintervieweesdescribearemadepossible,andwhichcanilluminateandcontextualise

myaccountofthepunksceneasaninterventioninBelfast’slandscape.

ThesearetheVictorianandEdwardianeras,duringwhichBelfastwasinitsindustrial

heyday,roughlyfrom1850to1920;theperiodofUnionistgovernmentfrom1920until

1968,andparticularlypartitionandtheconflictfollowingpartition;andtheinitialstages

of the conflict from 1968 and 1969 through to the mid-‘70s, in which, as recently

declassifiedmaterialshows,thesecurityforcestookaproactiveroleinshapingplanning

decisions such as the planning and building of the Belfast Urban Motorway, and

62

paramilitarygroups,thearmyandthepolicestartedtoplayanespeciallyimportantrole

inthedemarcationofterritorythroughfearandviolence.2

These layers of spatial history are the context in which we need to understand the

interventionofthepunksinthelate1970sandtheirattempttonegotiatewithdivision

ortocreatenewunderstandingsofplacenotpredicatedonthelogicofothering,violence

anddivision.TheyalsohelptosetupthecomplicatedproductionofspaceinBelfast,in

which material conditions (housing, employment), social practices (parades, for

example), violence and the fear of violence, and the accretion of layers of collective

memoryengenderedbytheseotherthreefactorsallplayanimportantrole.3Thereisno

attemptheretoprovideacomprehensivehistoryofBelfastfromthe19thcenturythrough

to the1970s,whichwouldbe aprojectbeyond the scopeof the chapter. Instead, the

choiceofthreeperiodsisintendedtoilluminatespecificaspectsofthespatialproduction

ofBelfastwhichareparticularlyrelevantfortheanalysisofthepunksceneandofthe

interviewsbelow.

TheVictorianandEdwardianerashavebeenchosenbecausetheyaretheperiodwhen

segregationbecomesfullyembeddedinthecity,bothintermsofitsresidential,leisure

andworkplacegeographyandintermsoftheviolenceusedtoenforceandmaintainit;

thepost-partitionerahasbeenchosenastheperiodwherethestate’sinterventionsin

termsofsectarianizingandsegregatingspacebecomecritical;andthepost-1968period

hasbeenchosenbothasthedirectcontextfortheemergenceofthepunksceneandas

theperiodinwhichvariousspecificelementsofmyinterviewees’experiencesofBelfast

are set. Each of these critical junctures in the spatial history of Belfast will also be

describedtoprovideaninsightintothesymbolicweightingofspaceinthecity,andinto

thewaysinwhichviolenceandthefearofviolencemaintaindivisioninthecity;whileit

shouldbeapparentthatsymbolismandviolencedonotworkinthesamewayacrossthe

periods discussedhere and into the period of punk’s emergence, they continue to be

important factors in understanding how space functions in Belfast, and the partial

examplesprovidedhereareintendedtoshowbothsomeofthepreconditionsfortheir

2Cunningham,Tim, ‘ChangingDirection:DefensivePlanning in aPost-ConflictCity’,City 18,no.4–5 (3September2014),pp455–62.3ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,2006.

63

importancetothepunksceneandsomeofthewaysinwhichtheyhavebeenmobilised

historically.

Following and extending the suggestive and influential 1974 account of spatial

productionbyHenriLefebvre,TheProductionofSpace,wemightseetheseprocessesas

entailingtheproductionofanasymmetricalorunevensectarianisedspace.4ForLefebvre,

socialspaceissociallyproduced,althoughitisalsothegroundonwhichsocialrelations

areformedandcontested.Thistakesplacethroughtheinter-relationoflived,conceived

andperceivedspace;spaceasitisactedinandupon,spaceasitisrepresented,planned

andmanaged,andspaceasitisthought,dreamedandimagined.Everysocietyproduces

itsownspacethroughthisinter-relation.5InBelfast,thisproductionisinextricablefrom

thehistoryofsectarianismandthestate’sroleinthemaintenanceofsectarianism,which

iswhy the space that is produced is described here as asymmetrical, or as unevenly

sharedbetweenProtestantsandCatholics;thehegemonicallyunionistsignifiersaffixed

totheCityHall,forexample,aretheproductsofasectarianisedsymbolicinfrastructure

withinwhatLefebvrecallsrepresentationalormonumentalspace.

The narrative belowwill draw on this idea of the production of space to show how

industrialisationandtheexpansionofthecityinthe19thcentury,theformationofthe

NorthernIrishstate,andtheinteractionsofvariousactorsafter1968,producedBelfast

asaspaceinwhichsectarianlogicsdeterminedissuessuchasthesegregationofhousing,

violenceandtherighttopublicassembly.Thefinalsectionwillconcludebyreturningto

Lefebvre’stheoryinthelightofthishistoricalaccount,reiteratingitsusefulnessforan

understanding of the production of sectarianised space, and suggesting an important

senseinwhichhismethodneedstobeaugmentedinordertoworkwithmyaccountof

thepunksceneinBelfast’srelationshiptothecity.Essentially,then,theargumentisthat

sectarianism(notjustthedemandsofcapital,asinLefebvre’swork)producesspacein

Belfast;thehistoricalworkdonehereshouldbeunderstoodasfunctioningwithinthat

argument.

Theearlydevelopmentofthecity

4Lefebvre,Henri,TheProductionofSpace(Malden:Blackwell,1991).5Ibid.,p31.

64

BelfastwasarelativelyminorsettlementduringtheearlycolonialperiodinIreland.6It

was officially incorporated as a town in 1613byKing James I.7 Emergingpatterns of

segregation,occasionalviolenceandcommunityentrenchmentwereafeatureofthe18th

andespeciallythe19thcentury,followingtherapidgrowthinBelfast’spopulationfrom

1757onwards.Thispopulationgrowth–from8,000in1757to20,000in1800–was

initiallymadepossible by the increasing success of the textile industries, particularly

cotton and linen.8 This process of urban expansion was also marked by both the

increasinginfluenceoftheProtestantOrangeOrder(despitevariousattemptstoprohibit

itsorganisationafteritsfoundationin1795)andtheCatholicRibbonmen,althoughthe

rootsofbothorganisationswereinagrarianratherthanurbandisputes.In1813,Belfast

experienceditsfirstmajorreligiousriot,onHerculesStreet,whichisnowacentralartery

ofthecityandknownasRoyalAvenue,whenanOrangeOrderprocessionattemptedto

marchdown the streetwhichhadby this timebecome “the first identifiable Catholic

neighbourhoodinthetown”;inthesameyear,thefirstpublicmeetingofBelfastCatholics

to petition for emancipation took place. Throughout the 19th century, sporadic and

sometimesintenseinter-communityviolencebecameanorminthecity,andresidential

communitieswerebecomingmoresegregatedindefensiveenclaves.9Atthesametime,

Belfastwasbecomingamajorindustrialcity.

Theexpansionofthelinenindustry,whichbecamefullymechanizedbetween1852and

1862, and the success of Harland and Wolff’s shipyards, were the lynchpins of this

growth; a host of ancillary industries sprung up in their wake. These developments

created the conditions for Belfast to grow from a relatively minor settlement to an

industrial, bustling city, albeit one inwhich the prosperity generated by these trades

restedinthehandsofasmalltrancheofPresbyterianandAnglicanbusinessmenandin

6Benn,George,AHistoryoftheTownofBelfastfromtheEarliestTimestotheCloseofthe18thCentury,withMapsandIllustrations(Belfast:RoyalUlsterWorks,1877),p50.7Hepburn,AC,CatholicBelfastandNationalistIrelandintheEraofJoeDevlin,1871-1934(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2008),p8.8 Budge, Ian and Cornelius O’Leary,Belfast: Approach to Crisis – A Study of Belfast Politics, 1613-1970(London:Macmillan,1973,p8;Monaghan,JohnJ., ‘TheRiseandFalloftheBelfastCottonIndustry’,IrishHistoricalStudies3,no.9(1942),pp1–17.9 Ibid.; seealsoHepburn,AC,APastApart:Studies in theHistoryofCatholicBelfast,1850-1950 (Belfast;UlsterHistoricalFoundation,1996);Bardon,Jonathan,AHistoryofUlster(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,1992),especiallychapternine.

65

whichpovertyanddangerouslivingconditionswereafeatureoflifeforthemajorityof

thecity’sworking-classpopulation,bothProtestantandCatholic.10Thisisalsotheperiod

inwhichBelfast’slinkswiththeBritishimperialprojectarefastened–inwhichthecity

becomes“weldedtotheEmpire”,astheBelfastChamberofCommerceputitin1893.11

Thecity’spopulationexpandedfrom87,062inthe1851censusto174,412inthe1871

census.12From1841to1901,Belfastwasthefastest-growingmajorcity intheUnited

Kingdom;itwasgrantedofficialcitystatusin1888anditspopulationoutstrippedthe

relativelyunder-industrialisedDublin’s in1891.13From1834until theendof the20th

century,CatholicscomprisedaroundathirdofBelfast’sinhabitants.14

ACHepburn,describingthethesectarianriotingthatmarkedthecityinthefirsthalfof

the19thcentury,says:

The Catholic and Protestantmigrant populations that came together to

create the industrial population of Belfast brought with them the

unfinishedbusinessofcolonialsettlementandnativeresistancethathad

characterisedtheprevioustwocenturies.Thisbusinesshadbothasocio-

economicdimensionandasomewhatinchoatebutrelatedpoliticalone.15

Theriotsinthesecondhalfofthe19thcenturyarenotableinthecontextofmyresearch

becausetheyareoftenfundamentallyconcernedwithterritoryandspace.16Thenewly-

arrived industrial population tended to live in mainly-Catholic or mainly-Protestant

communities, the latter in the east and the former in the west, a tendency that was

10BudgeandO’Leary,Belfast,p75;seeJohnson,Alice,‘TheCivicEliteofMid-Nineteenth-CenturyBelfast’,Irish Economic and Social History 43, no. 1 (15 September 2016), pp62–84, for an analysis of thecompositionofthisclass.11Ollerenshaw,Philip,‘BusinessmeninNorthernIrelandandtheimperialconnection,1886-1939’,in‘AnIrishEmpire?’:AspectsofIrelandandtheBritishEmpire,Jeffrey,Keith(ed)(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,1996),p193.12BudgeandO’Leary,Belfast,1973,p75.13Hepbun,CatholicBelfast,p8;Brett,CEB,‘TheEdwardianCity:Belfastabout1900’inBeckett,JCandREGlasscock (eds.), Belfast: The Origin and Growth of an Industrial City (London: British BroadcastingCorporation,1967),p120.14Doyle,Mark,FightingLiketheDevilfortheSakeofGod:Protestants,CatholicsandtheOriginsofViolenceinVictorianBelfast(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,2009),p4.15Hepburn,APastApart,1996,p135.By1901,only39percentofBelfast’spopulationhadbeenborninthecity.16Hirst,Catherine,Religion,PoliticsandViolencein19thCenturyBelfast:ThePoundandSandyRow(Dublin:FourCourtsPress,2002;Boyd,Andrew,HolyWarinBelfast(Kerry:AnvilBooks,1969).

66

accentuatedbyriotingandviolence.Inthecity,where“therelativelystableandfamilial

relationshipsofthecountrysidewhichtosomeextentcouldregulatesectarianismwere

absent”,segregationtookonadifferentandlessequivocaldimensionincomparisonto

its ruralcounterpart.17Hepburndescribes thisnewly-sharpenedurbansegregationas

emerging, in part, because of the tendency for social groups to cluster around the

amenities they use regularly, like churches; in part because employment was also

segregated,andthemajorityofworking-classpeoplelivedneartheirplaceofwork;but

as“abovealladefensiveprocedurewhichpeopleadoptedtomitigatetheeffectsofethnic

conflict”.18TheexpulsionofCatholicsfromProtestantneighbourhoods,andthewayin

which the violence of the major riots of the 1850s and 1860s entered into cultural

memory,made“violenceapermanentfeatureofthecity’slandscape,continuallypresent

evenwhenthestreetsthemselveswerequiet”.19

Themajority-ProtestantSandyRowandthemajority-CatholicPoundareasofthecity,as

CatherineHirst has shown, shared to some extent a commonworking-class culture –

cockfighting,drinkingandparties,folkbeliefinfairiesandtheholdingofwakesandthe

EasterMondaycelebrationonCaveHillarecomponentsofthisculturethatcutacrossthe

sectarian divide.20 But at moments of political tension (such as the debate around

CatholicemancipationorDanielO’Connell’sattemptstorepealthe1800ActofUnion,but

fromthe1850sonwardsparticularlyaroundHomeRuledebates),sectarianviolencewas

afeatureoftheearly19thcenturyasmuchasoftheearly20thcentury.21Accordingto

Hirst’sanalysis,theincreasinginfluencefromthe1840sofIrishnationalismontheone

handandPresbyterianevangelicalismontheotherhelpedtocodifyandpoliticiseexisting

divisionbetweenthetwocommunities.22

17Hirst,Religion,p25.18Hepburn,APastApart,p123.19Doyle,Fighting,p229.20Hirst,Religion,p39;seealsoGray,John‘PopularEntertainment’,pp99-110,inBelfast:TheMakingoftheCity,(Beckett,JC,WAMaguireandEmilyBoyle(eds.)(Belfast:AppletreePress,1983).21ForanoverviewofthecareerofthelawyerandpoliticianDanielO’ConnellandhisattemptstoimprovethepositionofIreland’sCatholiccommunityseeBew,Paul,Ireland:ThePoliticsofEnmity,1789-2006(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2007),pp87-175.22Hirst,Religion,2002,p67.Hirstalsomakestheimportantpointthattherearedifferentkindsofriots,withdifferentpoliticalmotivationsonthepartoftheparticipants,citingelectionriots(whichareofteninpartmobilisedbyexternalagitation)andeconomicriots(relatedtounemploymentandhighfoodprices,andsimilartothemid-18thcenturyEnglishriotsdescribedinThompson,EP,‘TheMoralEconomyoftheEnglishCrowdintheEighteenthCentury’,Past&Present,no.50(1971),pp76–136.Inthelaterpartofthe19thcenturymostoftheriotsthattakeplacecentrearoundtheissueofHomeRuleforIreland,discussedbelow.

67

Thelate19thandearly20thcenturies

Belfast in the Victorian and later the Edwardian period displayed a duality between

prosperity and poverty. The serene confidence in progress and industry that could

describeacityimpelled“byitsowninherentenergyanddeterminedpurpose,exalting

itself to industrial eminenceandsocial importancewitha speedalmostunparalleled”

existed alongside extreme poverty for the Catholic and Protestant working-class,

inadequatesanitationandhousing,andsporadicoutbreaksofreligiousviolence,aswell

as the formation of enclave communities and microsegregation within those

communities.23SuchconfidencewaslinkedtothewiderBritishimperialprojectofthis

period,aconnectionthatisstilltangibleinthestreetnamesaroundthe‘HolyLands’near

Queen’sUniversity –Delhi Street,BurmahStreet, Elgin Street – and inwestBelfast –

OdessaStreet,CrimeaStreet,SevastopolStreet.24MarkDoyle,inhis2009studyofrioting

inthecitybetween1850and1865,makestheimportantpointthat“imperialstructures

and mindsets helped to shape the lives of ordinary people” in Belfast, as well as

determiningtheroleofthestate inshapingcommunaldivision.25This imperial legacy

willtakeonanimportantfunctioninthepost-partitionstate,asdiscussedbelow.

ThecodificationofspacewithnamesredolentofBritishcolonialcampaignsintheCrimea

andIndia,Doylesuggests,showthat“Belfast’slocalrivalriesdidnotdevelopinisolation

fromthewiderworld”.26Inthissense,theirruptionsofprotestandviolenceduringthe

40yearsofbordercreationinNorthernIrelandencompassingthefirsthomerulecrisis

of1885and1856ontosubsequentcrisesin1892to1912,andtheestablishmentofthe

borderlinein1920,canbereadaspartofthehistoryofBritishhighimperialismandthe

concomitantnationalistresistancestoglobalimperialistprojectsthatcharacterisethis

period.27ThissectionwillconcentratefirstlyonthewayinwhichthecityscapeofBelfast

23LordThomasO’Hagan,quoted inHepburn,AC, ‘Work,ClassandReligion inBelfast,1871–1911’, IrishEconomicandSocialHistory10,no.1(1June1983),p33.24Doyle,Mark, ‘TheSepoysofthePoundandSandyRow:EmpireandIdentityinMid-VictorianBelfast’,JournalofUrbanHistory36,no.6(19July2010),pp849–867.25Doyle,Fighting,p12.26Doyle,‘TheSepoys’,p862.27ThequestionoftherelationshipbetweenIrelandandimperialismisavexedandcontentiousone,andbeyondthescopeofthischaptertoaddressinanydepth;itisrelevantheremainlyasawayofthinkingaboutthedevelopmentofrepresentationalspaceandsymbolicspatialpracticesinBelfastinthelate19th

68

was shaped by this political context; secondly on the way in which this space was

producedthroughsymbolicacts,especiallyunionistandloyalistparadingculture;and

finallyonresistancetoandsupportforHomeRuleandhowthevariouscrisesrelatedto

this political tension reinforced segregation in the city. This final moment of spatial

contestationwill then lead intoaconsiderationof the1920sandthe formationof the

NorthernIrishstate,acriticalmomentintermsoftheproductionofspacebothinBelfast

andintheprovinceasawhole.

Firstly,then,thiswastheperiodduringwhichBelfastbegantotakeonarecognisable

shape, and many of the most prominent buildings in the centre of the town were

developed.TheUlsterHall–latertobeanimportantsiteforthepunkscene,aswillbe

discussedbelow–andtheCityHallwerebuiltin1859and1898respectively.Intermsof

theproductionofspace,then,lateVictorianandEdwardianBelfastgivesusasenseof

how–asLefebvresuggests-socialpractice,symbolismandrepresentationsorimagesof

thecitycreatedsegregatedresidentialzonesandacentralareawhich,whileostensibly

neutral,isbetter-understoodasasiteforthemaintenanceoftheconjoinedforcesofthe

Britishstateandcommercialenterprise.JohnNagledescribessitesliketheCityHallas

placeswheresocialauthoritywas inscribed–“for instance,astatueofQueenVictoria

‘guards’ the entrance to the City Hall and on the façade of the pediment above the

entrance is a ‘classical’ relief which celebrates the city'smercantilist heritage”.28 The

Unionflag, forexample,hadacriticalsynedochalstatusasasymboloftheconnection

between Belfast, Unionism and Britain and from 1801 the Act of Unionwas used to

symbolisethisconnection.ThroughthemobilisationofUnionistsymbols,civicspacein

thecentreof thecitywasconstructed throughprocessesofexclusionand inclusion,a

dynamicthatwouldbecomeespeciallypronouncedfollowingpartition,discussedbelow.

Secondly, commemorative parades and processions were a feature of the urban

landscape,aftertherepealofthePartyProcessionsActin1872madebothUnionistand

andearly20thcenturies.SeeHowe,Stephen,IrelandandEmpire:ColonialLegaciesinIrishHistoryandCulture(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2000),especiallypp7-21,forausefultaxonomyofthemobilisationofconceptsofimperialismandcolonialisminIrishhistory-writing;seeCleary,Joe,OutrageousFortune:CapitalandCultureinModernIreland(Dublin:FieldDayPublications,2007),especiallychapterone,foranaccountthatarguesforthecolonialityofIrishhistory.28Nagle,John,‘TheRighttoBelfastCityCentre:FromEthnocracytoLiberalMulticulturalism?’,PoliticalGeography28,no.2(1February2009),p135.

69

Nationalist parades a helpful vehicle for expressions of identity and for political

sloganeering.NeilJarmansays:

This growing culture of parading also served both to build more

connectionsbetweenpeopleandplacesofsimilar faith,andat thesame

time to intensify the social distance from those of the other faith.

Commemorative parades thereby helped to consolidate the sense of

differenceanddistinctivenessbetweenProtestantsandCatholics.29

Parades, murals and triumphal arches were both ways of marking out territory as

belongingtooneortheothercommunity.ItisclearthatinBelfastasinotherareaswith

a predominantly Protestant population, unionist parading was tolerated while

Nationalist paradingwas not. An example of this was the riot attending the 1872 St

Patrick’sDayparadesinBelfastinsupportoftheHomeRule,directlyfollowingthere-

legalisationofprocessionsearlierintheyear.“Oneclearaimoftheviolentprotestsfrom

theProtestantcommunitywastodemonstratethattheywouldnottoleratenationalist

paradesintheheartoftheircity,”argueJarmanandBryan;fourpeoplediedandover800

Catholicfamilieswereforcedtoleavetheirhomesintheaftermathofthisfighting,again

largely concentrated between Sandy Row and the Pound.30 No further nationalist

demonstrationsofanyimporttookplaceinBelfastuntilthe1890s,againsuggestingthe

hegemony of Unionist and British signifiers in the city even in the period prior to

partition.Parenthetically,however,itisimportantnottoelideUnionismandBritishness

unproblematicallyinthisperiod;asJamesLoughlinsuggests,theBritishadministration

of the late 19th century had a somewhat fraught relationship with Orangeism and

parading,characterisedby“reluctantalliancefollowedbyrapiddisengagement”.31

29Jarman,Neil,MaterialConflicts:ParadesandVisualDisplaysinNorthernIreland(Oxford:Berg,1997),p57.30Jarman,NeilandDominicBryan,FromRightstoRiots:NationalistParadesintheNorthofIreland(Coleraine:CentrefortheStudyofConflict,1997);seealsoRadford,Mark,‘CobblesAndConfetti’,IrishStudiesReview15,no.2(1May2007),pp199–217.31Loughlin,James,‘ParadesandPolitics:LiberalGovernmentsandtheOrangeOrder,1880–86’,p27,inTGFraser(ed.),TheIrishParadingTradition(London:PalgraveMacmillan,2000);seealsoWright,Frank,TwoLandsonOneSoil:UlsterPoliticsBeforeHomeRule(Dublin:GillandMacmillan,1996).

70

Inthelate19thcentury,thecontextforthereluctantalliancesbetweenOrangeismand

thestatenotedbyLoughlinwastheemergenceofthedemandforHomeRule.TheIrish

HomeRulemovementwasanattempttoestablishself-governmentforIrelandwithinthe

UnitedKingdom;successivebillswereintroducedunsuccessfullyin1886and1893;the

ThirdHomeRuleBillwasintroducedin1912,leadingtotheHomeRulecrisis,theUlster

Covenant againstHomeRule and the foundationof theUlsterVolunteers.Of primary

interest for this section is theengagementwithurbanspace in responses to thebills,

especiallythesuccessfuloneof1912.FollowingtheHomeRuleBillof1886,31people

were killed andover400 arrestsweremade asProtestants clashedwithCatholics in

attackslargelyinstigatedbyProtestantsontheShankillRoad;notably,battlesbetween

theRoyalIrishConstabularyandProtestantswereamajorfeatureoftheseriots.32What

is important for us here is the imbrication of the global in the local and vice versa.

Territorialityandtheformationofenclavesoccurredonthemicrocosmiclevelthrough

acts of violence and fear of acts of violence; the state’s role in prohibiting nationalist

symbols and promoting unionist symbols produced the city centre as a space of

commerceandBritishness;momentsofpoliticalcrisisforthestatesuchasthefirstHome

RuleBillin1886sawglobalpoliticalconcernsenactedonlocalground.“Asthehistoryof

Belfast’s mid-Victorian riots shows, communal conflict often took the form of

disagreementsovereachgroup’splace–literallyandimaginatively–inthecity,”argues

SeanFarrell.33

Thisinterconnectionbetweenthelocalandtheglobalwasalsoapparentintheperiod

between 1912 and 1919, following theHomeRule crisis. As in 1886, the unrest that

emergeshereconnects local issuesofsegregationandviolencewithnational issuesof

exclusion,inclusionandthenatureoftheimaginedcommunity.Twoincidentsin1912

illustrate thenatureof thepoliticsof space in thisperiod.Firstly, in July, some2,400

Catholics and a few hundred Protestant trade unionists were expelled from their

workplaces by unionist protestors. In the case of the expulsion of Catholics, this

representsaproto-exampleofthewayinwhichCatholicismbecamesynonymouswith

‘disloyalty’inthepost-partitionstate.TheProtestantworkerswereexpelledforrefusing

tojointheUlsterClubs,associationssetuptoagitateagainstHomeRulethatwouldlater

32Radford,‘Cobbles’,p206;Farrell,RitualsandRiots,p244.33Farrell,RitualsandRiots,p228.

71

become the bedrock for the paramilitary Ulster Volunteers. Speaking in the British

parliament on 31st July 1912, the nationalist politician and trade unionist Joe Devlin

describedthestreetsparadedwith“Orangemobs”,andthousandsofworkers“whoare

compulsorily disemployed owing to the reign of terror which exists [in Belfast]”.34

Devlin’slanguage,whileinformedbyhispoliticalremit,issuggestiveofthewayinwhich

violencewasemployedtoenforcebothterritorialclaimsandpoliceproperorimproper

behavior and attitudes; these twinned concerns, about the ownership of space or

territoryandaboutthewayinwhicharangeofpossiblebehaviorsarepermissibleor

impermissibleinspecificspace,areimportanttotheunderstandingsofspaceinBelfast

apparentinmyinterviews.

Intermsofthesymbolicproductionofspace,inLefebvrianterms,asecondkeymoment

ofthisperiodwas‘UlsterDay’on28thSeptember1912,whenthousandsofunionistmen

queuedatBelfastCityHalltosigntheSolemnLeagueandCovenantagainsttheproposed

bill for the self-government of Ireland; alongwith the separateWomen’s Declaration

againstthebill,thismomentrepresented“thesinglelargestpublicdemonstrationfora

political campaign in any part of the United Kingdom, before or since”.35 The

demonstrationmarkedtheapogeeoftheunionistappropriationofpublicspaceinthe

periodbeforepartition,although–aswiththequestionofOrangeparading–itshould

notbereadasanuncomplicatedlyhegemonicmoment,giventhesupportofprominent

politicalfiguresfromtheProtestantmilieusuchasWilliamJamesPirrie,adirectorofthe

Harland&Wolffshipyards,forHomeRule.36Nonetheless,themassmobilisationofthe

Covenantersmarksanimportantprecursortothepost-partitionproductionofspace,in

which the city centre would again be a site where an exclusionary form of national

identitywouldbestagedandperformed.

PartitionandunionisthegemonyintheNorthernIrishstate

34HCDeb31July1912vol.41cc2088-149.35McGaughey,JaneG.V,‘NoSurrender?TheLegacyoftheUlsterSolemnLeagueandCovenant’,JournalofTransatlanticStudies11,no.2(1June2013),pp213–30.36Morrissey,Conor,‘“RottenProtestants”:ProtestantHomeRulersandtheUlsterLiberalAssociation,1906–1918’,TheHistoricalJournal,Vol.61(3),2017,p216.

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TheoutbreakoftheFirstWorldWarin1914deferredthepoliticalcrisisinspiredbythe

thirdHomeRulebill.Forthepurposesofthischapter,thenextimportantperiodis1920

until 1922, encompassing the Irish War of Independence of 1919 to 1921, the

GovernmentofIrelandActin1920andtheAnglo-IrishTreatyof1921,whichformalised

thepartitionofsixcountiesinthenorthasaBritishdominionandindependenceforthe

restofIreland.37Ratherthanattemptingageneralhistoryofthisperiod,thissectionwill

concentrateonthreeareasrelevanttothequestionofsegregationandsectarianismin

Belfast.Theseare,firstly,thepartitionitself;secondly,thefurtherinstancesofviolence

inthecitybetween1920and1922,andagainin1935;andthirdly,theextensivestate

apparatus that emerged as a legislative tool for the suppression of nationalist and

republicanpoliticsintheperiodimmediatelyfollowingpartition,andparticularlyitsrole

in themanagement of space and the embeddingofwhat JoePainter calls theprosaic

geographiesofstatenessintoeverydaylifeinNorthernIreland.38

JoeClearyhelpfullydefinespartitionas“anattempttoengineer,usuallyinanextremely

compressed period, nation-states with clear and decisive ethnic majorities”.39 This

processentails“areorganisationofpoliticalspace”,butoneinwhichthelegaciesofthe

previous state structure are central; so in the Northern Irish case, Protestants are

constructedas ‘loyal’citizensofthenewstateandCatholicsas ‘disloyal’bydefinition,

whethertheirpoliticalsympathieswererepublican,nationalistorapathetic.40Themain

thrust of Cleary’s argument is that it is not the innate strength of ethnic or sectarian

animosity that produces partition but rather a confluence of colonial or imperial

institutionsandstructures,transnationalandglobalconcerns,andpoliticalexpediency.

Because partition takes “virulent ethno-national conflict as an absolute given”, it “is

designedtorestructurepoliticalspacetoaccommodatesuchconflictratherthantotackle

ortransformthewiderconditionsthatgenerateditinthefirstinstance”.41

37Anderson,James,andLiamO’Dowd,‘ImperialismandNationalism:TheHomeRuleStruggleandBorderCreationinIreland,1885–1925’,PartitionandtheReconfigurationoftheIrishBorder26,no.8(1November2007),pp934–50;foranexcellentrecentaccountofthewayinwhichresidentsoneithersideofthebordernegotiatedthenewterrainafterpartitionseeLeary,Peter,UnapprovedRoutes:HistoriesoftheIrishBorder,1922-1972(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2016).38Painter,Joe,‘ProsaicGeographiesofStateness’,PoliticalGeography25,no.7(1September2006),pp752–774.39Cleary,Joe,Literature,PartitionandtheNation-State:CultureandConflictinIreland,IsraelandPalestine(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress:2004),p21.40Ibid.41Ibid.,p29.

73

InLefebvre’sterms,theborderisarepresentationofspace–alineonamap–thatboth

produces and is produced by spatial practices. In this sense, we need to understand

segregation,sectarianismandviolencebetweenProtestantsandCatholics,both in the

1920s and the post-1968 period, as the product of a set of historical conditions –

including but not limited to partition – rather than of atavistic or innate animosities.

AndersonandO’Dowdhighlighttheimportanceofthisunderstandingtohistoricalwork

on Northern Ireland: “The Irish case is one ofmanywhich highlights the continuing

legaciesofimperialism,andalsothemaligneffectsofignoringit–notleastinelite,official

or self-serving narratives which simplistically assign all the blame for partition and

territorial conflicts tonationalist ‘passions’ and ‘hatreds’.”42Anyunderstandingof the

punksceneasnonorun-sectarianmustnecessarilybearinmindthishistoricalcontext,

inlinewiththepreviouschapter’sstressontheroleofthestateinthedouble-articulation

ofsectarianism.

Moving from the border to Belfast, the years between 1920 and 1922 were violent,

characterisedbyloyalistattacksontheminorityCatholicpopulationandbytheresponse

oftheIrishRepublicanArmy.AlanParkinsonestimatesthedeathtollat498,with2,000

peopleinjured;in1920over20,000Catholics,aquarterofthecity’sCatholicresidents,

wereexpelledfromtheirhomes,andCatholicworkersaswellassomeProtestanttrade

unionists were expelled from the shipyards.43 500 Catholic businesses were also

destroyedinthisperiod.JimMcDermottsuggeststhat“theshipyardexpulsionsandthe

manner inwhich they happeneddividedBelfast evenmore permanently on religious

grounds”.44TheUlsterVolunteerForceandtheIrishRepublicanArmywerebothactive

inthisconflict,whilethenewly-formedRoyalUlsterConstabularyandespeciallytheir

auxiliary force the ‘B’ Specials played a prominent role in violence against Catholic

communities.

42AndersonandO’Dowd,‘ImperialismandNationalism’.43Parkinson,AlanF,Belfast’sUnholyWar:TheTroublesofthe1920s(Dublin:FourCourtsPress,2004),p41;Jackson,Alvin,HomeRule:AnIrishHistory,1800-2000(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2003),p248.44McDermott,Jim,NorthernDivisions:TheOldIRAandtheBelfastPogroms1920-22(Belfast:BeyondthePale,2001),p34.

74

Again,spaceandplacearecrucialhere.Writingin2013,NiallCunninghamarguesthat

the patterns of violence evident in the period between 1920 and 1922 can only be

understoodthroughaconsiderationofmicro-segregationinthecity–thatistosay,the

wayinwhichpartsofneighbourhoodsorevenpartsofstreetscouldbecodedandread

aseitherProtestantorCatholic.45So,forinstance,deathswereconcentratedontheinner-

northofthecity,wheredifferentpocketsofspaceweredominatedbyonecommunity

andintersectedonanopenplaneorwithoutaphysicalbarrier;inwestBelfast,wherethe

industrialgeographyofthecitykeptProtestantandCatholicareasapart,deathswereless

frequent.Cunninghamsays:“Ratherthanbeinganinertzoneforhistoricalaction,space

took on a sort of agency in dictating patterns of inter-communal violence”.46 So

demographic tensions,heightened in thewakeof theeconomicdownturnafterWorld

WarOne,areimportant,asistheimmediatecontextofthepoliticalcrisisinIreland.But

“economic segregation and stratification were [inseparable] from wider issues of

residentialpolarisationandpoliticaldifferenceattheeverydaylevel”.47

While the violenceof theperiodbetween1920and1922provided an impetus and a

justification for the Local Government (Emergency Powers) Act of 1921, the 1922

CriminalProcedureActandthe1922CivilAuthority(SpecialPowers)Act,theirpowers

werethenexercisedwellbeyondtheseinitialincidents.48Ofparticularinteresthereis

the Special Powers Act or SPA, which in its initial usage between 1922 and 1943

incorporated“powersofdetentionandinternment,specialcourts,extensivepowersof

entry,searchandseizure,andtheimpositionoflimitsonfreedomofmovement,”aswell

as restrictions on expressions of nationalist sentiment prohibiting meetings and

processions,flyingtheIrishflag,andtheprintingofpamphlets.49LauraKDonohue,inher

comprehensivehistoryofthesemeasuresandtheirlateradoption(inalteredform)by

the British state during direct rule, makes the important point that while ostensibly

neutral (that is, applying to unionist or loyalist activity as well as nationalist or

republican) they were applied exclusively to the latter two groups. She says: “This

45Cunningham,Niall, ‘“TheDoctrineofVicariousPunishment”:Space,ReligionandtheBelfastTroublesof1920–22’,JournalofHistoricalGeography40(1April2013),pp52–66.46Ibid.,p58. 47Ibid.,p62.48Donohue,LauraK,Counter-terroristlawandemergencypowersintheUK,1922-2000(Dublin:IrishAcademicPress,2001).49Ibid.,pp40-41.

75

legislationbecameabluntweapon,exercisedonbehalfofandbyonecommunityinthe

North,andleviedalmostexclusivelyagainsttheCatholicpopulation.”50

AcontemporaryjournalisticaccountunderthepseudonymofUltach,publishedin1943,

issuggestiveoftheaffectivespatialimpressionscreatedbythislegislation.Hedescribes

the experience of being interned and questioned for arbitrary reasons as “direct

intimidation,discriminationandprovocationbytheauthorities,”madepossiblebythe

factthatNorthernIrelandfollowingpartitionwaseffectivelyifnotliterallyaone-party

state.51Thecriticalpartofthisnarrativeformyanalysisherecomesatthebeginningof

thepiece,wheretheauthorisdescribinghiseverydaylifeasamemberoftheminority

Catholicpopulation.Hesays

Iknowthepeoplewhovotefor,supportandbenefittoacertainextentfrom

the continuance of the regime. About these people I must say I am

consciousofnofeelingsofhatredtowardsthem.ImusttakethemasIfind

them,andIfindthem,onthewhole,goodneighbours,goodfriendswhen

youmakefriendswiththem,andinthecasualrelationsofday-to-daylife

agreeableandobliging.52

This takes us back to the argument made in chapter one about the necessity of

understandingsectarianismasdoubly-articulated,atthelevelofthestateandatthelevel

ofeverydaylife;whileUltach’sdisavowalofthelatterarticulationheremaybeinpart

rhetorical, his emphasis on the structural conditions of sectarianism and their

maintenance by legislation such as the SPA is critical for thinking about punk’s

relationshiptoeverydaylifeandtospace.

JoePaintersuggeststhat“itmakessensetodefine‘thestate’asanimaginedcollective

actorinwhosenameindividualsareinterpellated(implicitlyorexplicitly)ascitizensor

subjects, aliensor foreigners, andwhich is imaginedas the sourceof central political

authorityforanationalterritory”;whilethisprocessdependsonasocialimaginary,the

50Ibid.,p39.51Ultach,OrangeTerror:ThePartitionofIreland(Dublin:TheCapuchinAnnual,1943),p4.52Ibid.,p1.

76

mechanismsitusesanditscapacitytoenforcethosemechanismsthroughtechnologies

of power arematerial.53 In Painter’s terms, the post-partition Northern Irish state is

marked by the proliferation of legislation thatworks to produce a hegemonic spatial

politics, working alongside the violent enforcement of residential segregation and

workplace expulsions to marginalize the minority Catholic community and embed

sectarianismintotheeverydaygeographyofthecity.

Beyond the 1920s, the 1930s were marked by economic depression and further

discriminationagainsttheCatholicminoritypopulationwithinthenewNorthernIrish

state.Between1931and1939,27percentoftheworkforcewasunemployed,leadingto

major riots in Belfast in 1932.54 The key industries described abovewere all heavily

affectedbytheglobaleconomicdepression,puttingpressureontheUnionistgovernment

fromitsgrassrootssupportandencouragingsupportforexclusivistandsectarianpolitics

amongsome(thoughnotall)politicians.55Inadequatesanitationandpovertymeantthe

city suffered more than its English equivalents from infectious diseases – whooping

cough,influenzaandmeasleskilledaroundthreetimesasmanypeopleinthecityasin

equivalently-sizedcitiesacrosstheIrishSea.56FurtherriotsbetweentheProtestantand

Catholiccommunitiestookplacein1935,concentratedontheareaaroundYorkRoadand

Sailortown; anxiety about the relationship between Ulster, Ireland and England was

displaced,however,bytheemergenceoftheSecondWorldWar.57AirraidsonBelfastin

1942 killed 942 people, damaged 56,000 houses and destroyed 3,200, creating the

impetus for post-war redevelopment plans in the city.58 It has been suggested that

communaltensionsinthecityweresomewhatlessenedbythewar,andthatoutsideof

the most-segregated areas increased mixing between the two communities was

apparent.59Nonetheless,the1922SPAwasaugmentedwiththePublicOrderActof1951

and the Flags and Emblems Act of 1954 as a furthermeans of delimiting nationalist

53Painter,‘ProsaicGeographies’,p758.54Bardon,AHistoryofUlster,,pp527-528.55Norton,Christopher,‘CreatingJobs,ManufacturingUnity:UlsterUnionismandMassUnemployment1922-34’,ContemporaryBritishHistory15,no.2(1June2001),pp1–14.56Ibid.,p532.57Hepburn,AC,‘TheBelfastRiotsof1935’,SocialHistory15,no.1(1990),pp75–96.58Doherty,PaulandMichaelAPoole,EthnicResidentialSegregationinBelfast(Coleraine:CentrefortheStudyofConflict,UniversityofUlster,1995),p33;seealsoCEBBrett,HousingaDividedCommunity(Dublin:TheInstituteofPublicAdministration,1986),p64.59See,forinstance,Woodward,Guy,Culture,NorthernIrelandandtheSecondWorldWar(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2015);Brett,Housing,p64;DohertyandPoole,EthnicResidentialSegregation,p35.

77

politicalexpression.ThehegemonicsymboliclandscapeoftheNorthernIrishstatewas

BritishandProtestant,encompassing“theunionflag;royaltoasts;theBritishnational

anthemplayedonformaloccasions”.60

Spatially,wecandrawthreepointsoutofthissummary.Firstly,thatpartitioncreateda

spacethatgaveanewcomponenttopre-existingidentities;secondly,thattheviolenceof

the 1920s and 1930s heightened the process of what Hepburn calls ‘defensive’

segregation, especially amongworking-class Catholic communities;61 thirdly, that the

legislativeframeworkofthenewstateandespeciallytheSPAcreatedtheconditionsfor

theproductionofhegemonicunionistspacesinsitesofsocialcentralitysuchasthecentre

ofthecity.Thesearethecrucialpointstobearinmindintermsoftheproductionofspace

after1968andtheoutbreakoftheTroubles.FollowingMcVeighandRolston,thecritical

pointhereisthat“thenewlyformedstatelentanewandradicallydifferentspecificityto

sectarianism”andthustothesectarianisationofspace.62

Thepoliticsofspaceafter1968andtheimpactofdirectrule

Segregation, and themaintenanceof segregationbyviolenceand the fearof violence,

continued to be a pronounced feature of Belfast’s geography from the late 1960s

onwards.

From1969,BelfastwasoccupiedbyBritishtroops.From1972,thecountryasawhole

wasplacedunderdirectrulefromWestminster,withparliamentatStormontsuspended

upuntildevolutionin1999.ThearrivaloftroopswasaresponsetotheAugust1969riots

describedatthetimebytheIrishNewsas“thefirstmajorclashesbetweenProtestants

and Catholics … since 1935” and considered by the British government to be clear

evidencethattheNorthernIrishexecutivehadlostcontrolofthefebrilesituationinthe

province.63Althoughtheeventsofthe14thand15thofAugustmainlytookplaceinthe

60Hennessey,Thomas,NorthernIreland:TheOriginsoftheTroubles(London:Gill&Macmillan,2005),p378.61Hepburn,CatholicBelfast,p8.62McVeigh,RobbieandBillRolston,‘FromGoodFridaytoGoodRelations:Sectarianism,RacismandtheNorthernIrelandState’.Race&Class48,no.4(1April2007),p5.63Warner,GeoffreyandSimonPrince,BelfastandDerryinRevolt:ANewHistoryoftheStartoftheTroubles(Newbridge:IrishAcademicPress,2012),p149.

78

(majorityCatholic)areasoftheFallsandtheArdoyne,theyaredoublysignificanttothis

narrative because of the foundational status they have in the emergence of the

Provisional IrishRepublicanArmy(PIRA)aswellas the impetus for thearrivalof the

BritishArmyonBelfast’sstreets.FurtherriotsinJune1970,ontheSpringfieldRoadand

theShortStrand,allowedthePIRAtostrengthentheirpositionwithinBelfastandmarked

aturningpointinthepolarisationofthetwocommunities.64Some2,000familieswere

intimidatedfromtheirhomesinAugust1971,andanimmediatebutlong-lastingeffect

of this outbreak of violence was the fillip it gave to segregation in the city, which

intensified in the1970sand1980s.65BetweenAugust1969andFebruary1973some

60,000people,12percentofthepopulationofthecity,lefttheirhomesbecauseofdirect

intimidationortheriskofviolence;themajorityofthesewereCatholicfamilieslivingin

majority-Protestantareas,aswellassomeProtestantslivinginmajority-Catholicareas.66

This further embedded segregation into Belfast’s residential network. Shirlow and

Murtagh say: “With the onset of extreme violence in the late 1960s, new versions of

dangerous places and moral panics were intertwined with established suspicions

regarding the threat posed by the ‘other’ community.”67 Internment without trial,

introduced in August 1971 under the aegis of Operation Demetrius, was a further

turning-point in this increasing entrenchment and strengthened the sentiment of

nationalist communities against the state.68 As with the various aspects of the SPA

mobilised during the post-partition period, internment without trial was ostensibly

neutral but used exclusively against Catholic communities in this period and led to

numerousallegationsofmisconductagainsttheBritisharmy.69

Thissentimentwasexpressedtosomeextentthroughtheincreasingprevalenceofarmed

resistance to the state. In addition to thePIRA’s resurgence in the early1970s, other

paramilitary groups emerged in thewake of the rioting thatmarked the start of the

64Ibid.,pp233-255.65ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,2006,p22;seealsoDarby,John,IntimidationandtheControlofConflictinNorthernIreland(NewYork:SyracuseUniversityPress,1986)andBoal,FrederickW.,‘TerritorialityontheShankill–FallsDivide,Belfast’,IrishGeography41,no.3(1November2008),pp349–66..66MoreThanBricks:40YearsoftheHousingExecutive(Belfast:NorthernIrelandHousingExecutive,2011).67Ibid.68McCleery,MartinJ,‘DebunkingtheMythsofOperationDemetrius:TheIntroductionofInternmentinNorthernIrelandin1971’,IrishPoliticalStudies27,no.3(1September2012),pp411–30.69Bennett,Huw,‘“SmokeWithoutFire”?AllegationsAgainsttheBritishArmyinNorthernIreland,1972–5’,TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory24,no.2(29February2012),pp275–304.

79

decade.TheOfficialIRAretainedapresenceinthecitythroughoutthisperiod,andfrom

1975theIrishNationalLiberationArmyalsotookpartinactsofviolenceinBelfast.In

termsofloyalistviolence,theUlsterVolunteerForceandtheUlsterDefenceAssociation

were themost significant organisations for Belfast in the 1970s, with the Red Hand

Commandos also formed in around 1972.70 Along with the increased segregation

described above, and the violence and intimidation of the state forces, these

organisationsplayedanimportantroleingeneratingandmaintainingspatialdivisions

betweenCatholicandProtestantcommunitiesinthecity.

Thisgeneratedaspatialframeworkwithinthecitywherebyworking-classareasbecame

almost exclusively Catholic or Protestant, following the pattern laid out in the 19th

centurybuttoamoreextremedegree;italsoledtothecreationofmilitarisedboundaries

betweensegregatedspaces,inwhatarenowknownas‘interfaceareas’,whereagreat

dealoftheviolenceinBelfastwasenactedthroughouttheyearsoftheconflict.71Allen

Feldman,anAmericanculturalanthropologistwhose1991bookFormationsofViolence

isanearlyattempttotheorisetherelationshipofthesespatialframeworkstopoliticsand

everyday life, describes how vigilante groups, paramilitaries and later the military

policedtheseboundariestomaintaintheirintegrity–“communitiesbecamehostagesto

theirbarricadesandtheirossifiedboundaries”,heargues.72Thisisthespatialcontextfor

the ‘othering’of everydaysectarianism, inwhich the communitybecomesa refugeor

sanctuaryfromtheviolence(bothimaginedandactual)invokedbytheimageofthoseon

theothersideofthewall.ShirlowandMurtaghdescribethis,helpfully,asadiscursive

process in which sectarianism is embedded in space through the construction of

“physical,visualandpoliticaldefinitionsoftheboundarybetweenthe‘self’andthe‘other’

70SeeBardon,Jonathan,AHistoryofUlster(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,1992),Chapter15;Cavanaugh,KathleenA,‘InterpretationsofPoliticalViolenceinEthnicallyDividedSocieties’,TerrorismandPoliticalViolence9,no.3(1September1997),pp33–54.71Inanimportantcorrectivetothisnarrative,CunninghamandGregoryhaverecentlydrawnon“censusdataatahighspatialresolution”toshowthat“deathrateswereactuallylowerinimmediateproximitytopeacelinesthantheyweredeeperwithinCatholicandProtestantenclaves”.SeeCunningham,Niall,andIanGregory,‘HardtoMiss,EasytoBlame?Peacelines,InterfacesandPoliticalDeathsinBelfastduringtheTroubles’,PoliticalGeography40(1May2014),pp64–78.72Feldman,Allen,FormationsofViolence:TheNarrativeoftheBodyandPoliticalTerrorinNorthernIreland(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1991),p31.Interfaceareasandtheso-calledpeacewallsthatseparatethemhavebeenthesubjectofagreatdealofresearchintheyearsfollowingtheGoodFridayAgreement;seeforinstanceLeonard,MadeleineandMartinaMcKnight,‘BringingdowntheWalls:YoungPeople’sPerspectivesonPeace-wallsinBelfast’,InternationalJournalofSociologyandSocialPolicy31,no.9/10(6September2011),pp569–582.

80

community”.73Whenmy intervieweesdescribe theirshockatmeetingProtestants (or

Catholics) for the first time through a shared interest in the punk scene they are

delineatingthisspatialboundary-mark,aswellasthesocialatomisationdescribedinthe

previouschapter.

Theviolentdemarcationofspace

Howdidviolencedemarcatespace?1,541people(46percentofthosewhowerekilled

intheconflictaccordingtotheSuttondatabase)diedintheBelfastUrbanAreabetween

1969and2001.

Thevictimprofilewasoverwhelminglymaleat94percentofthetotal,and

young, with a mean age of just 32. Loyalists were responsible for 67

percentofallrandomkillings,inwhichthecircumstancessuggestedthat

the victim was selected by chance or where the casualty was the

unfortunatevictimofanindiscriminategunorbombattack.Republicans

accountedforapproximately29percentofthesekillingswhileincontrast,

theywereresponsiblefor52percentof‘targeted’killings,asopposedto30

for loyalist paramilitary groups and seventeen percent for the various

Britishsecurityorganisations.Overthree-quartersofallvictimsinBelfast

diedingunattacks,witheighteenpercentbeingkilledasaresultofbomb

blastsandjustthreepercentduetobluntforcetraumaorstabbing.74

Themajorityofdeathsoccurredintheearlyyearsoftheconflict,withoneinfiveofall

deaths occurring in 1972 alone.75 Interface areas were the site for low-intensity, or

performative violence, such as rioting, while most fatal violence occurred inside the

enclave(majority-ProtestantorCatholic)areasborderedbythe interfaces.76Whatthe

Suttonfiguressuggestisthatparamilitaryviolence,andespeciallyloyalistviolence,was

central inmaking certain spaces dangerous. It is also important to note that (asmy

73ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,p73.74CunninghamandGregory,‘HardtoMiss’,2014,p67.75Ibid.76Ibid.,p76.

81

intervieweesdiscuss–seeforinstanceAlison’saccountofbeingstoppedbythepolice

andthearmy)theapparentlyreactiveordefensivespatialmeasuresofthestatewere

alsoaformofperformativeviolence.77Thisviolence–boththatofstateandnon-state

actors – is understood here as being concerned with (among other things), the

contestation of territory and the symbolic freight afforded to certain spaces. In my

interviewswithformerpunks,arememberedfearofviolenceisoftenattachedtostories

aboutimproperortransgressiveengagementswithsectarianized,segregatedspaces.

Insummarythen,violenceandthethreatofviolence“encouragedpoliticalandcultural

retrenchmentandthephysicalandcognitiveremappingofthecity”.78Retrenchment,or

thehardeningofdivisionbetweenthetwocommunities,madeexistinginter-community

cultural and social practices – “boxing, pigeon-racing, card-playing and drama” – less

common,withoutofcourseoccludingthementirely.79Thepunkscenewasunusual in

that it became a popular cultural formation in 1977 or 1978 –meaning, inWilliams’

terms,itwasanemergentsocialpractice,ratherthanaresidualonelikethosedescribed

byShirlowandMurtaghabove–andremainedpartofthecity’syouthcultureuntilthe

mid-1980s.Whileitdidnotnecessarilyactasadirectchallengetothelogicofsegregation

and violence described above (young people from both communities met in the city

centre,ortherelatively-safeconfinesofsouthBelfast,butthenreturnedtotheirhomes

insegregatedresidentialareasafterwards)itdoesrepresentanattempttoreorderthe

symbolicmeaningofplace,andaswillbearguedbelowitprovidedaspaceforyoung

people to engage inpracticesofmobility and transgression, and to rethink theirown

understandingofspaceandcommunity.

Reshapingthe‘defensivecity’

Of course, punkswere not the only people attempting to reorder place in the period

followingtheoutbreakofconflict,particularlyaftertheproroguingofStormontandthe

inception of direct rule. On July 21st 1972, nine people died and a further 130were

injuredoverthecourseof‘BloodyFriday’,whentheProvisionalIRAdetonated22bombs

77Murray,Raymond,StateViolence:NorthernIreland,1969-1997(Cork:MercierPress,1998).78ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,p74. 79Ibid.,p77.

82

acrossBelfast,manyinbusstationsandothertransporthubs.Followingthisattackand

the launch of Operation Motorman, which brought about the deployment of 40,000

furtherBritishtroopsinBelfastandDerry,thecapitalbecame“alaboratoryforradical

experiments on the fortification of urban space”, in which defensive planning and

architectureworkedalongwiththepoliceandthearmytocreateaheavilysecuritised

andsurveilledurbanenvironment.80Thedeterminationofthegovernmenttosealoffthe

central business zone of the city was heightened by the fact that, while the bombs

detonatedonBloodyFridayallwentoffwithinthecentralarea,theywerekeptoutside

allofthe‘restrictedtrafficzones’–aforerunnertotheringofsteelerectedaroundthis

spaceby1974.81

Initially, the ring of steel was split into four zones; by March 1976 it had been

amalgamatedtoformonezone,meaningonlyonesearchwasrequiredwhenentering

thispartofthecityratherthanseveralastheshopperorwalkermovedbetweeneach

area.The‘ring’consistedof“onelargesecuritysectorringedbyseventeentento12-foot-

highsteelgates”;thisreducedthenumberofpersonnelneededtomaintainthecordon,

althoughmany shopsemployed theirown teamsof security staff to carryout further

searches.82Working in tandemwith a concerted effort on the part of themilitary to

controlandcontainworking-classestates,thisstrategyofinsulationandnormalisation–

while largely functioning as a technique for keeping violence to the residential areas

outsideofthecitycentre–gavethearea“theappearanceofabesiegedcitadel”.83

In1978theSecretaryofStateforNorthernIreland,RoyMason,setupaworkinggroup

“tomake the centre of Belfast a lively centre of social entertainment for citizens and

visitors”.84However,in1980theBelfastTelegraphreportedthatthegroup’sambitious

proposals,whichincludedaballroom,afamilyentertainmentcentre,anicerinkandan

indoor sports stadium, would not be met with any additional funding. With some

understatement,aspokespersonfortheDepartmentoftheEnvironmenttoldthepaper

80Coaffee,Jon,Terrorism,RiskandtheGlobalCity:TowardsUrbanResilience,(London:Routledge,2006),p23.81Ibid.,p26.82Ibid.,p27.83Jarman,Neil,‘IntersectingBelfast’,p115,inBender,Barbara(ed.),Landscape–PoliticsandPerspectives(Oxford:Berg,1993).84HCDeb09,November1978,Vol957,cc1161-2.

83

that“thereare[…]manyotherpressingdemandsonpublicfunds”,suggestingthatthe

privatesectorshouldbeencouragedtocoverthecostsofanypotentialdevelopments.85

Writingin1984,retailanalystStephenBrowndescribedthecommercialandshopping

geographyofBelfastasnotunlikethatofmanyothersmallBritishcities,whilenoting

thatnewdevelopmentssuchastheFountainCentreandtheCentralArcade“asoftenas

not represent compensation-funded replacements for premises destroyed during the

campaign of terror”, and in his sanguine view as failing to provide “adequate retail

accommodation”forthepopulation.86

Recent research based on declassified planning documents has shed light on the

contentiousissueoftowhatextenturbanplanninginBelfastwasledbystatesecurity

agencies.Thisinformationsuggeststhat“theplanningsysteminNorthernIrelandwas

very much ‘steered’ in the direction of securing (literally) the maximum degree of

segregationpossiblebetweencontentiousareasofthecityandensuringthedeliveryof

‘defensiveplanning”.87Aswellasactingasanimportantcorrectivetopreviousworkthat

minimises security force involvement in the manipulation of territory and urban

planning, these findings emphasise the importance of understanding the connection

between conflict management and the management of everyday life in the city.88

Althoughurbanarchitecturecanbeunderstoodasanattempttomouldidealcitizens,it

alsofunctionsthroughaprocessofexclusionandcontainment,theproductionof"spatial

purification"whereby certain areas are considered safe and others not so, or certain

areasconsideredaccessibletosomebutnottoothers;inthissenseitactsinasimilarway

tothementalarchitectureoffearandviolencedescribedbyShirlowandMurtaghabove,

althoughonthelevelofthestateratherthanthatofeverydaypractices.89Thisprocess

operatedinBelfastthroughtheattempttowalloffthecitycentre,wardingoffpotential

violence that could have materially affected the functioning of the area while also

symbolically representing an attack on centralised state power; conversely, this also

85BelfastTelegraph,January25th1980,p4.86Brown,Stephen,‘TheRetailScenein:Belfast’,RetailandDistributionManagement12,no.5(1May1984),pp39–42.87Cunningham,Tim,‘ChangingDirection:DefensivePlanninginaPost-ConflictCity’,City18,no.4–5(3September2014),p459.88Ibid.;Cunninghammakestherelatedpointthattheseplanningdecisionshadtheeffectofmarginalisingworking-classcommunitiesinthenorthandwestofthecity,aswellasfurtherentrenchingsegregation.89ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast.

84

entailedallowingforadegreeofviolenceoutsideofthecordoned-offzone,apolicythat

Cunninghamsuggests ispartially toblame for thecodifyingof residential segregation

acrosstheurbanlandscape.90

Three key points can be drawn from this history of Belfast’s development from the

Victorian period to the 1970s and 1980s. Firstly, residential segregation and the

sectarianisationofspaceinBelfasthasahistoricalbasisintheconflictsofthe19thand

early20thcentury,althoughthewayinwhichthissegregationisarticulatedandmarked

outchangedfollowingtheviolenceof1969,andisunevenlydispersedacrosspartsofthe

city. Residential segregation went along with social segregation, because residents

understoodcertainspacesassafeandcertainspacesasunsafe;however,eveninthe19th

centurythiswasnevertotalising,asHirst’saccountofsharedworking-classculture,and

ShirlowandMurtagh’sevocationofthesameinthepre-Troublesperiod,suggest.91The

formerpunksinterviewedhereallhaddifferentexperiencesofsegregation,depending

onwhereinthecitytheygrewupin,orwheretheylivedafterthat,andwhethertheir

familieswereCatholicorProtestant;however,theywereallconsciousofitinsomeway.

Secondly,oneofthewaysinwhichsegregation(andsectarianism)weremaintainedas

practices and modes of thought is through violence and the fear of violence. Again,

intervieweesexperiencedthisdifferentlydependingontheirpositionandlife-course,but

itisapersistentthemethroughoutalloftheconversations.Thirdly,symbolicfactorsare

alsorelevantinconsideringhowpeopleexperienced,usedandinteractedwithspaces;

thisappliestothestatuaryaroundCityHallasmuchastothemuralsonSandyRowor

the Falls. An account of the punk scene as a spatial phenomenon must consider its

symbolic reappropriation of space as well as the different practices of sociality and

movementitallowedyoungpeopletoengagein.

Thepunkscene

Segregation, violence, and the state and non-state production of sectarianised and

asymmetricalspacearethecontextfortheinstitutionsandpracticesthatwerepartofthe

90Cunningham,‘ChangingDirection’,2014,p460.91Hirst,Religion,p39;ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,p74.

85

punkscene.Theseforcesalsounderpinnedthedispositions,performancesandactsthat

formed the lived spatial experience of the punk scene and helped to constitute its

structureoffeelinginthenarrativesofmyinterviewees.Theinstitutionswerebothpre-

existingspacesandvenues,repurposed–theUlsterHall,theMcMordieHallatQueen’s

University,theCornmarket,theHarpandPoundbars–andspacesthatweredeliberately

gearedtowardsthepunkscene–TerriHooley’srecordshop,GoodVibrations,andlater

theACentreandtheWarzoneCollective’scaféandrehearsalspace,Giros.Allofthese

siteswerescatteredaroundthecentreofthecity,mostlywithintheareadelimitedbythe

ringofsteelerectedaroundthisareafrom1974–theMcMordieHall,offUniversityRoad,

isanexception.How,then,canwefitthemintothehistoryofsegregation,sectarianism

andviolenceoutlinedabove?Didtheexistenceoftheseplacesandthefactthattheywere

patronisedbyyoungCatholicsandyoungProtestantstogetherhaveanyrelationshipto

thespatialpoliticsofBelfastinthe1970s?Whatkindsofspatialpracticesarerelevantto

ourunderstandingofthesesites?Idonotproposetoanswerthesequestionsinfullin

this chapter. A more detailed engagement with them takes place through sustained

engagementwith the narratives ofmy interviewees in the final three chapters of the

thesis. But this section will lay out some of the uses of these spaces as apparent in

documentaryaccountsofthescene,beforereturningtotheworkofLefebvre.

“It’smusicwewanttohear–notreligion”–gigsandvenues

Firstly,andmostobviously,venuesheldgigs.TheUlsterHallandMcMordieHallwere

generallywhere the biggest gigswere held – the Ramones, the Clash, the Stranglers,

SiouxsieandtheBanshees,andlaterStiffLittleFingersandtheUndertones,andthePunk

andNewWaveFestivalin1980–whiletheHarpandthePoundhostedsmallerevents

featuringlocalbands.AccountsoftheClash’scancelledgigattheUlsterHallin1977give

aninsightintothestructureofthelargerevents,whichdidnotonlyentailstandingor

sittinginahallandlisteningtoaband,butalsoanarrangementofothermovementsin

space–travellingtoandfromthevenuefromresidentialpartsofBelfastorfromoutside

ofthecity,congregatinginstreetsandpubsbeforeandafterthemusic.92

92ThispointwillbereturnedtoinchapterfiveinGareth’saccountofgettinghomefromalate-runninggigfeaturingSiouxsieandtheBansheesandlocalbandRudi.

86

TheClash’sconcertwasscheduledtotakeplaceon20thOctober,afewmonthsafterthe

release of their self-titleddebut album– according to the promoter, some2,000 fans

intendedtocometotheconcert,afewhundredmorethanthevenue’smaximumcapacity.

Butissueswiththevenue’sinsurancemeantitwascalledoffjusthoursbeforetheband

wereexpectedtoplay,totheobviousdismayofthecrowd.Thisledtoconfusiononthe

ground,withrumoursthatthegigwouldbemovedtotheMcMordieHall,andthento

fightingbetweenyoungpeopleandthepoliceafterthelatter’sheavy-handedattemptsto

movethemonfromthestreetssurroundingtheUlsterHall.Theactualriotingitselfseems

tohavebeenfairlydesultory.Someofthevenue’swindowswerebrokenandfivearrests

weremade,butthesanguinetoneofthereportintheBelfastTelegraphdoesnotsuggest

anything that would have taken the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) aback.93

Nonetheless,TerriHooleyhasdescribedthisincident(withhistypicalflairforfanning

theflamesofBelfastpunk’smythology)asperhaps“theonlyriotoftheTroubleswhere

CatholicsandProtestantswerefightingonthesameside”;forHooley,itemphasisedthat

“tobeapunkwastobeapariah”.94

AsimilartackwastakenbyClashmanagerCarolineCooninheraccountofthecancelled

gig, written for Sounds magazine shortly after the cancellation.95 As with Hooley’s

account,thisstoryshouldbeunderstoodinpartasanexerciseinimagecreation,Coon

workingtopositionherbandaspoliticalanddaringjustasHooleyworkstoemphasise

the counter-cultural and non-sectarian nature of the Belfast punk scene. The Sounds

articlemovesondualtrackstobothexoticiseBelfast(asasiteofpotentialviolence–the

articleiscalled‘ClashintheCityoftheDead’)andtonormaliseordepoliticisetheconflict

byshowingteenagepunksbehavinghereastheymightinLondonorManchester.Coon

describesthespatialandideologicalconstraintsoperatinginthecity,whichistoher“one

longnervouslyobsessivesecuritycheck.Youcan'tcrossaroad,drivedownthestreet,

93BelfastTelegraph,21stOctober197794BBCNews,‘TheUlsterHall:Belfast’sWindowontheWorld’,11May2012,accessedonline:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17964509,11/4/18;Hooley,TerriandSullivan,Richard,Hooleygan:Music,Mayhem,GoodVibrations(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,2010),p60.95Coon,CarolineandGiovanniDadomo,‘ClashintheCityoftheDead’,Sounds,29thOctober1977,accessedonline:https://www-rocksbackpages-com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/Library/Article/clash-in-the-city-of-the-dead,12/4/18.

87

walkintoashoporhotelwithoutpassingthroughanelaboratesystemofflashinglights,

concreteandsteelbarricades,highbarbedwirefencesorroadblocks”.96

Thisconstraintisopposedtothefreedomembodiedbypunk.“Withinminutesofarriving

intown,theClasharesurroundedbyfans.Heavypunks.Safetypinsthroughtheircheeks.

Dogcollars.Bondagestraps.Thelot.Theyarefeverishlyexcited.Everyone'ssmilingand

laughing.”97AProtestantlaboratoryworkercalledGeorgerespondstoherquestionasto

whetherthegigwillattractbothProtestantsandCatholics,saying:“Ohyes.Weallmix

andwegetontogether.Everybody'sboredwiththefighting.Onlyaminorityarefighting.

It ismusicwewant to hear – not religion”.98 A final volte-face, though, occurs in the

article’s final section, describing the sombre mood following the gig’s cancellation.

“Slowlythefactthatthere'snothinganybodycandotosavethegigsinksin.Gohome

everybody.”99

Sointermsofthespatialnetworksdescribedabove,largegigsbroughtlargenumbersof

young people into the usually-quiet streets of the city centre at night; they brought

CatholicsandProtestantstogetherintothesamespaces,althoughitshouldbenotedboth

thatthesesourcesdonottellusagreatdealaboutthenatureoftheirengagementwith

oneanotherinthesespaces(soitisperfectlypossiblethatgroupsofCatholicsandgroups

ofProtestantscouldgotothesamegigandnotleavetheirfriends,forinstance).AsCoon’s

vivid if somewhatoverwroughtaccount suggests, actuallygetting to thegigs involved

negotiation of the securitised city, both inside and outside of the ‘ring of steel’; and

althoughtheriotthatattendedthecancellationoftheClashgigisexceptional,thisevent

alongsidethereportsonpolicingreferredtointhepreviouschaptersuggestthatyoung

people congregating in the streets before and after gigs would have encountered, in

different ways and to varying extents, the policing of space by harassment and

violence.100

96Ibid.97Ibid.98Ibid.99Ibid.100SeeforexamplethisstorybyHectorHeathwood,describingtheexperienceofgoingtotheTridentbarinBangor,aseasidetownonthesouthsideofBelfastlough.“Yeah,butyouhadtogetintheminibus,butitwasfunnycosthewholeofBangorwaslikeawarzone,andwhenyougotintoMrAddison’sTaxisitwaslikeatruce.Soallthespideys,asitwasthename,andallthepunkswouldbelike[noiseindicatingconvivialsentimentsbeingshared]dancingtoRiversofBabylon,BonyM,butIrememberlike,I

88

“If they weren’t there there’d be no trouble” – everyday spatial

experience

Thespatialexperienceofattendingsmallergigsorgoing toclubnightsandpubswas

different again, and less easy to reconstruct via documentary sources. This will be

discussedinthefollowingchapters,especiallyintermsofthememoriesmyinterviewees

express of socialising in spaces with both Protestants and Catholics, within the

framework of residential and social segregation described above. Thesemore diffuse

socialexperiences,lesseasilyplottedthanamajoreventliketheClashgig,arearguably

more relevant in terms of thinking about the relationship betweenpunk and space –

hangingaroundtown,meetingotherpunksinrecordshopsorJustBooks,theanarchist

bookshopaboveGoodVibrations,goingtotheACentretocongregateorsometimesto

sniffglueanddrink–thesearethequotidianactsthatengagepeopleinthepunkscene

inthefabricofthecityanditspatchworkofsegregatedandsecuritisedzones.

TerriHooley’srecordshop,GoodVibrations,wasoriginallylocatedon102GreatVictoria

Street, on a vacant premises Hooley remembers from the 60s as being “sandwiched

betweenanantiqueshopwithabigoldcannonsittingoutsideonthepavement,anda

shop which sold Lambeg drums”.101 The juxtaposition here between superannuated

militarismandloyalistcultural formationsisadeftone,againshowingHooley’sadept

framingofyouthcultureasadisruptiveforceinNorthernIreland–Lambegdrumsare

largestandingdrums,wornonthechestwithshoulder-straps,synonymouswithloyalist

marchesandparades.Asaplace topickuprelativelyobscuresecond-handrecords it

becamepopular,butagainitisthesocialandaffectivepossibilitiesofthesitethatismost

notable–“theshopbecameahubforpeopleofallagesandcreeds…itwasthesocial

elementwhichwasthebestpartofthewholething”.102

remembercomingupthereonenightandtherewasarainofbottlescomingdownonus,I’mthinkingfuck,butwhenwelookedovertheywerecomingfromthetopofthelocalpolicestation(laughter)sowhodoyoufuckingcall(laughter).”InterviewwithHH,2016.101HooleyandSullivan,GoodVibrations,p53.102Ibid.,p54.

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JohnCallaghanofferedupaslightlyamendedversionofthisproposition,tellingmethat

“atthattime,foralltheimageofbigjovialTerriHooley,hewasagrumpybastard…he’d

seizehalfadozenofyouse,rightyouthreeout,youthreeout,yourightattheback,keep

going…itwasanordealsometimes!Itwasoneofthoseplacesyouhadtogoto.Badges,

Iremember,goodplaceforbadges”.103

TheACentre–alsoknownastheAnarchistCentreorsimplytheCentre,openedin1981,

makingitpartofthesecondwaveofpunkthatwillbedescribedinmyinterviewwith

PetesyBurnsinchaptersix.ForSeanO’Neill,itsopennessandwillingnesstoletinyoung

peoplemade it an important hub for the punk scene of the early 80s. “It was solely

responsibleforgivingthepunkssomewheretogoonaSaturdayafternoon.Becauseit

openedbetween2pmand6pmitallowedpunksfromotherpartsoftheprovincetotravel

toBelfast,seeabandandbeabletogetabushome.”104TheDIYethoschampionedby

Terri Hooley in his stewardship of the Good Vibrations record label is verymuch in

evidence in thehistoryof theACentre,withvolunteersoperatingeveryaspectof the

venue,runningasmallvegetariancaféandorganisingevents.

DaveHyndmanpublishedashortfilmin2011,basedonfootageproducedatthetime,

attemptingtogiveaninsightintoanaveragedayatthevenue.Themoststrikingsection

ofthisdocumentaryisthedepictionofthevenueas,essentially,besiegedbytheRUC,who

are alleged to be keeping up a constant surveillance on the sitewhile it is open; ‘the

peelers’ are a constant sourceof concern,withHyndmanpositing that they’re simply

waiting for aminor infraction or problem as an excuse to shut things down.105 This

concernalsobringsintoreliefthetensionsbetweendifferentgroupswithinthespace;

theolderfiguresinvolvedurgetheyoungerpunkstorefrainfromattractingtheRUC’s

attention–particularlybynotsniffingglueovertly inside thevenue–and theoverall

mood issomewhat fractious.Thecentrewaseventually forced tocloseby thecouncil

becauseitdidnothaveanentertainmentlicence,although–aswiththecancelledClash

gigatthecityhall–thetechnocraticjustificationsofhowspaceismanagedandcontrolled

103InterviewwithJC,2016,p10.104O’Neill,Sean‘ACentre’,accessedonline:http://www.spitrecords.co.uk/acentre.htm,13/4/18.105DavidHyndman,‘TheACentreortheLostTribeofLongLane’,2010,accessedonline:http://archive.northernvisions.org/related/music/the-a-centre-or-the-lost-tribe-of-long-lane/,13/4/18.

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bythestate tendtomerge intocritiquesof thepolice’sbehaviour innarrativesof the

scene.106

By1981, thepunkscene in the citywasgenerallybecoming less coherent, and ironic

referenceismadebyparticipantsinthefilmtothedwindlingnumbersofpunksvisible

onthestreetsaswellastoBelfast’ssupposedtendencytolagbehindotherBritishcities

initsadoptionoftrendsandstyles.However,theACentredidhostanumberofgigsin

theshorttimeitexisted,includingthosebylocalbandssuchasStalag17,Ruefrexand

TheOutcasts.Theincreasingincoherenceofthesceneisreflectedintheformofthefilm,

which features impromptu interviewswithbandsandconcertattendeesandmakesa

consciouseffortnottosupplyan‘officialline’onthevenue’sapproachorideology.The

good-naturedexchangesbetweentheanarchistsandtheyoungerpunksisnotableasan

exampleofhowspacessuchastheseallowedforfrankerpoliticaldiscussionthanwould

havebeenthenormwithinsocialsettings,particularlysocialsettingsthatincludedboth

ProtestantsandCatholics.Eventually,RUCpressuredidleadtotheclosingdownoftheA

Centre.Hyndmanandothersinthefilmcriticisetheheavy-handedtacticsofthepolice

and their tendency tohassle the youngpunks,whoareperceived to attract attention

simply through a combination of youth and visibility. “They’re standing outside now,

waiting for someone to say something to them… if theyweren’t there there’d be no

trouble,”oneintervieweesuggests.107

Toreturntothequestionposedat thebeginningof thissection, then–howdoesthis

historyfitintothehistoryabove?AsIhavesuggestedelsewhere,notneatly.Wecanbreak

thisrelationshipdownintothreecategories.Firstly,wehavetheephemeralandrepeated

movementsandspatialacts(gatheringonthestreet,goingtoagigandtravellingfrom

yourhometodoso,goingouttobuyrecordsorclothes)thatpunksengagedin.Secondly,

wehavethewayinwhichthesekindsofactionsrelatetopracticesofidentity-formation

–inotherwords,thewayinwhichwhatyoudoincertainplacesmakesyouthinkand

feel,bothabouttheplacesandaboutyourself.Thirdly,wehavetheattemptsmadeby

punksandbyfacilitatorsofthepunkscenelikeDaveHyndmanandTerriHooleytocreate

106See,forinstance,theIrishAnarchistHistoryCollective,‘FightWar,NotWars(October1982),November2011,accessedonline:https://irishanarchisthistory.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/fight-war-not-wars-october-1982/,29/8/18.107Ibid.

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newplacesandgeneratedifferentkindsofsocialpractices,inactsofself-consciousplace-

making.Thesecategoriesareoverlapping,becausetheyworktogether–theephemeral

movementsareneccesarytotheprocessesofspatialisedidentity-formation;theplace-

makingisrelatedtohowpeoplefeelaboutwheretheyare,andtothemanifoldsmallacts

thatcometogethertomakeaplace.Takenasawholetheysuggestaparticularstructure

of feeling related to how people felt about themselves, about Belfast and about the

conflict.

Thespecificspatialelementsofthepunkstructureoffeelingarediscussedinmoredepth,

via an engagement in critical geographical theory aswell asWilliams’ concept, in the

analysischapters.Toconclude,however,IwillreturntoLefebvretoemphasisetheway

inwhichthishistoricalnarrativerelatestotheproductionofspace.

Lefebvreandsectarianisedspace

Asoutlinedintheintroduction,Lefebvredistinguishesbetweenrepresentationsofspace

(maps,plans,drawings);representationalspace(symbolicspace–sothinkofthestatues

andmuralsdiscussedabove,butalsoplacesliketheUlsterHall,eventhenameofwhich

is a referent to a symbolic geography); and spatial practice (the everyday actions

undertakeninspaces,andtheinfrastructurethatmakesthoseactionspossible–sothe

drivetoworkbutalsothemotorwayonedrivesalong,forinstance).108Thesetypesof

spacecorrespondtospaceasconceived(representationsofspace),spaceasperceived

(representational space) and space as lived or acted upon (spatial practice). It is

importanttoLefebvrethatthisisatriadratherthanapair,becauseratherthanworking

asoppositesorantagonisms, theywork together in interconnectedways toprovidea

theory of how space is produced and experienced. His account of how each society

producesitsownsocialspace,assuggestedatthebeginningofthischapter,iscentralto

myunderstandingofthehistoricaldevelopmentofhegemonicallyunionist,sectarianised

spaceinBelfast.

108Lefebvre,TheProduction,pp38-39.

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Applying his triad to Belfast, we might think of it in this way. The question of

representationsofspacebeinga trueor false imageofamaterial reality is irrelevant,

arguesLefebvre–“representationsofspacearecertainlyabstract,buttheyalsoplaya

part in social and political practices”.109 This is a helpful way of thinking about the

planningdecisionsmadebytheStandingCommitteeonSecurityImplicationsofHousing

ProblemsinBelfastasnarratedbyTimCunningham,whoarguesthat:

Thereislittledoubtthatthesecurityforcesplayedaroleindetermining

notjusttheoverallpatternsofthecityintermsoftherouteoftheUrban

Motorway,butalsodesignspecificationssuchasthekindofmaterialthat

shouldbeusedforpavements–thatis,notflagstones–andthelocationof

‘aestheticallypleasingsightscreens’intheformofadvertisinghoardings,

aswellasthelayoutofchildren'splaygrounds.110

Asdiscussedabove,thewayinwhichtheborderdeterminedsocialandpoliticalpractices

inthenorthofIrelandafter1920isalsoanexampleofhowrepresentationsofspacehave

materialconsequences;soistheringofsteel,whichentailedtheconstructionofanimage

ofthecitywithasafecommercialcentreandadangerousorunsafeperiphery.

Representational spaces, “redolentwith imaginary and symbolic elements”, aremade

powerfulthroughthefactthat“theyeachhavetheirsourceinhistory–inthehistoryof

apeopleaswellasinthehistoryeachindividualbelongingtothatpeople”.111Thisisspace

asitisunderstood,imaginedandexperienced,butalsoasitisshapedbytheproductive

forcesofthestate.InNorthernIrelandfollowingpartition,the1922SPAanditsancillary

legislations ensured that the official representational spaces of the province were

encodedwithanimaginaryandasymbolismthatwasBritishandunionist.

Finally,spatialpracticesaredefinedbyLefebvreas“acloseassociation,withinperceived

space, between daily reality (daily routine) and urban reality (the routes and the

networks which link up the places set aside for work, ‘private’ life, and leisure”.112

109Ibid.,p41.110Cunningham,‘ChangingDirection’,p459.111Lefebvre,TheProduction,p41.112Lefebvre,TheProduction,p38.

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ReturningtoShirlowandMurtagh’saccountoftherelationshipbetweenfearofviolence,

violenceandtheuseofspace,wecanconsider theway inwhich theconflict (andthe

continuing violence inworking-classparts of the city following theofficial endof the

conflict,astheiraccountmakesclear)cancognitivelyandphysicallyremapBelfast,and

alterwherepeoplewalk,closingoffcertainroutesandencouragingtheuseofothers.113

SegregationandtheformationofProtestantandCatholicenclavesarefurtherexamples

ofhowspatialpracticesdevelopedinBelfastfromthemid-19thcentury.

Lefebvre,then,providesacrucialframeworkforthinkingabouthowspaceisrendered

meaningful,andhowthisprocesstakesplace inadialecticalrelationshipbetweenthe

wayinwhichBelfast isplannedandrepresented;thewayinwhichit is imaginedand

given symbolic resonances, either at the level of the state or at the level of different

individualsandcommunities;andfinallythewayinwhichpeopleengagewiththecityin

theireverydaylivesandpractices.Inthissense,hisunderstandingoftheproductionof

spaceprovidesthebedrockformyunderstandingofthepracticesandexperiencesofthe

punksceneIdescribebelow.

Furthermore,importantlyformyproject,healsosuggestssomepossibilitiesforresisting

thealienatingeffectsofeverydaylifewithinthisspatialtriad,althoughforhimthisisthe

alienationimmanenttocapitalismincontemporaryurbanliferatherthanthehybridised

relationshipbetweenclassandsectarianismdescribedabove.Theurban,heargues, is

boththesiteofstruggleandthestakesofthatstruggle.114

Howcouldoneaimforpowerwithoutreachingfortheplaceswherepower

resides,withoutplanningtooccupythatspaceandtocreateanewpolitical

morphology–somethingwhichimpliesacritiqueinactsoftheoldone,and

hencetooofthestatusofthepoliticalsphereitself?115

WhatthisoccupationofspacemightentailinBelfastissuggestedbyJohnNagle,drawing

onLefebvre’sworkbutsituatingitinthecontextofurbandivisionintheNorthernIrish

113ShirlowandMurtagh,Belfast,p74.114Lefebvre,TheProduction,p386.115Ibid.,p387.

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capital. In his 2009 essay, Nagle uses three case studies (MayDay marches bringing

togetheracross-communitygroupoflabouractivists,GayPride,bringingtogetherparts

of the city’s LGBT community, and a carnival bringing together street artists and

musicians from across the city) to suggest that Belfast “contains plentiful detritus to

construct different stories which contradict and provide an antidote to normative

discourses”, drawing on Lefebvre’s suggestion that the most important thing is to

multiply the ways in which the city can be read.116 Nagle suggests that what these

heterogeneous groups have in common is that they “are identity-involving and

transforming,[andthat]theymanipulatesymbolicspatialarrangementsandchallenge

entrenchedsectarianvalues”.117Theyrejectsingularnarrativesofidentity,andrejectthe

spatialised expressions of these narratives, in favour of a plural and multi-linear

trajectory.DrawingonNagle’seffortstouseLefebvretothinkaboutsectarianismaswell

as about capitalism, but also on recent work on the specific practices that urban

inhabitantscanundertaketochallengetheentrenchedvaluesanddiscoursesthatshape

representationsofspace,representationalspaceandspatialpractice,Iwillarguethatat

times participants in the punk scene attempted to “manipulate symbolic spatial

arrangementsandchallengeentrenchedsectarianvalues”.118

However,whileLefebvre’sframeworkwillprovidethebedrockonwhichmyanalysisof

spatialpracticeinthepunksceneisbuilt,itisimportanttonotethathisaccountofspace

doesnotcomprehensivelycoverthespatialisedstructureoffeelinginthepunksceneas

evoked by my interviewees. This is because (as Deborah Martin and Joseph Pierce

proposeinaninvaluable2015accountoftheFrenchgeographer’sindelibleinfluenceon

thehumanitiesandsocialsciences)hisaccountofthehistoryofhowspaceslikecitiesare

produced is insufficientlyattentive to the “inherently, irreduciblyhybrid”knowledges

and experiences of the people who live there.119 Pierce and Martin suggest that

Lefebvre’s focus on the ontology of space, or what it is, means that he offers little

assistanceinthinkingaboutitsepistemologicaldimensions,orinthinkingabouthowit

isknownandexperienced.

116Nagle,John‘SitesofSocialCentralityandSegregation:LefebvreinBelfast,a“DividedCity”’,Antipode41,no.2(25February2009),pp326–347.117Ibid.119Pierce,Joseph,andDeborahG.Martin,‘PlacingLefebvre’,Antipode47,no.5(9October2015),p1289.

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Inthecontextofanoralhistoryprojectthatisinterestedinbothhowpeopleexperienced

placesandhowtheynarrateanddescribethoseplaces,aconsiderationofplaceaswell

as a historical understanding of the production of space is important. This will be

expandeduponintheanalysischaptersasIdescribehowmyintervieweesrememberthe

“affective elements of relational place” that constituted the punk scene as a spatial

structureoffeeling.120

Conclusion

ThischapterhasarguedthatsectarianisminNorthernIrelandisinextricablefromthe

historicalproductionofspaceintheprovince.InthecontextofBelfastspecifically,ithas

suggestedthatthreeperiods–therapidindustrialisationofthecityinthe19thcentury,

the conflict around partition and the partition itself from 1920 onwards, and the

securitisationandretrenchmentofsegregationfrom1968–arecrucialinunderstanding

the production of sectarianised space. As with the previous chapter’s account of the

structuralnatureofsectarianism, theemphasisherehasbeenontheroleof thepost-

partitionstateincreatinganurbangeographywhichworkedtoexcludeandmarginalise

theminority-Catholicpopulation,andwhichreinforcedsectarianidentityconstruction

through the management of segregation and the symbolic unionist hegemony of the

centreofthecity.

Understandingthespatialpoliticsofthepunksceneentailsconsideringitsintervention

inthis landscape.Thismeansrecognisingthe limitsofsuchan interventionaswellas

consideringitscapacityforthesortofdisruptiveortransgressiveactionsdescribedby

JohnNagle in hiswork on Lefebvrian spatial performances in Belfast that “construct

differentstorieswhichcontradictandprovideanantidotetonormativediscourses”.121It

alsomeansplacingthesceneandthepeoplewhoconstituteit,includingmyinterviewees,

withinsectarianisedspace;forinstance,theactofgoingtoagigcannotbeunderstoodby

focusingon thegig as an isolatedmomentwithout considering theprocessof getting

120Ibid.,p1293.121Nagle,‘SitesofSocialCentrality’,2009.

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there, moving from a residential area to the city centre and back again, and the

engagementwiththeinfrastructureofdivisionthatmovementmakesnecessary.

Havingdeveloped thebackdrop for thepunk scene in theprevious two chapters, the

followingchapterwilldescribethemethodthroughwhichthestructureoffeelinginmy

intervieweesaccountsisanalysed.

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CHAPTER THREE: INTERPRETATIVE ORAL HISTORY, MEMORY STUDIES

ANDNORTHERNIRELANDIntroduction

The previous chapters have described and analysed the doubly-articulated sectarian

cultureofBelfast inthe1970sand1980sthroughtwohistoricalnarrativesdescribing

how this culture was expressed and produced at institutional and spatial levels.

Alongside this, they have proposed, firstly, that we understand the punk scene as a

structureoffeelingconstitutedofaconstellationofinstitutions,practicesandfeelings;

secondly,thatwecanperceivethosepracticesasspatialpracticesofsociality,performed

inthecontextoftheincreasingsegregationofCatholicandProtestantcommunitiesfrom

1969onwards.This chapterwill showhow interpretativeoralhistorycanaccess this

structure of feeling, and show thismethod’s facility for drawing out the structure of

feeling’srelationshiptoexperiencesofspaceandplaceineverydaylife.Itwillbeginwith

anaccountoftheroleofmemoryinoralhistoryworkingeneralandtooralhistorywork

in Northern Ireland specifically. Following this it will describe oral history’s

methodologicaldevelopment;highlightseveral importantfacetsofthemethodasthey

relatetothisproject;andconcludewithanaccountofmyownapproachthatconnectsit

tothediscussionoutlinedhere.

Usinganinterpretativeoralhistorymethod,andengagingwiththewayinwhichmemory

studies has developed its understanding of the relationship between cultural and

individualmemory,isinpartaresponsetoarelativepaucityofdocumentarysourcesfor

analysing the punk scene in Belfast, particularly in terms of the everyday lives of its

participants.1However,itisalsoarecognitionofthespecificsetofinsightsthatcanbe

1Hereandthroughoutthechapter,IusetheterminterpretativeoralhistorytorefertowhatAlastairThomsoncallspost-positivistoralhistoryandLindaShopescallstextualoralhistory,althoughThomson’sfeelingsaboutthisshiftaremorepositivethanthoseofShopes.SeeThomson,Alistair,"FourParadigmTransformationsinOralHistory",TheOralHistoryReview34,no.1(2007),pp49-70;Shopes,Linda,‘“InsightsandOversights”:ReflectionsontheDocumentaryTraditionandtheTheoreticalTurninOralHistory’,TheOralHistoryReview41,no.2(1September2014),pp257–268.ThisisnotintendedtosuggestthatoralhistorypracticespriortotheemergenceofAlessandroPortelliandLuisaPasserini,discussedbelow,arenotengagedinactsofinterpretation.Indeed,itisimportanttobearinmindthatany

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generatedbyoralhistories,thecapacityofinterviewstocontaindescriptionsofaffect,

emotion,memory, temporalityandsubjectiveexperience thataremuchmoredifficult

(althoughcertainlynotimpossible)toaccessthroughdocumentarysources.Iwillshow

herehoworalhistoryspeakstothesecategories,asamethodthatiswell-suitedtotuning

into what the psychogeographical artist and writer Laura Oldfield Ford describes as

“collective moments of euphoria, like Reclaim the Streets, parties taking over the

Westway,blockingroads…[momentsof]breakingoutofthisatomiseddespondencyand

actually achieving something really empowering”.2 Ford’s stress on the affective and

emotionalaspectsofthesquattingandactivistscenesshedocumentsishelpful,inthat

sheseemstobeworkingwithsomethingsimilar towhatWilliamscallsastructureof

feeling;itisalsohelpfullyspatial–streets,roads,partiesondualcarriageways.Finally,

Ford’saccountpointsnicelytotheideaofunrealisedpossibilitythatispartofaresidual

structureoffeeling,chimingwiththecriticalnostalgiaexpressedattimesbyanumberof

myinterviewees.3

Thecapacityoftheoralhistoryinterviewtoproducetracesofthesefeelings–notonly

thefeelingsofeuphoriaorempowermentthatanimateFord’swork,butalsothefeelings

ofboredom,constraintoranomiethatbracketandfromtheseexceptionalmoments–is

what will be considered throughout this chapter, which begins by formulating the

conceptofculturalmemorythatwillbemobilisedwheninanalysingmyinterviews.

Culturalmemoryandoralhistory

InthequotefromRaymondWilliams’1958essayCultureisOrdinarywhichopenedthe

firstchapterof thisthesis,hesays:“Themakingofasociety is thefindingofcommon

attempttoorganiseoralortextual‘historicalrecords’intoacoherentnarrativeisinterpretive.Myaimistoemphasisetheintersubjectiveandfluidnatureofthetextsproducedthroughoralhistory,animportantaspectofthemethodologythathasbeenparticularlyilluminatedbyfeministhistorians,alsodiscussedbelow.2Barry,Robert,2018,"TheQuietus|Features|Craft/Work|ZonesOfSacrifice:DriftingThroughLondonWithLauraOldfieldFord",TheQuietus,accessedonlinehere:http://thequietus.com/articles/21820-laura-oldfield-ford-interview,29/8/18;seealsoFord,LauraOldfield,SavageMessiah(London:VersoBooks,2011).3ThisfacetofWilliams’conceptishelpfullyexploredinGallagher,CatherineandStephenGreenblatt,PracticingNewHistoricism(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2000).

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meaningsanddirections,anditsgrowthisanactivedebateandamendmentunderthe

pressuresofexperience,contactanddiscovery,writingthemselvesintotheland.”4This

section will attempt to make explicit what is implicit in this formulation through a

considerationofoneofitsfacets,thatofmemoryandparticularlyofculturalmemory.

Themovementbetween“commonmeaningsanddirections”, “experience, contactand

discovery”,andwhatbecomeswrittenintotheland–orwhatbecomespartofashared,

ifnotnecessarilynational,culture–isanimatedinpartbytheinteractionbetweenpublic

andprivatememory,andbytheinstitutions,practices,discoursesandtextsthatmediate

andmakepossiblethisinteraction.5Culturalmemory,then,isusedheretorefertothe

social conditions under which individualmemories are shared and discussed; to the

variousactsofcommemoration,performanceandheritagethatorganizememoriesina

wholeother than the sumof their separateparts; and to the cultural texts that store,

mediateandshapeindividualmemories.

In line with the expansive definition of culture proposed by Williams in Culture is

Ordinary and used throughout the thesis,my use of the term culturalmemory is not

limitedtowhatJanAssmancallsinhisdefinitionoftheconceptthe“fatefuleventsofthe

pastwhosememoryismaintainedthroughculturalformations(texts,rites,monuments)

and institutional communication (recitation, practice, observance)”.6 In Assman’s

definition,theseareseparatefromcommunicativememory,whichisamorefluidform

ofcollectiverememberingbetweenpeople,withashortereffectivelifeandalessdefinite

structurethanthemonumentalandinstitutionalmaterialheclassifiesundertherubric

ofculturalmemory.Ratherthantakingthisapproach,whichseemstoimplyaseparation

betweenformsofculturethatwouldnotmakesenseinrelationtomyuseofWilliams’

work, my understanding of cultural memory will draw on the work of the Popular

MemoryGroup(PMG)andoforalhistoriansinfluencedbythePMGtoconsidertheway

inwhich individualmemorynarrativesareformedwithintheirwidercontext,both in

termsoftheformationsandinstitutionsidentifiedbyAssmanandintermsofthesocial

narrativesandgroupingsthatheclassifiesundertheterm‘communicativememory’.

4Williams,Raymond,ResourcesofHope:Culture,Democracy,Socialism(London:Verso,1989),p93.5Ibid.6Assmann,Jan,andJohnCzaplicka,‘CollectiveMemoryandCulturalIdentity’,NewGermanCritique,no.65(1995),pp125–133.

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This intersectionbetweenindividualmemoryandsocietyisoneofthecentral linesof

enquiryinthePMG’s1982essayonthesocialproductionofmemories.7ThePMGargue

thatasociety’ssenseofthepastisproducedthroughpublicrepresentationsandthrough

private memories. This suggests two sets of relations, in their account – firstly, the

relation between dominant public representations and attempts to challenge or shift

thesepublicrepresentations;secondly,“therelationbetweenthesepublicdiscoursesin

their contemporary state of play and themore privatized sense of the past which is

generatedwithinalivedculture”.8Oralhistory,theyargue,canhelptoanalyseboththese

setsofrelationsbyshowinghowpublicrepresentationsofthepastareformulated;how

they connect to and affect everyday senses and understandings of the past; and how

indvidualnarrativesofthepastareformedwithinthesetwo,interconnecteddiscourses

ofthepast.Thisthreefoldrelationshipbetweenpublicrepresentations,everydaysenses

ofthepastandindividualmemoryiscentraltomyunderstandinginthethesisofhow

oralhistoriesofthepunksceneareconstructedinconversationwithvariousmemory

culturesinandoutofNorthernIreland.

Thework of Alistair Thomson on Australian veterans ofWorldWar One, and Penny

Summerfield’s research on British women’s experience of World War Two, provide

examples of how this understanding of the relationship between cultural memory,

subjectivity and oral history can be mobilised for analysis. For Thomson, “our

rememberingchangesinrelationtoshiftsintheparticularpublicsinwhichwelive,and

asthegeneralpublicfieldofrepresentationsalters”,aswellas“inrelationtoourshifting

personalidentitiy[oridentities].”9Hisintervieweescomposetheirmemoriesinrelation

to thedominantculturalmemoryofAnzacheroismduring thewar, somedrawingon

cultural texts such as the 1918 film Gallipoli to do so, others struggling to descripe

experiences of fear or trauma in relation to the powerful culturalmemory of daring

masculine bravado surrounding Australia’s role inWorldWarOne. For Summerfield,

“localandparticularaccountscannotescape theconceptualanddefinitionaleffectsof

powerfulpublicrepresentations”,meaningalloralhistorynarrativesaretheproductof

7PopularMemoryGroup,‘PopularMemory:Theory,Politics,Method’,inPerks,RobandAlistairThomson(eds),TheOralHistoryReader(London:Routledge,2003),pp75-87.8Ibid.,p78.9Thomson,Alistair,AnzacMemories:LivingwiththeLegend(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994),p9.

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amovementbetween theexperientialand thediscursive.10Her intervieweesdrawon

availablepublicnarrativesandarchetypestomakesenseof theirrolesservingonthe

home front – so on heroic or on stoic personas, for example.11 Cultural memory

discoursesofmodernisationandchangeareusedtomakesenseofshiftsinsubjectivity

– so amongher intervieweeswho adopt a ‘heroic’ personawhen characterising their

wartimework,Summerfieldsays“oneofthewayssuchanexperiencewasportrayedin

personal terms was through a story of development from a shy and inarticulate

personalitytoanoutgoingone”.12Personalandculturalmemoriesareintertwined,and

the inherent power dynamics of this process analysed, in both Summerfield and

Thompson’sresearch.

Inproducingthisanalysis,SummerfieldandThomsonmobiliseaconceptofcomposure

whichwillalsobeusefulformyaccountoftherelationshipbetweenindividualnarratives

andculturalmemory.Compsure,asoriginallydescribedbyGrahamDawson,hasadouble

meaning in the context of oral history narratives.13 On the one hand, we compose

narrativesoftheselfbydrawingonarepetoireofavailablesocialforms,meaningthisis

neveranindividualprocessassuch;ontheotherhand,weengageinthisprocessinorder

toachievesubjectivecomposure.AlistairThomsonputsitwellinexplaininghisuseof

theconcept:“Whenwerememberwealsoseektocreateapastwecanlivewith,astory

thatdealswiththerawandjaggededgesofpastexperienceandoffersacomfortableand

coherentnarrativeforthepresent.”14Howmyintervieweescomposetheirnarrativesin

relation to cultural memory in Northern Ireland will be considered in the analysis

chaptersbelow.

ThecruxoftheworkofthePMGandtheoralhistoriansdrawingontheirconcepts,then,

is that there is no such thing as purely individualmemory;memories are formed by

10Summerfield,Penny,ReconstructingWomen’sWartimeLives:DiscourseandSubjectivityinOralHistoriesoftheSecondWorldWar(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,1998),p17.11Ibid.,p266.12Ibid.,p261.13Dawson,Graham,SoldierHeroes:BritishAdventure,EmpireandtheImaginingofMasculinities(Hove:PsychologyPress,1994);seealsoRoper,Michael,‘Re-RememberingtheSoldierHero:ThePsychicandSocialConstructionofMemoryinPersonalNarrativesoftheGreatWar’,HistoryWorkshopJournal2000,no.50(1January2000),pp181–204.14Thomson,Alistair,‘AnzacMemoriesRevisited:Trauma,MemoryandOralHistory’,TheOralHistoryReview42,no.1(1April2015),pp22-23.

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drawing on available social and cultural narratives, or cultural memory discourses,

alongsidethecomposureandmaking-senseofpastexperiences.AnnaGreen,writingin

2004, expressed her concern that that “the cultural theorisation of

memory/remembering increasingly rejects the value of individual recollection”.15

However,thisisamisleadingcriticism.Whetherthecurrencywithwhichmemoriesare

mediatedandarticulatedisunderstoodtobepsychic,socialor(asismostoftenthecase)

a combinationofboth, thisprocessdoesnot implyan inability to “contestor critique

culturalscriptsordiscourses”.16AsisclearinThompson’sexplorationofthecontestation

betweenofficialandunofficialAnzacmemoriesoftheAustralianroleinWorldWarOne,

forinstance,itratheremphasisesthatindividualmemoriescannotexistinavacuumor

outside of power relations. To simply assert the “richness and variety of individual

consciousness”withoutunderstandingtheforcesactinguponthatconsciousnesswould

betodepoliticisethepoweroforalhistoryasamethodformakingvisibletherelationship

betweenculturalmemoryandindividualrememberingoutlinedbyPMG.17

Insummary,then,culturalmemoryisunderstoodhereasawayofthinkingaboutthe

interplay between past and present, and about the power relations inherent in this

relation.Itisalsounderstoodashavinginterlockinglayerswithinthenarrativesofmy

interviewees–soforinstance,thepunksceneinNorthernIrelandhasitsowncultural

memory,whichcoloursthewayinwhichmyintervieweesdescribeit,butthiscoexists

withatransnationalculturalmemoryofpunkmoregenerally,aculturalmemoryofthe

Troubleswhichisdifferentlyinflecteddependingupontheethno-sectarianpositionof

theinterviewee,andsoon.18Theessentialpointisthatthenarrativesoftheformerpunks

Ihaveinterviewedforthisprojectareformedthroughanengagementwithaseriesof

processes, mediations, texts and so on that are referred to throughout as cultural

memory; theclaimisnot that theirnarrativesarereducible toexpressionsofcultural

memory,anditisnotthatthevariousculturalmemoriestheydrawonareuncontested

15Green,Anna,‘IndividualRememberingand“CollectiveMemory”:TheoreticalPresuppositionsandContemporaryDebates’,OralHistory32,no.2(2004),p37.16Ibid.,p42.17Ibid.,p43.18SeeGuyBeiner’s2017critiqueofcollectivememoryaspresupposingauniformityorconsensuswithinmemorycultures;Beiner,Guy,‘TheTroublewithRemembering;or,theSevenSinsofMemoryStudies’,DublinReviewofBooks(1/11/2017),accessedonlinehttp://www.drb.ie/essays/troubles-with-remembering-or-the-seven-sins-of-memory-studieson3/8/18.

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orstatic,butsimplythatnoindividualactofrecollectiontakesplaceoutsideofasocial

contextorwithoutamovementbetweenpastandpresent

For example, the punk scene in Belfast’s cultural memory is localised and mobile,

articulated through different forms of heritage activity (websites, gigs, club nights),

through records, YouTube clips and so on, and through the overlappingmemories of

participants.19 This memory is contested. In the context of punk in London, a good

exampleof this contestation isVivAlbertine’s graffitiingof theBritishLibrary’sPunk

1976-1978exhibition,inwhichsheaddedthenameoftheSlits,X-RaySpexandSiouxsie

andtheBansheestoaboarddescribingthesupposedimportanceoftheClash,theSex

PistolsandtheBuzzcockstotheformationoftheBritishpunkscene,wasanintervention

intendedtodrawattentiontothedisplay’sfocusonmalepunkbandsattheexpenseof

theirfemalecounterparts.20IntermsofmyinterviewsandtheNorthernIrishpunkscene,

wefrequentlydiscussedtherecentTerriHooleybiopicGoodVibrationsanditsstatusas

amemorytextandculturalrepresentationofpunk.The filmgeneratedanambivalent

recognitionintheparticipantswhohadseenit–someexpressedprideatseeingtheir

experiences represented in a public format, becoming part of a tangible historical

document,whileotherswerediscomfitedorunimpressedbythenarrativestructurethe

film imposed on the scene through its attempt to impose a particular pattern of

remembranceontoevents.Theseconflictingresponseswillbeanalysedfurtherinthe

relevant chapters, but it is worth pausing here to consider firstly the status ofGood

VibrationsasaninterventioninthememoryofpunkinNorthernIreland,andsecondly

itspositionwithinaconstellationofdifferentculturalmarkersreferringtothehistoryof

thepunkscene.

GoodVibrationsandtheculturalmemoryofpunkinBelfast

19SeeRumsy,AbbySmith,WhenWeAreNoMore:HowDigitalMemoryisShapingOutFuture(London:BloomsburyPress,2016)foraninterestingdiscussionoftherelationshipbetweencollectivememoryanddigitalmedia.20Daly,Rhian,‘TheSlits’VivAlbertinedefacespunkexhibitionforerasingwomen’sinvolvement’,TheNME,17/7/16,accessedonlinehttps://www.nme.com/news/music/the-slits-1188853,3/8/18.

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Releasedin2013,GoodVibrationsisabiopicofTerriHooleythatuseshislifestoryasa

lenstodepictthepunkscenemorebroadlyasanoasisofnon-sectariansolidarityand

friendship amidst the violence of the Troubles.21 There are some problemswith this

narrative,notablyitstendencytodepoliticisetheconflictanditstendencytocollapsethe

complexpoliticsofyouthcultureandagencyintoasimplifiedaccountthatreliesheavily

on the individual actions ofHooleyhimself.22But for thepurposeof this thesis these

critiquesarelessimportantthanthevisibilityandsuccessofthefilmitself,whichwas

well-reviewedandwonanumberofawards.23Thissuccessrepresentedthemostvisible

manifestationofthepunksceneinculturalmemorysinceat leastthepublicationofIt

MakesYouWanttoSpitin2003,whichwasreleasedtomarkthe25thanniversaryofthe

beginningsofpunkinBelfastin1976(althoughthisisasomewhatarbitrarychoiceof

date,asdiscussedabove).

Alongwiththeunveilingofablueplaquecommemoratingthepunksceneattheformer

siteof theHarpBaronHillStreetneartheendof2012(asthefinaleofBelfastMusic

Week, and followed by an early screening of the film), Good Vibrations marks the

consolidationofthealready-existingnarrativeofpunkasanon-sectarianyouthculture.

Speakingattheunveilingoftheplaque,then-LordMayorGavinRobinsonsaidofTerri

Hooley:

HeisaremarkablemanwhocameoutofdifficulttimesinBelfast.Inthe

1970shesetuparecordshopinthecitywhenmanyotherpeoplewere

goingout of business: heprovided anopen andwelcoming spacewhen

much of Belfast was closing down. He was a living example of how to

survive beyond sectarianism and mistrust ... he discovered a new

21D’sa,LisaBarrosandGlenLeyburn,GoodVibrations(London:UniversalPicturesUK,2012).22ForanextendedcritiqueofthesetendenciesinrepresentationsofyouthinNorthernIrishcinemamorebroadlyseeNewby,LucyandFearghusRoulston,‘InnocentVictimsandTroubledCombatants:RepresentationsofChildhoodandAdolescenceinPost-ConflictNorthernIrishCinema’,pp23-41,inIngridECastroandJessicaClark(eds),RepresentingAgencyinPopularCulture:ChildrenandYouthonPage,ScreenandInBetween(London:LexingtonBooks,2018).23SeeforexampleMcNeilly,Clare,“GoodVibrations:CriticsarebowledoverbyBelfast'sfeel-goodpunkmoviesmash”,BelfastTelegraph,2/4/13,accessedonline:https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/good-vibrations-critics-are-bowled-over-by-belfasts-feelgood-punk-movie-smash-29166356.html24/2/19

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generationofbandsinthetownwhowereinspiredbytheidealsofpunk

rock.24

Thisnarrative is consistentwith thatofGoodVibrations, although the film isperhaps

more concerned with the debauchery and fun of punk than with its non-sectarian

potentialoritsroleasaprecursortothebusiness-ledregenerationofthecity25.Glenn

Leyburn,whodirectedthefilmalongwithLisaBarrosD’Sa,toldTheHerald:

Peoplewhogrewupthroughthattimedon'twanttobeseenascasualties

ofwar.Theywereyoung, theyweregoingout,andtheywerebeing like

youngpeopleeverywhereelseinthecountry.AlotofthesongsGoodVibes

bands wrote weren't necessarily about The Troubles, they were about

fancyinggirlsandbuses,thatsortofstuff.26

IntheseinterventionsinthememorycultureofpunkinBelfast(thefilm,theplaqueand

thevariouseventsaroundthe filmandtheplaque)wecandiscerntheoutlinesof the

dominant understanding of the scene, as being on the onehand a formof grassroots

community-buildingandontheotherhandasourceoffunandescapismforbeleaguered

youngpeopleinthecity.WecanalsoseethecentralitygrantedtoTerriHooleyasthe

nodearoundwhichthesceneformed.Andfinally,wecanseethedesiretoplacepunk

within what Aaron Kelly calls “a new multicultural discourse of equality and

reconciliation”inwhichthescene,somewhatdefanged,makessenseinthecontextofthe

redevelopedCathedralQuarter(wheretheplaquecommemoratingitnowstands)asa

signifier of youthful rebellion and the vaguely-defined power of culture to transcend

sectarianboundaries.27

24McGlade,Michael,‘PlaqueforGodfatherofPunk’,BelfastNewsletter,9/11/12,accessedonlinehere:https://www.newsletter.co.uk/whats-on/music/plaque-for-godfather-of-punk-1-4465322,22/2/1925OnthisseeLegg,George,NorthernIrelandandthePoliticsofBoredom:Canflict,CapitalandCulture(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,2018),especiallytheintroduction.26Rowat,Alison,‘InterviewwithLisaBarrosD'SaandGlennLeyburn,directorsoffilmGoodVibrations’,TheHerald,21/3/13,accessedonline:https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13096898.interview-with-lisa-barros-dsa-and-glenn-leyburn-directors-of-film-good-vibrations/,22/2/19.27Kelly,Aaron,‘GeopoliticalEclipse’,ThirdText19,no.5(1September2005),p550.

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Myintervieweesengagedinconversationwiththismemoryculturebothexplicitlyand

implicitly.JohnandBrianbothdescribedtheirinvolvementwiththeproductionofthe

film,aswellastheirissueswithsomeaspectsofitsnarrativeframing;John’snarrative,

in particular, drew on a number of the tropes of this memory culture as a way of

describingtheaffectiveresonancesofhisinitialencounterwithpunk,whileBrianwas

somewhatmore sceptical of its overarching plot. Petesy, strikingly, offered a broadly

anarchistcritiqueofthefilm’semphasisonindividualagency,whilealsoacknowledging

theemotionalforceoftherepresentation;Alison,asdiscussedatlengthinchapterfour,

wasespeciallyengagedwiththeusefulnessofthefilmasanintergenerationalmemory

text.

Following on from the useful work in this field of Penny Summerfield and Alistair

Thomson, then, it is important to acknowledge that the prominence of this specific

culturalmemorydiscourseaboutpunkwaspresent inthe formationof thenarratives

producedthroughmyinterviews,andhelpedtocolourthememoriesexpressedbymy

interviewees.AsSummerfieldpointsoutinrelationtoherownworkonWorldWarTwo,

evennarratorswhoarecriticalofculturalframesmayalsodrawonthemtosomeextent:

“Oralhistory respondents, talkingabout theirownwartimeHomeGuardexperiences,

used the narrative structures and imaginative possibilities offered by Dad’s Army,

sometimesexplicitly,evenwhentheywerecriticalof [scriptwriters]PerryandCroft’s

interpretation of the force.”28While it is difficult to assess the precise impact of the

increasedvisibilityofpunkbetween2012and2013onmyinterviewees’accounts(given

thatmyinterviewswereconductedbetween2015and2016,meaningIhavenoaccessto

theirmodesofrememberingthescenepriortothat),whatfollowsintheanalysischapter

willbeattentivetotheculturalcircuitatworkintherelationbetweentheirmemories

andotherculturaltexts.

MemoryandoralhistoryinNorthernIreland

28Summerfield,Penny,‘War,Film,Memory:SomeReflectionsonWarFilmsandtheSocialConfigurationofMemoryinBritaininthe1940sand1950s’,JournalofWar&CultureStudies1,no.1(28August2007),p20.

107

DebatesaroundculturalmemoryhaveaparticularweightinNorthernIreland.InGraham

Dawson’saccount,“therearegoodreasonswhythepastcontinuestoexercisepressure

onthepresentinsocietieslikethoseinstill-partitionedIrelandwherepolitical,cultural

andpsychiclandscapescontinuetobeshapedandpolarisedalonglinesinheritedfrom

anunresolved timeof conflict”.29This sectionconcentrateson twoways inwhichmy

project is related to the debate around Northern Irish memory cultures. Firstly, it

considersthepossibilitythatmemoriesofthepunkscenecanbereadasgeneratingmore

pluralisticnarrativesoftheprovince’srecentpast.Secondly,itrelatesthispossibilityto

recentdebatesaroundtheroleofstorytellingandoralhistorymechanismsin ‘dealing

withthepast’,andpositionsmyworkinrelationtothisdebate.

Punk,memoryandalternativesolidarities

In termsofhowmemoriesof thepunkscenerelate tomemoriesof therecentpast in

NorthernIreland,itisfirstneccesarytoestablishthescaleandparametersofthewider

memory culture in the province. As the previous two chapters have suggested,

sectarianismatthelevelofinstitutionsandthestateandatthelevelofeverydaylife,and

the spatial expression and maintenance of this sectarianism, characterise Northern

Ireland’srecenthistorywhilealsoconnecting it toa longerhistoryofcolonialismand

violence.Thisisbothreflectedinandreproducedbydivisionswithinculturalmemory.

For unionsts and nationalists, material culture (especially murals), commemorative

practices such as parades, and interpersonal practices of remembering are all

mechanismsthroughwhichthepastisrenewedwithmeaning.IanMcBridesuggeststhat

thiscontributestothefactthat“inIreland,perhapsmorethaninothercultures,collective

groupshavethusexpressedtheirvaluesandassumptionsthroughtheirrepresentations

ofthepast”.30Thehighlylocalisedexperienceofconflictviolencefrom1968onwardsalso

means that “perceptions [and memories] of victimhood and responsibility remain

29Dawson,Graham,MakingPeaceWiththePast?Memory,TraumaandtheIrishTroubles(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,2007),p8.30McBride,Ian,‘MemoryandNationalIdentityinModernIreland’,p3,inHistoryandMemoryinModernIreland,McBride,Ian(ed)(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2001).

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overwhelmingly determined by local experiences”.31 To draw on the language of the

Popular Memory Group (PMG), discussed above, there are a range of distinct public

representationsofthepastinNorthernIreland,inwhichrepublicanmemoriesofstate

violence and repression clashwith loyalistmemories of Provisional Irish Republican

Armyviolence;additionally,therearethevariouspast-drivenmechanismsofthestate

and official and unofficial discourses of peacebuilding and reconciliation, themselves

constitutingasetofmemorycultures.

Inthissense,commemorativepracticesandanatagonisticdiscoursesofculturalmemory

formpartof thedoublearticulationofsectarianismdescribed in the firstchapterand

worktomaintainbothspatialsegrgeationandculturesofdivision.However,again,the

argumentisnotthatthesediscoursesarethemselvesfixedoruncontested,internallyor

externally.StephenHopkins,forinstance,hasshownhowthememoryofthe1981hunger

strikeshasbecomeasiteofcontestationforcontemporaryrepublicanism;KrisBrown

has highlighted the way in which local communities in Belfast “engage in a complex

calendar of Troubles-related commemoration” that make visible “the hidden [and

contested] everyday politics of memory”.32 When considering how my interviewees

compose and narrate their memories in relation to broader cultural scripts, the

implication beingmade is not that those scripts are themselves set in stone. But the

centralquestionformyprojectistheconsiderationofhowtheindividualmemoriesof

my participants relate to these wider public memory cultures, as well as to cultural

memoriesofthepunkscene,andparticularlywhetherornotthememoryofpunkcanbe

readaspartofwhatthePMGcallahistoriographythatprovides“themeansbywhichwe

maybecomeself-consciousabouttheformationofourowncommon-sensebeliefs,those

thatweappropriatefromourimmediatesocialandculturalmilieu”.33ForthePMG,the

emphasishereisontheproductionofsocialist,feministandanti-racistmemorycultures

within1980sBritain;formyproject,theemphasisisratherondrawingonoralnarratives

31Jankowitz,Sarah,‘The“HierarchyofVictims”inNorthernIreland:AFrameworkforCriticalAnalysis’,InternationalJournalofTransitionalJustice,12(2),2018,p5.32Hopkins,Stephen,‘“OurWholeHistoryHasBeenRuined!”The1981HungerStrikeandthePoliticsofRepublicanCommemorationandMemory’,IrishPoliticalStudies31,no.1(2January2016),pp44–62;Brown,Kris,‘“WhatItWasLiketoLivethroughaDay”:TransitionalJusticeandtheMemoryoftheEverydayinaDividedSociety’,InternationalJournalofTransitionalJustice6,no.3(1November2012),pp444–466.33PopularMemoryGroup,‘PopularMemory’,p79.

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of the punk scene to consider what they reveal about the double-articulation of

sectarianisminspaceandineverydaylife,particularlyasthisrelatestothelivesofyoung

peopleintheprovince.

CilianMcGrattan,arguingfortheimportanceofcriticalhistoricalworkina2011essay

ontheroleofhistoryin‘post-conflict’societiessuchasNorthernIreland’s,suggestedthat

historians’ responsibiltiy should be to develop more pluralistic historical narratives,

especially by engaging with under-recognised experiences of the Troubles and with

cross-community histories, looking for attempts to construct “alternative solidarities”

acrosslinesofclassandgender.34Insofarasthedominantculturalmemoryofthepunk

sceneisoneofnon-sectarianandcross-communityengagementsbetweenyoungpeople,

myprojectfitsintothisrubrictosomeextent.Furthermore,thefocusoneverydaylife

withinandaround thepunk scenemakespossible adifferentkindofnarrativeabout

recentNorthernIrishhistory,onethatdoesnotfocusonspectacularmomentsofviolence

but instead concentrates on quotidian practices of sociality as well as quotidian

experiencesoflow-resolutionviolence.But–assuggestedinthefirstchapter’sargument

aboutthestructuralnatureofsectarianismandpunk’sunavoidableembedednessinthat

structure–itisequallyimportantnottoreifytheconstructionofalternativesolidarities

tosuchanextentthatitmakesmorecomplexmemoriesofthescene,oroftheconflict,

moredifficulttospeakortohear.35

Thememoriesofmyintervieweesdonotpresentautopiannarrativeofcross-community

collaboration in the context of inter-community conflict They suggest a considerably

morecomplexpicturethanthis,bothofthesceneandofthesocialworldinwhichitwas

staged.Furthermore,thememoriesofparticipantsinthepunksceneexistoutsideofthe

largermemorydiscoursesoftheconflict.Amoreaccurateimagewouldbeofcollective

memoryasapaletteonwhichdifferentlayersofcolouraremixed.Intervieweesusetheir

recollectionofpunktogivetheirnarrativesofNorthernIreland’srecentpastaparticular

huebut they are stillworkingwithin a collectivememory culture that is colouredby

34McGrattan,Cillian,‘HistoriansinPost-ConflictSocieties:NorthernIrelandAftertheTroubles’,March2011,HistoryandPolicy.35SeeNewby,LucyKate,TroubledGenerations?AnOralHistoryofYouthExperienceoftheConflictinBelfast,1969-1998,unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofBrighton,forthcoming.

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questionsofconflictandviolence.Myaimhereistoconsiderhowthesedifferentmemory

discourses are engagedwith andmobilised bymy interviewees, partly in light of the

emancipatorypossibilitiesthatareglimpsedinthePMG’swork,andpartlyasawayof

thinking about the structural complexity of sectarianism in the province and punk’s

interventioninthisstructure.

Oralhistoryand‘dealingwiththepast’

In thedecades since theBelfast/GoodFridayAgreement in1998, the fieldof cultural

memoryhasbecomeanareaofinterestforpolicymakersandthestate,oftenaspartof

theexpressionofadesire to ‘dealwith’ thepastandthusallowtheprovincetomove

forward into an imagined future. Most recently, this has been made manifest in the

StormontHouseAgreementandthefollow-upLegacyBillof2018.36Whatisparticularly

strikingaboutthistop-downapproachtomemory-workisitsattempttoencompassall

possiblefacetsofdealingwiththepast;soontheonehand,thereareplansforanOral

HistoryArchivethatwillcontainthetestimonyofthoseaffectedbytheconflict,buton

theotherhandtherearealsoplansformorelegalisticapproachestoidentifyingthose

responsible for unsolved deaths and crimes through theHistorical Enquiries Team.37

Whilemyprojectdoesnotspeakdirectlyeithertogovernmentpolicyortothefieldof

transitionaljustice,thedebateontheroleoforalhistoryoccasionedbytheemergenceof

theStormontHouseAgreementisrelevanttomyapproachhere.38

Oralhistoryandstorytellingprojects(asdistinctfromtestimony-drivenprojectsaimed

at producing objective records of events) have been used within Northern Irish

communitiesthatconsiderthemselvesdeliberatelyoccludedfromnationalnarrativesto

36NorthernIrelandOffice,StormontHouseAgreement,2014;NorthernIrelandOffice,AddressingtheLegacyofNorthernIreland’sPast,2018.37SeeBryson,Anna,‘Victims,ViolenceandVoice:TransitionalJustice,OralHistoryandDealingwiththePast’,HastingsInternationalComparativeLawReview,Vol39No2,2016,p306,foranaccountofthepossiblebenefitsofadoptinginterpretativeoralhistorymethodsalongsideothertransitionaljusticemechanisms.38SeeforinstanceMcGrattan,Cillian,‘TheStormontHouseAgreementandtheNewPoliticsofStorytellinginNorthernIreland’,ParliamentaryAffairs69,no.4(1October2016),pp928–946;forafurtherconsiderationofMcGrattan’susefulbutflawedcritiqueofthepoliticsoforalhistoryandstorytellingintheprovince,seeRoulston,Fearghus,‘OralHistoryandPluralisingthePastinPost-ConflictNorthernIreland’,OralHistoryForum/ForumD’HistoireOral37,No.2,2017.

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produceacounter-narrativeortotalkbacktopower;theyhavebeenusedtorecordthe

storiesofthosedirectlyaffectedbytheconflictthroughtheexperienceofviolenceand

thelossofrelatives;theyhavealsobeenusedtofostercross-communitylinksbydrawing

commonalities between the experience of Protestant and Catholic communities.39

Additionally,ithasbeenarguedthatstorytellingmechanismscan“carveoutsafespaces

in the public sphere” in which “the voices of the young and those who have been

marginalisedoroppressedcanbeacknowledged,andtheirstoriesheard”.40Projectssuch

as An Crann/The Tree, the Dúchas Archive, the Prisons Memory Archive, theWAVE

TraumaVictimsGroupandBorderLiveshaverecordedthestoriesofpeopleaffectedby

theconflict,andalongwithmanylocalprojects,extensiveattemptshavebeenmadeto

collectthememoriesofNorthernIrishpeople.41Someoftheseprojectsadoptamore-or-

lessexplicitcommitmenttogeneratingreconciliationbetweenProtestantandCatholic

communities;othershavefocusedongatheringnarrativesfrompeopleinparticularroles

orregionsintheprovince.42

Criticism of storytelling and oral history mechanisms, especially following their

incorporationintothelegislativeframeworkproposedbytheLegacyBill,hasfocusedon

twomainissues.Firstly,onconcernsthatanuncriticalapproachtoindividualmemory

will reproduce antagonistic cultural memories of the past and exacerbate existing

political divisions in Northern Ireland.43 Secondly, on the possibility that top-down

adoptionofstorytellingmechanismswillsimplyprovetobe“merelythelatestmeansof

39Kelly,Gráinne,StorytellingAudit:AnAuditofPersonalStory,NarrativeandTestimonyInitiativesRelatedtotheConflictInandAboutNorthernIreland(Belfast:HealingThroughRemembering,2005).InHTR’sdefinitionofstorytelling,itisacapaciouscategorythatincludesoralhistoryasoneofitspossiblemanifestationsalongwithotherformsofmemory-drivendialogue;formypurposesthedistinctionisbetweenanapproachthatisprimarilyfocusedoncreatingaspaceformemoriesofthepast(storytelling)andanapproachthatisalsofocusedoncontextualisingandanalysingthosememories(oralhistory).40Maiangwa,BenjaminandSeanByrne,‘PeacebuildingandReconciliationthroughStorytellinginNorthernIrelandandtheBorderCountiesoftheRepublicofIreland’,Storytelling,Self,Society11,no.1(2015),p105.41AnattempthasbeenmadetocentralisetheresultsofsomeoftheseprojectsthroughtheAccountsoftheConflictwebarchive–accessedonline:http://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/index.php26/9/18.42DybrisMcQuaid,Sara,‘PassiveArchivesorStoragesforAction?StorytellingProjectsinNorthernIreland’,IrishPoliticalStudies31,no.1(2January2016),pp63–85.43McGrattan,‘TheSHA’,2016.

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statemanagementofthememoryofthepast,”servingtoelideorconcealtheroleofthe

stateintheconflictthrough,forinstance,collusionwithparamilitarygroups.44

Myprojectdoesnotentailanydirectengagementwithexperiencesofvictimhood,and

whileviolenceandthefearofviolencearespectralpresenceswithinthenarratives–as

will be discussed below – these concerns remain at the margins throughout. The

relatively narrow thematic focus of the interviews placesmywork at something of a

tangent to the discussions around the putative role of both grassroots and top-down

storytelling and oral history projects. However, there are two senses in which an

interpretative oral historymethod is potentially useful in the context of post-conflict

memorycultureinNorthernIreland.

Firstly, a method that is sensitive to the ways in which memory narratives are

constructedthroughwiderdiscoursesaswellasthroughpastexperiencescanbeusedto

makeembeddedorhegemonicculturalmemoriesofthepastvisible,andperhapscreate

a space inwhich they canbe contested. Secondly, concentratingon everyday life and

everydayengagementsinspacemakestheproductionofalternativehistoricalnarratives

of theNorthern Irish conflict possible, particularlyby listening closely tohowpeople

negotiatedtheparametersandproblemsoftheconflict,andhowtheirsubjectivitieswere

formed through this experience. Interpretative oral history’s awareness of the

constructednessofmemory,anditsfocusonpeople’saccountsoftheirownlives,mean

itisapotentiallyproductivemethodinconsideringtheongoinglegacyofconflictinthe

province,andaddressingthemovementbetweenpastandpresentthislegacyentails(in

termsofhowintervieweescomposetheirnarratives).Thismayalsomakeitpossibleto

thinkmorepreciselyaboutthepoliticsoftop-downmeasuresaimedatdealingwiththe

past,whichasBerberBevernagehassuggestedinreferencetotruthcommissionscan

mobilisehistoricaldiscoursesinorderto ‘pacify’thepast,byimposingaradicalbreak

44Lundy,Patricia,andMarkMcGovern.‘Truth,JusticeandDealingwiththeLegacyofthePastinNorthernIreland,1998–2008’.Ethnopolitics7,no.1(1March2008),p193;seealsoHackett,ClaireandBillRolston.‘TheBurdenofMemory:Victims,StorytellingandResistanceinNorthernIreland’.MemoryStudies2,no.3(1September2009),p355–376.

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betweenthepastandthepresent.45Intermsofmyresearchspecifically,theaimisforan

approach that affords “space for the complex, contradictory and sometimes inchoate

natureofindividualexperience”inordertorelateittothesocialworldinwhichitwas

formedandisnarrated.46

In summary, then, the argument here is that the culturalmemory of the Troubles in

NorthernIrelandisvolatileandcontested,aswellasbeingtheobjectofbothtop-down

andgrassrootsmechanismsaimedat ‘dealingwiththepast’ invariousways.Myfocus

willbeonchartingtherelationshipbetweentheindividualmemoriesexpressedbymy

intervieweesandthesocialandculturalcontextinwhichthosememoriesaregenerated

andtold.Inordertoanalysethisrelationship,Iwilluseamethoddrawnfrominterpretive

oralhistory,asdescribedinthefollowingsection.

Portelli,PasseriniandinterpretativeoralhistoryWhatIamcallinginterpretativeoralhistoryhereisamethodologyinformedbyashiftin

the field fromthe late1970sonwards,one inwhich thepotentialoforalhistories for

offeringspecific insightsaboutthepastandabouttherelationshiptothepastandthe

presentwasmadecentral.Thisshift isencapsulatedinLuisaPasserini’sseminal1979

essay,Work Ideology and Consensus under Italian Fascism. Here she argues that two

aspectsoforalhistoryneeded tobedefended fromcriticism in the1960sand1970s.

Firstly,itsreliabilityandvalidityasasourcewhencomparedwithdocumentarysources;

secondly,itsextensionofthesubjectsofhistoricalresearchtoeverydaylife,thedomestic

and the quotidian.47 For Passerini, the debate over these aspects of oral history has

alreadybeensettled,withPaulThompsononeofthekeyproponentsofbotharguments,

particularlyintheUK.48However,sheexpressesherconcernthatanover-emphasison

45Bevernage,Berber,‘WritingthePastOutofthePresent:HistoryandthePoliticsofTimeinTransitionalJustice’,HistoryWorkshopJournal69,no.1(1March2010),pp111–131;anexampleofhowthiskindofdelineationmightfunctioncameinKarenBradley’sforewordtotheLegacyBill,inwhichshedisavowsthepossibilityof“anyattemptstorewritethehistoryofthepast”.NorthernIrelandOffice,Legacy,p3.46Bryson,‘Victims,ViolenceandVoice’,p343.47Passerini,Luisa,‘WorkIdeologyandConsensusunderItalianFascism’,HistoryWorkshopJournal8,no.1(1October1979),pp82–108.48Thompson,PaulandJoanneBornat,TheVoiceofthePast:OralHistory(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2017[1978]).

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these elements of oral history might lead to a “complacent populism”, in which the

method’s capacity for recording the voices of those otherwise ignored by history is

lionisedtotheexclusionofitsotherqualities.49

Her prescription against this unproblematised understanding of oral history is to

consider the specific nature of oral history narratives as composite and multi-

dimensional texts. Inheraccount,oralhistory’svalue isnotonly itsability toprovide

factsthatwouldotherwisebeinaccessible,forinstancebydescribingworkingpractices

inaparticularfactoryduring1930s.Itsvaluealsoresidesinthe“dimensionofmemory,

ideologyandsubconsciousdesires”thatcanbedrawnoutfromoralmaterialasacultural

text,asawayof thinkingabout– for instance– thekindof ‘smokestacknostalgia’ for

industrialismandfactory-workexpressedindeindustrialisedzonesthatisdescribedby

TimStrangleman.50Essentially,Passeriniarguesagainstapositivistuseoforalsources

thattreatsthemasfragmentsthroughwhichthepast‘asitreallywas’canbeconstructed.

Sheusesthecategoryof‘subjectivity’todescribethespherethatoralsourcesrefertoand

come from, defining this as “that area of symbolic activity which includes cognitive,

culturalandpsychologicalaspects”;thereisaconcordherewiththeconceptofstructures

offeelingdescribedinthepreviouschapter,andwithWilliams’senseofcultureaslived

andexperiential.51Oralsourcesarenotsimplycollectionsoffactsaboutthepast;they

areexpressionsofasubjectiveandsocialrelationshiptothepastinthepresent.

ThisideaisextendedinPasserini’sresearchonfascismandculturalmemoryinworking-

classTurin,inwhichsheanalysessocial,culturalandpsychologicalresponsestofascism

inthenarrativesofworkersfromthecity.HeraccountofmemoriesofMussolini’svisitto

aFiatfactoryinthe1920sand1930sisinstructive.Thesevisitshavebecomelegendary,

Passerini explains, as sites of cultural resistance against the fascist regime, which is

particularlystrikinggivingtheemphasisplacedinItalianfascismonthelegitimationof

powerthroughtheapprovalofthemasses.Inherinterviewees’accounts,anumberof

differentvisitsfromMussoliniblurintoonesymbolicconfrontationbetweentheworkers

49Passerini,‘Work,Ideology,andConsensus’,p53.50Strangleman,Tim,‘“SmokestackNostalgia,”“RuinPorn”orWorking-ClassObituary:TheRoleandMeaningofDeindustrialRepresentation’,InternationalLaborandWorking-ClassHistory84(2013),pp23–37.51Passerini,‘Work,IdeologyandConsensus’,p53.

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andthefascistregime,andalocalstorymorphsintoanationalone.Shedescribesthis

process like this: “The beginning and end of the story of the struggles between two

protagonists – theworking class and thedictator – are, in turn,welded together and

reaffirmed.Thus,theTurinworkersbecomethevanguardthatinterpretsandstandsfor

the true attitude of the Italian working class.”52 Similar dynamics (the narrative

productionofclearly-definedprotagonists;theprivilegedsymbolicroleaffixedtopunk

asasiteforcritiqueoftheNorthernIrishstateandsectarianrelations;themergingand

reorderingofeventsinthepast)areapparentinmyinterviewees’accounts,aswillbe

suggestedinthefollowingchapters.Passerini’sapproachhasbeendevelopedandrefined

inherlaterworkthroughamoreexplicitengagementwithfeministtheory,thepolitical

contextinwhichoralhistoriesareproduced,andthehistoryofemotions.53

The second key theorist of interpretative oral history for my method is Alessandro

Portelli,whoprovidesausefulframeworkforanalysingthesubjectiveelementsoforal

history texts identified by Passerini above. For Portelli, theway inwhich stories are

remembered and expressed by interviewees opens a rich vein of possibilities for

historiansinterestedinhowpeopleareshapedbythepastandhowtheymakesenseof

their experiences in the present. Again, there is a possible connection here between

Williams’accountofstructuresoffeelingandofinterpretativeoralhistoryasamethod.

Taking the novel as a source in which emergent structures of feeling can be found,

Williams suggests that reading for “characteristic elements of impulse, restraint and

tone”ishowtotuneintothismovementwithinthetext;asBenHighmorehaspointed

out,‘tone’isawordthatWilliamsreturnstoofteninhiseffortstoclarifytheconceptof

structureoffeeling.54Portelli’sunderstandingoftheoralhistoryinterviewascontaining

“culturallysharedsymbolicstructuresandnarrativedevices”thatcanbeanalysedasthe

representationofa ”horizonofsharedpossibilities, realor imagined”makesasimilar

52Passerini,Luisa,FascisminPopularMemory:TheCulturalExperienceoftheTurinWorkingClass,trans.RobertLumleyandJudeBloomfield(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2010[1984]),p187.53Passerini,Luisa,MemoryandUtopia:ThePrimacyofIntersubjectivity(London:Routledge,2005);Passerini,Luisa,WomenandMeninLove:EuropeanIdentitiesintheTwentiethCentury(NewYork:BerghahnBooks,2012);forasubstantialhistoriographicalessayonPasserini’sworkseeGabaccia,DonnaR.,andFrancaIacovetta,‘Borders,ConflictZones,andMemory:ScholarlyEngagementswithLuisaPasserini’,Women’sHistoryReview25,no.3(3May2016),pp345–364.54Williams,Raymond,MarxismandLiterature(OxfordUniversityPress:Oxford,1977),p132;Highmore,Ben,‘FormationsofFeelings,ConstellationsofThings’,CulturalStudiesReviewVol22No1(2016),pp144-167.

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argument, shifting the focus from novels on to memories as expressed through oral

history.55ForbothWilliamsandPortelli,themodeinwhichsomethingisexpressedis

suggestiveofaresidueofsociallifeinwhichexperienceandsubjectivitycanbefelt;and

forboth,thisisneverjusttheproductofanindividualcapacityforexpressionbutmarked

bycollectiveworlds.

InPortelli’saccountofthedeathofLuigiTrastulli,a21-year-oldsteelworkerfromTerni

whodiedatthehandsofthepoliceduringafactorywalk-outprotestingthesigningofthe

North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, he gives a bravura example of how the symbolic and

narrative structures of oral history work.56 The importance of locally-remembered

accountsofTrastulli’sdeath,heclaims,lies“inthefactthatitbecamethegroundupon

whichcollectivememoryandimaginationbuiltaclusteroftales,symbols,legendsand

imaginary reconstructions”.57 A striking element of the oral histories Portelli collects

about theevent is thatseveral interviewees transplant thedateof theworker’sdeath

from1949to1953,whenstreetfightsandprotestsbrokeoutinthecityfollowingthe

sackingofmorethantwothousandworkersfromalocalsteelfactory.58Thisnarrative

strategybringstogetherthetwosignaleventsofTerni’spost-warhistoryintoacoherent

whole.The‘discrepancy’doesnotinvalidatetheoralhistoriesoftheeventashistorical

sources,butinsteadmakesthemdifferentlyuseful–ratherthanreadingthistemporal

dislocation as “faulty recollection”, we should understand that the narratives Portelli

gatherswere“activelyandcreativelygeneratedbymemoryandimaginationinaneffort

tomakesenseofcrucialeventsandofhistoryingeneral”.59Thisaccountalsospeaksto

thewayinwhichoralhistorycantroublelineartemporalitiesinfavourofamorecomplex

understandingofhistoricaltime.

For my project, there are three key points to be taken from Portelli and Passerini’s

approach. Firstly, when my interviewees describe the punk scene, they are

55Portelli,Alessandro,TheBattleofValleGuilia:OralHistoryandtheArtofDialogue(Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1997),p83.56TheNorthAtlanticTreatywasthefoundingdocumentoftheNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganisation(NATO),apost-WorldWarTwoalliancecementingtheUSAandEurope’srelationshipandtheirstanceagainstSovietRussia.57Portelli,Alessandro,TheDeathofLuigiTrastulliandOtherStories(Albany:SUNYPress,1991),p1.58Ibid.,p14. 59Ibid.,p26.

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reconstructing a narrative that draws on cultural memories and shared symbolic

structuresofexpression,culturalmemoriesthathavedifferentlayers(publicandprivate,

forinstance)andthatarethemselvescontestedratherthanfixed.Secondly,thepresence

ofthisreservoirofculturalmemoriesanddiscoursesmeansthatindividualmemoriesare

neverentirelyindividual;instead,theyaresocialproducts,inwhichpeoplemakesense

of their experiences through an engagementwith thesewider frames. Finally, it also

means thatmy interviewees’memoriesareexpressionsof theirunderstandingofand

positioninthepresentaswellasthepast,makingthemtemporallyfluidinawaythat

differsfrom,forinstance,the19thcenturynovelsconsideredbyRaymondWilliamsinhis

accountofstructuresoffeeling.

Methodologically, these three points entail a particular kind of engagement withmy

interviewees’narratives.Myapproachistolistentoindividualmemoriesfortheirsocial

echoes,andfortheirimbricationinandevocationofaparticularstructureoffeeling;to

payattentiontotheformandstyleofthememoriesaswellastotheircontent;andto

frameandnarratetheanalysisinaformthatmakesthepresent-drivenformulationof

the accounts, and the intersubjective dimension of this formulation, apparent. The

followingthreesectionswilldealwitheachofthesemethodologicalimperativesinturn,

concludingwithafinalsectionoutliningthewayinwhichoralhistorycanengageinthe

historyofspaceandofeverydaylife.

Oralhistoryandsocialworlds

Portelli’s proposition that oral history narratives are composed through “culturally

shared symbolic structures andnarrative devices” is not only relevant tomymethod

becauseofitsconsonancewithRaymondWilliams’work.60Italsosuggeststhatcareful

readingofindividualnarratives,alongsideotherhistoricalsourcesandtexts,canspeak

tothematerialandsocialconditionsofthepastaswellastothememoriesoftheperson

tellingthestory.LynnAbramsdescribesthisinterplaybetweentheindividualandthe

socialwellinheranalysisofanoralhistorytranscriptcontainingthenarrativeofMary

Manson,awomanbornontheShetlandIslandsinthelate19thcentury.Mary’snarrative,

60Portelli,TheBattleofValleGuilia,p83.

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inwhichsherecountsthestoryofafamilymember’svisittoawomaninaneighbouring

villageknown forher capacity for curing illness, is inpartanarchetypalpieceof folk

storytelling; additionally, Abrams argues, “it offers a framework for interpreting

historical and contemporary understandings of culture, privileging a female-centric

worldviewrootedineverydayexperience.”61

It is this movement from the individual to the social that I want to consider in my

interviews.MaryManson’sstory–firsttoldtoherbyhermother–isnotanossifiedpiece

offolkculture,oramemorythatconnectshertoherfamily.Itisawayofaccessing“a

femalecultureofdifferentkindsofknowledgeandpower:knowledgeofwomen'sbodies,

illnessesandcuresandalostcultureofmutualityandreciprocity”.62Therelevanceofthis

to my work is that within the interview, my interviewees are not only engaged in

recounting their life stories in relation to the punk scene, prompted by my lines of

enquiry.Theyareratherevokingbothastructureoffeeling(thestructureoffeelingof

thepunkscene)andthewidercultureinwhichthisstructureoffeelingexisted,through

anengagementwithculturalmemorydiscourses.

The intersection between the social and the individual, and between personal and

culturalmemory,willbeofparticular interest to thisprojectbecause it relates to the

historicalaccountofinstitutionsandspacedetailedintheprevioustwochapters.Both

thespecificlineamentsofthestructureoffeelingdescribedbyindividualinterviewees,

and theway inwhich this intersectswithNorthern Irish culture, are shapedby their

socialexperiences–notexclusivelywithinthepunkscenebutwithineverydaylifemore

generally.Myanalysisoftheirnarrativeswilldrawouttheseintersections.

Narrativetechniquesandforms

Acentralwayinwhichthisanalysiswillfunctionisthroughaconsiderationofnarrative

techniques and forms. The epiphinal mode, as described by Lynn Abrams, and the

anecdotal mode, as described by Daniel James, will be of particular interest. This

61Abrams,Lynn,‘Story-Telling,Women’sAuthorityandthe“OldWife’sTale”:“TheStoryoftheBottleofMedicine”’,HistoryWorkshopJournal73,no.1(1April2012),p102.62Ibid.,p114.

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approach entails listening to the constructed-ness of the oral history narrative – to

silencesorpauses,toneandbodylanguage,wordchoiceandsyntax.AsPortellisuggests,

these elements of the interview are “the site (not exclusive, but very important) of

essentialnarrativefunctions:theyrevealthenarrators’emotions,theirparticipationin

thestory,andthewaythestoryaffectedthem”.63

WhatAbramscallstheepiphinalmomentishelpfulforthinkingaboutmyinterviews.64

When asked about how they first encountered the punk scene, interviewees often

describedashockofexcitementandrealisationattending to thisencounter,generally

encapsulatedbyasinglestory–thefirsttimetheysawapunkbandonthetelevision,or

thefirsttimetheywenttoaBelfastpunkbarliketheHarp.Punkisepiphinalhere,part

of a narrative strategymobilised by a narrator “attempting to align past and present

selves,tomakeasmoothorcoherentstoryfromadisjointedorincoherentlife”.65Inthis

senseitisatechniqueofcomposure,inthedoublesensegiventothistermintheworkof

GrahamDawsonandAlistairThomsonasrelatingbothtothecompositionofaselfand

thecompositionofanarrative.66Itmakessenseofthestaggeredorstriatedtextureofa

rememberedlifebyconnectingthedisparateaspectsofsubjectivityintoastraightline,

fromwhoyouweretowhoyoubecametowhoyouareatthemomentoftellingthestory.

For this project, and following on from the previous section, the epiphinalmode is a

particularly interesting technique of composure because it speaks to the social and

cultural content of individual narratives. Abrams’ interviewees are from a post-war

periodinwhich,sheargues,competingdiscoursesofconservativerespectabilityandof

potentialliberationinfluencedhowyoungwomenmadesenseoftheirpositionandrole

insociety.Havingreachedadulthoodamidsttheseconflictualdiscourses,theirmemories

“offersavantagepointforrevealingtheimpactofrapidsocialandpoliticalchangeupon

subsequentlifenarrativesandconstructionsoftheself”.67Inthecontextofmywork,the

63Portelli,TheDeathofLuigiTrastulli,p41.64Abrams,Lynn,‘LiberatingtheFemaleSelf:Epiphanies,ConflictandCoherenceintheLifeStoriesofPost-WarBritishWomen’,SocialHistory39,no.1(2January2014),pp14-35.65Ibid.,p21.66Dawson,Graham,SoldierHeroes:BritishAdventure,EmpireandtheImaginingofMasculinities(London:Routledge,1994);Thomson,Alistair,AnzacMemories:LivingWiththeLegend(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994).67‘Abrams,‘LiberatingtheFemaleSelf’,p15.

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epiphinal moment in interviews speaks to the remembered culture in which punk

intervenes (and the narrator’s part in that culture); it also speaks to the structure of

feelingofthepunksceneandofitspositionwithinthisrememberedculture.

Anecdotesandtheanecdotalare,similarly,vehiclesforrelatinganindividualnarrative

toasocialworldorawiderculture.Theyarealsotechniquesofcomposure,againinthe

doublesensedescribedabove.DanielJames,inhisanalysisofthelifestoryofPeronist

union organizer and factory worker Doña María, says: “Anecdotes represent the

relationshipoftheindividualtodominantsocialmodelsandattitudes.Theyexpressina

synthesised form, on a local scale, the transgression or acceptance of hegemonic

values.”68 If the epiphany explains how someone’s sense of self has been developed

throughencounterswithsocietyandculture,theanecdoteshiftsthefocustodramatize

themomentswherethenarratorencountersparticularaspectsofthiswiderworld,either

inapositiveornegativesense.

Inthecontextoftalkingaboutthepunkscene,anecdoteswereoftenthebuildingblocks

ofmyconversationwiththeinterviewees.Theydescribedparticularlymemorablegigs

or nights out, frightening encounters with violence or with proximity to violence,

interactionswiththevariousinstitutionsdescribedinthefirstchapter,andsoon.While

theanecdotalformcaninitiallyappearmoribund–andcertainlyitisafirmreminderto

theoralhistorianthatpeoplearenothiddenarchives,uncoveredinordertotell their

storiesforthefirsttime–carefulanalysis,alongthelinesofthatproposedbyJamesin

hisintricateengagementwithDoñaMaría’snarrative,canrevealthehistoricalfreightof

thismodeoftelling.Theanecdotalandtheepiphinalaretwonarrativeformsthatrecur

acrossmyanalysisbelow,then,andalongwithotherstrategiesandtechniquestheywill

beconsideredaswaysofunderstandingwhatisbeingexpressedbytheintervieweeand

howthisexpressionrelatestopunkasastructureoffeelingandthecultureofNorthern

Ireland.

Intersubjectivityandco-construction

68James,Daniel,DoñaMaría’sStory:LifeHistory,MemoryandPoliticalIdentity(Durham:DukeUniversityPress,2001),p178;p172.

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Samuel Beckett’s 1965 film, Film, depicts a character played by Buster Keaton

desperatelyattemptingtoavoidtheinvasivegazeofthecameraasitfollowshimthrough

acitystreetand intoananonymousroom. InBeckett’swords: “It’samovieabout the

perceivingeye,abouttheperceivedandtheperceiver–twoaspectsofthesameman.The

perceiverdesireslikemadtoperceiveandtheperceivedtriesdesperatelytohide.Then,

in the end, onewins”.69 The interplay of perception and concealment relayed in this

account, and the mingling of subject and object it entails, is comparable to the

intersubjectiverelationshipinoralhistory.LynnAbramsputsitsuccinctly:

Theoralhistory interviewisaconversationbetweenaresearcheranda

narrator. Usually the narrator is responding to questions posed by the

interviewer, and hence the story told is a product of communication

betweentwoindividuals,bothofwhombringsomethingofthemselvesto

theprocess.Oralhistorytheoryisnowfoundedonthisideaoftherebeing

twosubjectivitiesataninterview,interactingtoproduceaneffectcalled

intersubjectivitywhichisapparentinthenarrator’swords.70

This generates a three-waydialogue, inher account – the respondent’sdialoguewith

themselves, the interviewer’s dialogue with the respondent and the respondent’s

dialogue with “the cultural discourses of the present and the past”.71 It further

complicates this network to note that the interviewer is also involved in an internal

dialoguethroughouttheinterview,andthatboththisinternaldialogueandtheformof

thequestionsandpromptsthatemergefromitarealsoshapedbyculturaldiscourses.

Abramsadds:

“The key point here is to acknowledge the intersubjective relationships

thatarepresentwithintheinterviewsituationandtothinkabouthowthey

influencetheoutcome.Itstartswiththeinterviewerbeingreflexiveupon

69Thompson,Howard,2018,"BusterKeatonInBeckett'sFirstFilm",Nytimes.Com,accessedonline:http://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/21/buster-keaton-in-becketts-first-film.html,20/6/1870Abrams,Lynn,OralHistoryTheory,(London:Routledge,2016),p54. 71Ibid.,p59.

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what impact the self she projects to the interviewee has had on the

resultingtestimony.”72

Thereisasubstantialcorpusofwritingonpracticesofreflexivity inoralhistory,with

feminist oral historians in particular considering the ways in which intersubjectivity

shapestestimoniesandnarratives.73Arecentreviewarticledrawsathreadbetweenthis

importantworkandtheapproachesofAlessandroPortelliandMichaelFrisch,suggesting

thatbothsetsoforalhistoriansinquestion“pushedthemselvestoviewtheseencounters

as dialogic, collaborative, and respectful spaces that would facilitate meaningful

exchanges and result in the building of productive research relationships”.74 This

literaturesuggeststhatareflexiveunderstandingoftheintersubjectivenatureoftheoral

historyinterviewhastwomodes.Firstly,itisanethicalresponsetotheinterviewasan

encounter, demanding an awareness of the encounter’s power dynamics and of the

positionoftheresearcherwithregardstotheinterviewee.Thisresponsebeginsatthe

momentofcontactinganinterviewee,continuesthroughouttheinterviewprocessand

remainsimportantwhendealingwiththerecordingandtextthatisproducedfromthis

process.Secondly,reflexivityisaninterpretativetechniquethatworksintandemwith

theunderstandingofinterpretativeoralhistorydescribedintheprevioussectionabove

toconsidertheproductionofnarrativeswithinaninterview.Howthesetwomodesplay

outinmyresearchisconsiderednext.

AsAbramsexplains,itisnecessarytoacknowledgethattheinterviewerwillinevitably

influencethetestimonytheyreceiveinseveralways:throughthepre-conceivednature

andframingoftheirinquiries,throughtheirrelationshipwiththeparticipantandtheir

position as a researcher, and through the reactive verbal and non-verbal actions and

72Ibid.,p63.73Forexample,seeGluck,ShernaBergerandDaphnePatai(eds.),Women’sWords:TheFeministPracticeofOralHistory(London:Routledge,1991);Coslett,Tess,CeliaLuryandPennySummerfield(eds.),FeminismandAutobiography:Texts,Theories,Methods(London:Routledge,2000);foracriticaloverviewofsomeofthisliteratureseeGeiger,Susan,‘What'sSoFeministAboutWomen'sOralHistory?’,JournalofWomen'sHistory2,no.1(1990),pp169-182.74Sheftel,Anna,andStaceyZembrzycki,‘Who’sAfraidofOralHistory?FiftyYearsofDebatesandAnxietyaboutEthics’,TheOralHistoryReview43,no.2(1September2016),pp338–366;Frisch,Michael,ASharedAuthority:EssaysontheCraftandMeaningofOralandPublicHistory(NewYork:SUNYPress,1990),especiallypp59-81;Portelli,TheDeathofLuigiTrastulli.

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reactions involved in conversation.75 Firstly, my position as a Northern Irish person

generated a form of rapport withmy interviewees. A good example comes frommy

interviewwithGarethMullan,whoisexplainingthatevenintheavowedlynon-sectarian

contextofpunktherewasstillanawarenessofwhowasfromaProtestantbackground

andwhowasfromaCatholicbackground.

F:Soevenwithpunkbeingthefirstinterest,there'sstillasortof…broader

awareness?

G:Whenyou'regettingintroducedtopeopleyousortof,again,SeanO'Neill

…[widenseyesatmetosuggestakindofNorthernIrishcomplicityinthe

tellingprocess;thisissomethingtothinkaboutreally,Ididn'tchallengeor

questionthetellingprocessbecause,despitemyself,I’mengaginginitas

well]…youwouldknowwhattheyweresortofthing.Thatwasjustpartof

itbutitdidn'tmatter.76

Intermsofintersubjectivityhere,therearethreelayersofsilences–thecircumlocutory

wordingofmyinitialquestion,inwhichIavoidreferringdirectlytoeithercommunity;

Gareth’snon-verbalcue,whichIunderstoodatthetimeandrememberedwellenoughto

describeinsquarebracketswithinthetranscript;andhisresponsetomycircumlocution,

ashealsoavoidsmakingadirectreferencetoeithercommunitybutmakesitclearthat

“youwouldknowwhotheywere”,implyingthatSeanO’NeillisastereotypicallyIrishand

thus Catholic name. Michael Roper, in an account of transference and counter-

transferenceintheinterviewprocess,arguesthat“thegeneraldirectionofinterviewing

oftenworks towards the fosteringofcoherenceandagainstdominationby feelingsof

disappointment,frustration,failureordespair”,inpartbecauseofadesiretomakethe

conversationmutuallyproductive.77Intermsofpracticeattheleveloftheinterview,my

75Abrams,Lynn,OralHistoryTheory(London:Routledge,2016),pp65-66.76InterviewwithGarethMullan,2015.77Roper,Michael,‘AnalysingtheAnalysed:TransferenceandCounter-TransferenceintheOralHistoryEncounter’,OralHistory31,no.2(2003),pp20–32;foramorerecentconsiderationofthesedynamicswithintheoralhistoryinterviewseeHolmes,Katie,‘DoesItMatterIfSheCried?RecordingEmotionandtheAustralianGenerationsOralHistoryProject’,TheOralHistoryReview44,no.1(1April2017),pp56–76.

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failuretoaskGarethtoexpandonhissilentcuecameinpartfromaconsciousdesireto

keeptheconversationflowing;butitalsocame,inpart,frommyunconsciouscomplicity

in the tellingprocess,which in turnsuggestsan important culturaldiscourse shaping

bothquestionsandanswerswithinthetext.78

Therearefurtherexamplesofintersubjectivesilencesandelisionsinmyinterviews–for

example, on reviewingmy transcripts, I noticed that I had not asked anyone directly

whether or not theywere a Protestant or a Catholic, although this identificationwas

expressedonewayoranotherthroughouttheconversation.DanielJamesdescribeshis

ownexperienceofrevisitingtranscribedinterviewstofindhimself“amazedatmyown

deafness,myownlackofjudgement,asIreadmyselfcuttingoffapromisingstory”;this

retroactive self-criticism (along with an understanding of the culturally-determined

reasonsfortheselapses,beyondtheirstatusasfailuresoftechniqueorjudgement)isan

important analytical lens for reflexive oral history.79 Portelli describes this as “the

assumptionofresponsibilitywhichinscribes[thehistorian]intheaccountandreveals

historiographyasanautonomousactofnarration”.80

It is worth noting here that my own slightly ambiguous position within the ‘telling’

schema–IamfromaProtestantbackgroundandfromthemajority-Protestanttownof

Ballymena,andhavethevestigesofaBallymenaaccent,butIalsohaveafirstnamewhich

isoftenreadasasignifierofIrishnessandthusCatholicism–mighthavebeenafactorin

howmy interviewees ‘read’ my position, although none of them attempted to do so

explicitly.81 It is additionally worth noting that I did not intervene to minimise this

ambiguity,despitemyeffortstobeastransparentaspossibleabout(forinstance)the

natureoftheproject,itsrelationshiptotheuniversityasaninstitution,andsoon.These

78Seechapteroneforaconsiderationoftelling,theprocessofascertainingsomeone’ssupposedethno-sectarianidentitybasedonaseriesofcuesfirstformallydescribedbythethesociologistFrankBurton.79James,Daniel,DoñaMaría’sStory,2010,p159.80Portelli,Alessandro,‘ThePeculiaritiesofOralHistory’,HistoryWorkshopJournal12,no.1(1October1981),pp96–107.81SeeBryson,Anna,‘”WhateverYouSay,SayNothing”:ResearchingMemoryandIdentityinMid-Ulster,1945-1969’,OralHistoryVol.35,2(2007),pp45-56,foranaccountofhowsectarianstructuresinfluenceoralhistorytestimonyinNorthernIreland;seeSmyth,MarieandRuthMoore,‘ResearchingSectarianism’,presentedatTheAnnualConferenceoftheSociologicalAssociationofIreland,Clonmel,13May1995(Derry/Londonderry:TemplegroveActionResearch),fortheimportanceofreflexivitywhenresearchingissuesofsectarianisminNorthernIreland.

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repeatedsilencescanbeinterpretedinvariousdifferentwaysandunderstoodashaving

hadvariouseffectsontheresearchproduced,bothpositiveandnegative.Inlinewiththe

workbyMichaelRoperontheemotionalcurrentsoforalhistoryinterviewingmentioned

above,itisclearthatambiguityherewassomethingofacomfortablespaceinwhichto

stay,awayofavoiding“feelingsofdisappointment,frustration,failureordespair.”82It

allowedmenottobroachthesubjectofmyownposition,anallowancewhichwhilebeing

to some extent necessary to the functioning of an oral history interview can also be

understood as a problematic reproduction of the role of the historian as a neutral,

ungrounded observer of the past.83 This is particularly problematic in the context of

Northern Irishoral history, givenmyown implication in the structuresof telling and

sectarianidentification–tosomeextentthemaintenanceofthisambiguityrepresented

an attempt to avoid being placed within this schema, and this avoidance may have

influencedtheintersubjectiveconstructionoftheinterviews.

However,themaintenanceofthispositionofambiguitywasalsoadeliberatedecision,

motivated conciously by a desire to create a space in which my interviewees felt

comfortabletospeak.Howthisdecisionworksalongsideanapproachthatattemptedto

create “dialogic, collaborative, and respectful spaces that […] facilitate meaningful

exchangesandresultinthebuildingofproductiveresearchrelationships”,oralongside

Alessandro Portelli’s description of the oral history interview as an experiment in

equality,isacomplexquestion.84Inonereadingitmightsitsomewhatuneasilywiththese

claims,giventhedynamicofwitholdingandrestraintononehandanddemandingonthe

other that it entails. However, in my reading of Portelli’s 2018 revisiting of this

description,thechoicetoallowsomeambiguityaboutmyethno-sectarianbackground

can be understood, as it was by me at the time, as engaging in a dialogue with my

interviewees.Portelli, recounting an interviewwith theblack civil rights activist Julia

82Roper,‘AnalysingtheAnalysed’,p21.83Ontheproblemsofthisdynamicwithintheoralhistoryencounter,seeYow,Valerie,‘“DoIlikeThemTooMuch?”:EffectsoftheOralHistoryInterviewontheInterviewerandVice-Versa’,TheOralHistoryReview24,no.1(1997),pp55–79.84Sheftel,Anna,andStaceyZembrzycki,‘Who’sAfraidofOralHistory?FiftyYearsofDebatesandAnxietyaboutEthics’,TheOralHistoryReview43,no.2(1September2016),pp338–366;Portelli,Alessandro,‘LivingVoices:TheOralHistoryInterviewasDialogueandExperience’,TheOralHistoryReview45,no.2(1August2018),pp239–48.Frisch,Michael,ASharedAuthority:EssaysontheCraftandMeaningofOralandPublicHistory(NewYork:SUNYPress,1990),especiallypp59-81;Portelli,TheDeathofLuigiTrastulli.

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Cowanandherstatementthathoweverfarsheiswillingtoengagewithhimtherewill

alwaysbealinepreventingherfromtrustinghimwhollybecauseofhiswhiteness,says:

“Ultimately,thelineiswhattheinterview(theinter/view)isabout,whetherexplicitlyas

inthiscase,orimplicitly:wemaybelookingforinformation,butwhatweultimatelyget

istherelationship.”85Inmaintainingadegreeofambiguityaroundmyethno-sectarian

identity, Iwasattemptingtoshapearelationshipwithmyinterviewees inwhichthey

decidedwherethelinewouldbe,andtheydecidedwhetherornottheywouldpursueor

attempt toreduce theambiguity inmyposition. In this sense, thewitholdingof some

aspectsoftheinterviewer’sidentityisnotneccesarilyare-inscriptionoftheproblematic

neutralobserverposition,butagesturetowardstheagencyoftheintervieweeinshaping

the discussion, both in terms of their answers and in terms of their relation to the

interviewer.

Thelogicofthisdecisioninmyreasearchcanbeseeninthinkingaboutitsinverse.IfI

hadinsisteduponpositioningmyselfwithintheinterview–eitherbeforeitstarted,orby

respondingtoanswersbytheintervieweewithnarrativesaboutmyownadolesence,or

aboutmyunderstandingoftheProtestantcommunity–thiswouldhavehadaspecific,

albeitindescribable,effectonthedynamicandthedialoguetakingplace.Thedecisionnot

todosocreatedaspaceinwhichtheintervieweeswerefreetoaskquestionsofmebut

choose (at least on the level of explicit language) to leave the ambiguity in place.

FollowingonfromPortelli’scomments,thisseemedtomeatthetimetobethebestway

ofattendingtotherelationshipformedthroughtheinterviewprocess.

Furthertothis,myreticencehereextendedtonotaskinganyofmyintervieweesdirectly

abouttheirethno-sectarianidentity.Thisalsoaffectedthenatureofthediscussionsabout

sectarianismandpunkwithintheinterviews,insofarasIdidnotquestionanyoneabout

(for instance) theirunderstandingof thesectarianisedstructureof theNorthern Irish

state,oraboutencounterswithsectarianisminthepunkscene,althoughbothofthese

things were discussed in different and sometimes less explicit ways. Along with the

relativelysmallsamplesizedrawnuponandthedecisiontoanalysefourinterviewsin-

85Portelli,‘TheOralHistoryInterview’,2018,p244.

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depthratherthanalloftheinterviewstogethermeansthereisnoattemptmadehereto

makeastraightforwardlyempiricalclaimaboutthenumberofProtestantsandnumber

ofCatholicswhoparticipated in thepunkscene. Itmayalsomean that theaccountof

sectarianisminrelationtopunkisskewedormutedbythedecisionnottomakeitthe

focalpointoftheinterviews.

Thisapproach,however,isalsounderstoodundertherubricofPortelli’sunderstanding

oftheinterviewasanexperimentinequality.Theconsistentnarrativeofmyinterviewees

wasthatthepunkscene,tosomeextent,allowedthemtoreconstituteorreconsidertheir

identity within the doubly-articulated sectarian structures of Northern Irish society,

albeit without transcending or rendering invisible the continued existence of these

structures.While,bothattheleveloftheinterviewandatthelevelofanalysis,theproject

aimedtoanalysethesenarratives,itfeltasifacceptingtheinterpretationproposedby

my interviewees within the interview (rather than challenging them by returning

repeatedlytothequestionofsectarianismorbyaskingthemtoreflectupontheirethno-

religiousidentitymorethantheychoosetodowithintheframingoftheinterview)was

themostsensitiveapproachtoallowingtheinterviewstodevelop.Thisalsoallowedfor

arelativelyopen-endedformofquestioning,andavoidedanexcessivelevelofsteering

onmypart–althoughallinterviewsareshapedbythedesiresoftheintervieweraswell

asthoseoftheinterviewee,ofcourse.

Secondlyandrelatedly,notcenteringtheinterviewsaroundspecificdiscussionsofethno-

religiousidentitycreatedspacefortheintervieweestoconstructandexpressnarratives

ofthepunkscenethatwerenotcenteredaroundthedicussionofsectarianism.Giventhe

relative predominance of this aspect of the scene in its cultural representations, as

discussedbelow,itwashelpfultoallowtheintervieweestotouchondifferentelements

intheirmemoriesoftheperiod,andmadeitpossibletoproducethedifferentaccountof

punkexpressedbelow.

Ihaveconcentratedhereon theway inwhichmystatusasaNorthern Irishperson–

albeit both someonewho has lived away fromNorthern Ireland formany years and

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someone who’s not from Belfast, unlike many of my participants – affected the

intersubjective production of the texts. Gender and age are also important

considerations. To take these one by one (more detailed engagement with these

questionswillcomeupintheanalysischapters)–itispossible,firstly,thatmyposition

asamanshapedthefairlymasculinisednarrativeofthepunksceneofferedupbymany

ofmyinterviewees,inwhichwomenfeatureonlyelliptically(otherthanintheinterview

withAlisonFarrell);secondly,thismightalsohavebeenonefactorintherelativepaucity

offemaleintervieweesIwasabletocontact.Intermsofage,mygenerationalposition(as

someonewhowasstillachildwhenthepeaceprocessbegan)isimportant–bothcertain

silences and certain moments of articulation or explanation would have operated

differentlyinaninterviewwithsomeonewhohadbeenaliveduringthe1970s.

Thisaccountsforoneaspectofintersubjectivityandreflexivity–thatofthehistorian’s

role inshapingboththeaccountasproduced inthe interviewandtheaccountas it is

analysedorframedasatext.Thesecondaspectisaninversionofthefirst–thatis,the

rolethatthe intervieweeplays inproducingthetext.MichaelFrischhasproposedthe

notionof‘sharedauthority’asaformofcommunityhistory,whereinterviewsbecome

“an opportunity for an informed interviewer to talk in depth with a knowledgeable

participant about a subject ofmutual interest” rather than a one-sided solicitation of

insight on the part of the historian.86 This mutuality can also be brought into the

presentationandafterlifeofinformationgleanedthroughaninterviewprocess,through

publichistorythatattemptsto“expandtheconversationoutward”throughworkshops,

exhibitions,documentariesor communitypublications.87Evenwhere thisapproach is

notviable(forinstance,withintheconfinesofaPhDprojectintendedtobeconceived,

prepared,researchedandwritteninthreeyears)itsuggestssomepracticalimperatives

fortheoralhistorianthatIhaveattemptedtofollowinmywork.

Methodologically, thismeans keeping participants informed about theways inwhich

their interview isbeingused,giving themtheoption to remove their consentat their

86Frisch,ASharedAuthority;Shopes,Linda,‘OralHistoryandtheStudyofCommunities:Problems,Paradoxes,andPossibilities’,JournalofAmericanHistory89,no.2(1September2002),p596.87Shopes,‘OralHistory’,2002,p597;seealsoBornat,Joanna,‘OralHistoryasaSocialMovement:ReminiscenceandOlderPeople’,OralHistory17,no.2(1989),pp16–24.

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discretionandbeingasopenaspossibleabouttheaimsoftheprojectfromtheoutset.

However,workingwithin the remitof aproject thathasnotbeen conceivedwith co-

production or community activism at its forefront, it remains a concern that

interpretativeconflictscouldarise.88Tosomeextentthisisimpossibletoavoid,giventhe

necessityofat leastorganisingand framing interviews tocreateacoherentstructure.

Workingwithsensitivitythat“honourstheoralhistorybyfocusingashininglightupon

the meanings already inherent within … [through an analysis that] is not meant to

displacethenarrative,buttoilluminateitforthereader”istheonlywaytoapproachthis

issue,alongwithanunderstandingthattheintervieweesthemselvesmaybeengagedin

formsofhistoricalpracticethatarenotexclusivelymadecomprehensiblethroughthe

interventionofanacademicinterpreter.89

Everydaylifeandeverydayspaces

Theprevioussectionsdescribedoralhistoryasamethodthatallowsforanaccountof

therelationshipbetweensubjectivity,socialityandthepolitical,andtheintersubjective

methodological imperatives this method entails. This section will concentrate on its

capacityforilluminating,firstly,thesphereofeverydaylifeandinstitutionsanalysedin

chapter one; and secondly, its capacity for producing sources that allow us to think

throughthespatialconfigurationsdescribedinchaptertwo.Inshort,itwillarguethat

oralhistoryisusefulnotjustbecauseofthetypeofknowledgeitgivesusaccessto(that

is,subjective,experiential,felt,affective),butbecauseofthesubjectsitshedslighton.

In terms of everyday life, oral history’s usefulness is clear – the things that people

rememberaredifferentfromthethingsthatenterthedocumentaryrecord.90Totakean

88Thereissomeambiguityaroundtheconceptofco-productionwithinoralhistoryliterature–itcansignifytheprocesswherebyanarrativeisproducedthroughthebackandforthofquestionsandanswersthattakeplaceinaninterviewsetting,describedabove,oradeliberateattempttoinvolveparticipantsintheshaping,editingandpublicisingofthatnarrativeaftertheinterview.Iamusingitinthelattersensehere.89Madison,SoyiniD,CriticalEthnography:Method,EthicsandPerformance(London:Sage,2011),p243.90PaulThompson,inthelatesteditionofTheVoiceofthePast,putsthisadroitly:“Inthemostgeneralsense,oncethelifeexperienceofpeopleofallkindscanbeusedasrawmaterial,anewdimensionisgiventohistory”,ThompsonandBornat,TheVoice,p5.

130

examplefromthefirstchapter,onecanusecensusdata,specialisthistories,newspapers

and government reports to produce a narrative account of the development of the

educationsysteminpost-partitionNorthernIreland;butitismoredifficulttounderstand

how young people’s engagement in this system felt, how it altered their sense of

themselvesasgendered,classed,sectarianizedsubjects,fromthesesources.Oralhistory

givesadifferenttexturetothedocumentsdescribedabove;itallowsustothinkabout

affective,subjectiveexperienceinitsinteractionwithstructuresofpower. Thatbeing

said,itmightseemcounter-intuitivetoconflatepeople’sexperiencesofthepunkscene

andtheirexperiencesofeverydaylifeorthequotidian,becausetosomeextenttaking

partinsomethinglikethepunksceneisadeliberateattempttomakelifelessordinary;

wedonotneedtoover-emphasisetherelationshipbetweenpunkandtheSituationist

Internationaltounderstandparticipationinthepunksceneasaresponsetoboredom

andanomie.91Buttheargumenthereisthatoralhistoryallowsustoseethepunkscene

asembeddedineverydaylife,ratherthananefflorescenceexistingsomehowoutsideof

it–myintervieweesnegotiateencounterswithschool,work,familyandsoonalongside

theirengagementinthepunkscene,andthesiteswherethisnegotiationoccursareof

particularinteresttomyproject.

Thisisbecauseofthedoublearticulationofsectarianismdescribedinthefirstchapter.

Everydaylifehasaspecificrelationshiptocontestationandtheformationofidentitiesin

Northern Ireland. Following the idea that “nothing too commonplace, nor too trivial,

escapesfromhavingthedistinctivemarkofthetimes…throughtheeverydayisrefracted

thespectrumofsociety’sstructuresandvalues,aswellastheindividual’sresponses[to

thosestructuresandvalues]”,theargumenthereisthatattendingtopeople’saccountsof

theirlivescantellussomethingaboutthedoublearticulation;abouthowsectarianism

functionedandabouthowitfelttoliveinBelfastinthe1970sand1980s.92Despitethis,

the history of everyday life remains something of a lacuna in the sprawling

historiography of the conflict,with exceptions largely coming from ethnographic and

91SeeHome,Stewart,TheAssaultonCulture:UtopianCurrentsfromLettrismetoClassWar(Stirling:AKPress,1991),foracritiqueoftheidentificationmadebetweentheavant-gardeintellectualandartisticmovementoftheSituationistInternationalandBritishpunk.92Abrams,LynnandCallumGBrown,‘ConceivingtheEverydayintheTwentiethCentury’,inAHistoryofEverydayLifein20thCenturyScotland,LynnAbramsandCallumGBrown,(eds.)(Edinburgh:EdinburghUniversityPress,2010),p1.

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anthropological traditionsrather thanhistoricalones.93Theuseoforalhistory in this

projectispartlydrivenbyanattempttoaccessnarrativesofeverydaylifeinBelfastin

the1970sand1980s,andalsobyanintuitionthatlisteningtothesenarrativesisaway

ofwritingaboutthedailyactionsandperformancesthatmadeBelfast’ssocialworld.94In

hisworkon theFosseArdeatinemassacreduring theGermanoccupationofRome in

1944,Portelliarguesthatthehistoryofeverydaylifeandthememoryofeverydaylifeis

particularly potent in this context because “historywears a capitalH, and its burden

seemstofrustrateandannihilatetheworkofmemoryortomakeitseemirrelevant.Too

often,historyisafarawaysphere,distantfromthedailylivesofitspeopleoracrushing,

annihilatingweightuponthem”.95TheroleofhistorywithacapitalHissimilarlypotent

in Northern Ireland, meaning the history andmemory of everyday life has a similar

resonance.96

LuisaPasserini,writingaboutfascisminTurin,suggeststhatoralhistoryallowsustosee

symbolic orders as they function in the world and as people negotiate with them –

laughter,forexample,andmakingjokesaboutMussolini’sregime,suggestforherboth

“pragmaticacceptanceofdailycompromisewiththeregimeandrebellionatthesymbolic

level”.97Thisjugglingbetweencompromiseandchallenge,andbetweentheexperiential

and symbolic, is something oral narratives give us some access to – albeit in

reconstructed,rememberedforms.

93SeeforexampleAretxaga,Begoña,ShatteringSilence:Women,NationalismandPoliticalSubjectivityinNorthernIreland(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1997);Healy,Julie,‘LocalityMatters:EthnicSegregationandCommunityConflict—theExperienceofProtestantGirlsinBelfast’,Children&Society20,no.2(1April2006),pp105–15;Curtis,Jennifer,‘“Community”andtheRe-Makingof1970sBelfast’,Ethnos73,no.3(1September2008),pp399–426;oralhistoryprojectshavealsogivenpeopleanopportunitytospeakabouttheireverydaylives–seeforinstanceSmyth,MarieandMarie-ThereseFay,PersonalAccountsfromNorthernIreland’sTroubles:PublicConflict,PrivateLoss(London:PlutoPress,2009)andPiecesofthePast,LivingThroughtheConflict:BelfastOralHistories(Belfast:DúchasArchive,2014).94Kelleher,William,TheTroublesinBallybogoin:MemoryandIdentityinNorthernIreland(AnnArbour:UniversityofMichiganPress,2003),p13.95Portelli,Alessandro,TheOrderhasBeenCarriedOut:History,MemoryandMeaningofaNaziMassacreinRome(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacMillan,2003),p9.96Graham,Brian,andYvonneWhelan,‘TheLegaciesoftheDead:CommemoratingtheTroublesinNorthernIreland’,EnvironmentandPlanningD:SocietyandSpace25,no.3(1June2007),pp476–495;seealsoLane,Karen,‘”Not-TheTroubles”:AnAnthropologicalAnalysisofStoriesofQuotidianLifeinBelfast’,(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofStAndrews,April2017).97Passerini,FascisminPopularMemory,p92.

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Thesecondpointhereisthatoralhistoriesareparticularlyhelpfulwhenthinkingabout

people’severydayinteractionswiththeirspatialworlds.Thisprojectmakessenseofthe

narrativesofformerparticipantsinthepunkscenebydrawingoutthespatialaspectsof

theirstories.Aswitheverydaylife,thisentailsgivingoralsourcesadoublecredence.On

theonehand,theyallowustomakeclaimsaboutthepast–so,forinstance,whenAlison

describespunkasallowinghertotransgresscertainboundariesofwhatwasconsidered

tobeacceptablebehaviourinthesmalltownwhereshelived,wecanextrapolatefrom

thisand fromothersources,notallof themoralhistories, toposit thatadiscourseof

respectabilityexisted inhercommunity thatactedasaconstraintoncertain formsof

behaviourorparticularpractices.Ontheotherhand,theyalsoallowustomakeclaims

abouttherelationshipbetweenthepastandthepresent–Portelliputsitwellwhenhe

argues that “even when [oral sources] do not tell the events as they occurred, the

discrepanciesandtheerrorsarethemselvesevents,cluesfortheworkofdesireandpain

overtime,forthepainfulsearchformeaning”.98

Memoryisimportantintheconstructionofplace–“spatialidentity,basedonfeelingsof

belonging in a place, develops over time as ‘layers of meaning’ and remembered

associationsaccruetoa locationinthecourseofeveryday life”.99 InNorthernIreland,

places are marked through the memorialisation of the conflict, by commemorative

practicessuchastheproductionofmuralsandparading;asShirlowandMurtaghexplain,

this also takes less formal shapes in termsof individualmemories and “discoursesof

shared values, self-worth and identity within segregated spaces”.100 In this context,

listeningtoandforegroundingmemoriesofplaceandmobilitythatchallengedthelogic

ofsegregationincollectiveandindividualwayscan“acttodisruptunproblematicand

one-dimensional accounts of the landscape, reminding us of the importance of the

personalisedandlivedexperienceofindividuals”.101Thewayinwhichmemoriesofthe

citythen,asexperiencedthroughformingpartofthepunkscene,relatetothecitynow,

willbeoneofthethemesofmyanalysis,especiallyinchaptersix.

98Portelli,TheOrder,p16.99Dawson,Graham,‘Trauma,PlaceandthePoliticsofMemory:BloodySunday,Derry,1972–2004’,HistoryWorkshopJournal59,no.1(1March2005),p155.100Shirlow,PeterandBrendanMurtagh,Belfast:Segregation,ViolenceandtheCity(London:PlutoPress,2006),p19.101Riley,Mark,andDavidHarvey,‘TalkingGeography:OnOralHistoryandthePracticeofGeography’,Social&CulturalGeography8,no.3(1June2007),pp345–351.

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Methodology

The final section will outline how my project was developed in line with the

considerationsaboveofculturalmemory,thespecificlineamentsofculturalmemoryin

Northern Ireland, and the use of an interpretive oral history approach. It will also

considerthequestionofrepresentationandrepresentativenesswithintheproject,and

thedecisiontoselectfourspecificinterviewsforanalysisratherthandrawingonallof

them.

IwenttoBelfastinSeptember2015,spendingaroundsixmonthsthereintotal.Inthis

periodIinterviewedtenpeople,aswellasmeetingandspeakingwithotherswhowere

happy to talk but did notwant to be interviewed formally or recorded. I used three

avenuestofindparticipants–postsonexistingpunkheritagewebsites,particularlythe

BelfastPunkHeritageFacebookpage;postersthatIputuparoundthecentreofthecity

in record shops and bars; and pre-existing contacts, not of all ofwhom agreed to be

interviewedbutsomeofwhomputmeintouchwithfriendswhodidwishtotakepartin

theproject.AfterreturningtoBrighton,Icarriedouttwoadditionalintervieweeswith

participantsbasedinEngland,whohadheardabouttheprojectthroughfriends;these

interviews have yet to be transcribed. The interviews themselves were formally

unstructured,apartfrominGarethMullan’scaseinwhichIsentalistofquestionstohim

aheadoftime,athisrequest,asdiscussedinchapterfive.Iofferedtomeetinterviewees

eitherinapublicspaceorintheirhome,andapartfrominthecaseofGareth,JohnTDavis

andBrianYoung,alloftheinterviewstookplaceinpublicspaces.Mostlastedforbetween

anhourandanhourandahalf,althoughsomewereslightly longer.Theinterviewees

wereallgiveninformationsheetsandconsentformsatthebeginningoftheinterview,

anddiscussedbothofthesedocumentswithmebeforeanyrecordingtookplace.102

In termsof representativeness, or thequestionof towhat extent Iwasattempting to

generateaseriesofinterviewsthatwouldaccuratelyreflectthecompositionofthepunk

102SeeAppendixAforcopiesofeachofthesedocumentsaswellasoftheposterusedtosolicitparticipants;seeAppendixCforbiographicalcameosofeachoftheinterviewees.

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sceneinrelationtothecompositionofNorthernIrishsociety,thisissuedidnotforma

major part ofmyplanningwhen soliciting interviews. This lack of initial attention to

ensuringasawidearepresentationofpeopleaspossiblemayhavebeenafactorinthe

relativelysmallnumberofwomeninterviewedinBelfast,asdiscussedintheconclusion;

however, it did not appear to have any impact on the numbers of Protestants and

Catholicsinterviewed.MyassumptionwasthatboththeFacebookpageandtherecord

shops and venues in the centre of town would attract both Catholic and Protestant

visitors, and that friendship networks in the wake of the punk scene would remain

sufficientlymixed to ensure people from both communitieswould participate,which

provedtobethecase;ifonlyProtestantsoronlyCatholicshadrespondedIwouldhave

reconsideredthisapproachduringmysixmonthsoffieldwork.However,myintention

from the outset was to focus on the subjective meanings ascribed to punk in the

narrativesofasmallnumberofinterviewees,ratherthanonthesectariancomposition

of the punk scene itself or on a narrative reconstuction of the events that took place

withinthepunkscene,andinthiscontextIwaslessconcernedwithrepresentativeness

thanwithmakingsurethoseintervieweeswhodidwanttotakepartwerecomfortable

withandinformedabouttheproject.

Whiletherewouldbesomevalueinanattempttogenerateamorerepresentativesample

of participants in the punk scene, such an attempt would be fraught with difficulty,

particularlygiventherelativelyloosenatureoftheaffiliationinquestion–‘havingbeen

apunkbetweenthemid-‘70sandmid-‘80s’isadifferentandlessstablehistoricalstate

than,forinstance,‘havingworkedinaspecificfactoryoveraspecificrangeofyears’.It

wouldalsobedifficulttoassesswhatwouldconstitutearepresentativesamplegiventhe

lackofprimary sourcesor statistics thatwould allowameaningful comparison tobe

made–sowithoutknowinghowmanyProtestants,howmanyCatholicsorhowmany

womentookpartinthepunkscene,figuringouttherepresentativenessofanypossible

sampleofinterviewswouldbechallenging,unlesstherelevantfiguresforyoungpeople

inNorthernIrelandatthetimewereusedasabenchmark,whichwouldformasomewhat

unsatisfactorymetric.Andfinally,asPennySummerfieldpointsout,eveninrelationto

moresharply-definedandwell-documentedhistoricalpositions,representativenessisa

complexcategory.Sheargues:

135

It is not possible to obtain a statistically representative sample of any

populationinthepast.Ifonewantedtointerviewarepresentativesample

oftheworkersataparticularfactoryin1940,forexample,onewouldbe

confronted firstly by the complications of collecting data on the social

profileofalltheworkersatthattime,andthenbythedifficultiesoftracing

thosewhofittedthesamplingcriteria,manyofwhomwouldhavemoved

orchangedtheirnames,andbythedemographicproblemofdifferential

survival rates since 1940. Even supposing a sample could have been

identified,therewouldstillbethedifficultyoftheresearcher’sdependence

onthewillingnessofthosewhomitwaspossibletotrackdown,notjustto

answerquestions,buttodelveintopersonalmemoryandweavewhatthey

foundthereintonarrativeform.103

However, neither the ultimate impossibility of achieving representativeness within a

sampleoforalhistoryinterviewsnortheintendedfocusonthesubjectiveconstruction

ofmeaningwithinasmallnumberof interviewscompletelyexhaustedthequestionof

representationwithinthethesis.Intermsofthechoiceoffourinterviewsanalysedin-

depth below (withAlison Farrell, GarethMullan, PetesyBurns andDamienMcCorry)

thereissomethinglikeanattemptatrepresentativeness,inthatAlisonisawoman,Alison

andGaretharebothfromProtestantbackgroundsandPetesyandDamienarebothfrom

Catholic backgrounds. The decision to select these four interviews in particular was

partlymotiviatedbyadesiretoensurethatasetofcontrastingandvariedexperiencesof

thepunkscenewereincluded.Thisentailssomekindofawarenessofrepresentativeness,

then – the interviews were not simply chosen randomly, or because they cleaved

particularly closely to particular narratives – but not one that entails an empirical

intervention in the historicisation of the punk scene in Northern Ireland through an

argumentaboutthenumberofCatholics,Protestants,menorwomenthattookpartinit.

Myintentioninthisgesturetowardsrepresentativenessistwofold–firstly,tomakethe

minimalempiricalclaimthatProtestantandCatholicmenandwomendemonstrablyall

tookpartinthepunkscene;secondly,tohighlightthedifferentmemoriesandnarratives

103Summerfield,Penny,‘OralHistoryasanAutobiographicalPractice’,Miranda(Vol.12,2016).

136

participants have of the punk scene in relation to their different identifications and

experiences.

AfterreturningtoBrightoninMarch2016,Itranscribedtheinterviewsandbeganthe

analysis.104Mydecisiontoconcentrateonanalysingoneor(inthecaseofchaptersix)

two interviews in depth, rather than reading across the interviews or attempting to

produce a polyvocal narrative or thematic history,was driven by themethodological

imperativesoutlinesintheprevioussectionaswellasbytheconsiderationsexpressed

inthissectionaroundrepresentation.IntermsoftherelationshipbetweenNorthernIrish

culture,punkasastructureoffeeling,andindividualnarratives,itmademoresenseto

concentrateindetailonaninterviewratherthanslicealloftheinterviewsupinsearch

of particular themes; following the example of Lynn Abrams and Daniel James, my

intention is to draw out the entanglement of individual memories in social worlds,

meaningthatwhiletheanalysiswillconcentrateononeortwopeople’snarrativesofthe

punksceneatatimeitwillmovefromthosenarrativestobroaderpointsaboutpunkas

astructureoffeelingandtheculturalmemorydiscoursestheintervieweesengagewith.

Intermsofnarrativetechnique,theintentionissimilar.Givingthenarrativessufficient

spacetobeanalysedindetailmakestheirformalandstylisticelementsmorevisible,thus

allowingforarichersenseofthestructureoffeelingbeingevoked,andthetechniquesof

composureandexpressionutilisedbythenarrators.Italsomakesclearthemovement

between past and present that is characteristic of the oral history interview and of

composure as a concept, by showing how the interviewees move across different

temporalitiesanddifferentsubjectivitieswithinasingleinterview,andhowtheyrelated

theirnarrativestothepresentmomentorthemomentoftelling

Finally, intermsof intersubjectivityandco-construction,analysingtheinterviewsina

situatedwaythatmakescleartheirconditionsofproduction–wherewewere,whatI

asked,thenon-textualcuesandinteractionsthattookplace–ishelpful,andallowsfora

richersenseoftheflowandpatternoftheconversations.

104ItoldintervieweesIwouldbehappytosharetranscriptswiththemiftheywantedtoreadthembeforemakingafinaldecisiononconsent;intheevent,onlyBrianYoungtookmeuponthis.

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The four interviews that were selected were selected partly for the reasons of

representationdiscussedaboveandpartlybecausetheircontentspokemostcloselyto

thethemesthatareofinteresttothethesis.Thismeantthatsixinterviews,notincluding

thetwoconductedonmyreturntoBrighton,werenotselectedforextensivereadingand

insteadused forcontextor foroccasionalcomparison.Tosomeextent this is justified

through the explanation above – the method entails dealing with the interviews in

granulardetailandtodothistoallofthemwouldhaverequiredmoretimeandmore

spacethanwasavailable.Intermsofthedecisiontoleavecertaininterviewsout,those

with John T Davis and Brian Young, while invaluable for developing the historical

narrative,weremorefocusedonspecificaspectsofthepunkscene(John’sdocumentary

ShellshockRock,Brian’sbandRudi)thanonthepunkscenewithineverydaylife,andthus

oflessinteresttothisproject.Theseinterviewsalsotendedtoreproducesomefamiliar

narratives about the scene (from cultural texts such asGoodVibrations), and as such

offeredlessintermsofthinkingabouttherelationshipbetweenpast,presentandculture

within the oral history interview. Sheena’s interviewwas not recorded and thus not

suitable for the approach used on the four analysed below. John, Paul and Hector’s

interviews,while interesting in their own right and potentially useful for the kind of

analysis carried out below, spoke less directly to the themes in which the project is

interestedandwerethereforerelegatedtoasupportingrole;inanylaterpublicationof

thisworkitcouldbepossibletoengagewiththeirnarrativesmorefulsomelyalongwith

thoseofTabithaLewisandClaireShannon.

Conclusion

Themethod of this thesis is interpretative oral history. This is because the collective

memoryofthepunksceneinBelfastismuchricherthanthedocumentaryrecordithas

leftbehind–richerbothinthatitissimplybroaderanddeeper,butalsointhenatureof

whatitcontains.Aformoforalhistorythatisattentivetomemory,ideology,symbolic

structuresandnarrativedevicesas theyemerge in theconstructionof interviewscan

produceinsightsintothemeaningofthepunksceneforitsparticipantsandthenatureof

thepunksceneinBelfastasastructureoffeelingandaculturalformation.Itcanhighlight

theinteractionofexperienceandemotioninnarrativesofthepast;itcanconsiderhow

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different temporalunderstandings inflect thesenarrativesand thebroadernarratives

theyareinconversationwith;andfinally,itcangiveusawayofthinkingaboutthespatial

dimensionsdescribedinthepreviouschapterbythinkingaboutthesocialconstruction

ofplace.

Theanalysespresentedinthefollowingthreechaptersareinductive;thatis,theideas

being drawn on have come out of the interviews andmy writing and analysis is an

attempt to illuminateandextend them.Thisentailsmobilisingdifferent ideas ineach

chapter(mobilityandtransgressioninAlison’sinterview;habitusandhistoricalpractice

in Gareth’s interview; place in Petesy and Damien’s interviews). But these different

practicesandmodesofunderstandingareconnectedbytwoconceptualisationsof the

punkscenethatremainconstantthroughout–thatofpunkasastructureoffeeling,and

thatofpunkassomething thatcannotbeunderstoodoutsideof thespatialpoliticsof

Belfastinthe1970sand1980s.Alison’snarrativeisaboutformsofmovementwithinthat

space;Gareth’sisaboutremainingrelativelystatic,spatially,butalsoaboutchanginghis

relationshiptothespacethroughshiftingdispositionsandformsofhistoricalpractice;

PetesyandDamien’sisabouttheattempttogeneratenewspaces.Allofthenarratives

are descriptions of punk as a structure of feeling, withWilliams’s term used here to

designate“thoseelusive,impalpableformsofsocialconsciousnesswhichareatonceas

evanescent as feelings suggests, but nevertheless display a significant configuration

capturedinthetermstructure”.105

105Eagleton,Terry,Ideology:AnIntroduction(London:Verso,1991),p48.

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CHAPTERFOUR:ALISONFARRELL–EPIPHANYANDTRANSGRESSIONIN

MEMORIESOFTHEPUNKSCENE

Introduction

ThischapteranalysesaninterviewwithAlisonFarrellaboutbeingapunkinbothBelfast

andDungannon to suggest an initialway of conceptualising the punk scene as being

constitutedbyformsofmobilityandtransgression.Takingpartinthepunkscene,Iargue,

gave young people a chance to move and meet across the sectarianised spaces and

institutionsdescribedinthefirstandsecondchapters,andtheformsofmobility(and

constraint)theirmovementmakesvisiblecanhelpindevelopinganunderstandingofthe

spatialpoliticsofNorthernIrelandinthe1970sand1980s.Transgression–thecrossing

ofconceptualormaterialboundaries–isaspecifictypeofmovement,andonethatcomes

throughespeciallyvividlyinAlison’saccountofherinitialengagementinthepunkscene.

Sotheargumenthereisthatdrawingontheoriesofmobilityincludingbutnotlimitedto

those of transgressionwill help usmake sense of one aspect of the punk scene as a

spatialisedstructureoffeeling,inwhichthesocialexperiencesdescribedareintimately

relatedtoanengagementwiththesectarianisedgeographyofNorthernIreland.

InpartiallymovingthefocusherefromBelfasttoDungannon,althoughAlison’snarrative

isnotconfinedtoeitherlocationbutrathermovesacrosseachofthem,itisimportantto

bearinmindthedefinitionofthepunksceneprovidedinchapterone.Thisdefinition,

drawingontheworkofAndyBennettonthesceneperspectiveas“[constituting]afar

broaderandmoredynamicseriesof social relationships than thoseconsidered in the

contextofsubculture”,suggeststhatwecanthinkofthepunksceneasbothaproductof

theinstitutionsaroundwhichitcoheredandthepeopleandrelationshipsthatformedit.1

WhatthatmeansintermsofthisinterviewisthatthefocusonBelfastthroughoutthelast

twochapterswillbesupplementedwithanaccountofAlison’smemoriesofbeingapunk

inDungannon,amid-sizedtowninCountyTyronesome40milesawayfromthecapital

1Bennett,Andy,‘ConsolidatingtheMusicScenesPerspective’,MusicinSociety:TheSociologicalAgenda32,no.3(1June2004),p225.

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city. It goeswithout saying that Northern Irish interest in punkwas not confined to

Belfastinthe1970sandthatmanysmallerconurbationshadtheirownpunkvenuesand

spaces,althoughthesemanifestationswillnotbethefocusofmyanalysishere.Rather,I

willhighlighthowAlison’saccountmakesvisibletherelationalgeographiesofthepunk

sceneinBelfast,itsconnectednesstootherpartsofNorthernIrelandandindeedother

partsoftheworldandtheimportanceofthoseconnections.2This isalsoimportant in

thinkingmorewidelyabouttherelationshipbetweentheruralandtheurbaninNorthern

Ireland,andaboutthewaysinwhichBelfastwasconnectedtotherestoftheprovince

during the period under consideration here, particularly in terms of sectarian

geographies.AshAmindescribestheimperativetothinkrelationallyaboutcitiesas“the

need to work with the multiple registers of urban formation” – considering Alison’s

movementsbetweenandacrossDungannonandBelfastmakesitpossibletoengagein

someofthiswork.3

This chapter also considers the nature of narrative composure in Alison’s account,

describingtwostrategiesthatwillberecuracrossmyinterviewanalyses–thesearethe

epiphinal and the anecdotal, first described in chapter three. These strategies are

analysedfurtherinthefollowingsection.

Theepiphinalandtheanecdotal

Earlyencounterswithpunkaredescribedbymyintervieweesasepiphanic,asgenerative

of a moment of acute self-realisation in which they have a sudden realisation about

themselvesandabouttheirsociety,relatedbothtothemomentoftellingandthemoment

inthepastwheretherealisationispositionedwithinthenarrative.Afurtherelucidation

of this relationship (between self and society) comes from anecdotes, self-contained

2SeeforinstanceAllen,John,DoreenMasseyandAllanCochrane,RethinkingtheRegion(London:Routledge,1998),inwhichtheauthorsarguethatregionsshouldbe“conceivedasaseriesofopen,discontinuousspacesconstitutedbysocialrelationshipswhichstretchacrosstheminavarietyofways”(p9);thepunksceneisbeingunderstoodhereinasimilarwayasaseriesofdiscontinuousspaces,notalloftheminBelfastdespitetheappellationofthe‘Belfastpunkscene’usedinthetitleofthethesisandelsewhere.AgoodexamplecameinmyinterviewwithBrianYoung,whorevealedthatheandStephenPatrickMorrissey(laterfamousunderthenameofMorrisseyastheleadsingerofpost-punkbandTheSmiths)hadbeenpen-palsduringtheearlydaysofpunkinbothBelfastandManchester.SeealsoMassey,Doreen,ForSpace(ThousandOaks:SAGEPublishing,2005).3Amin,Ash,‘Re-thinkingtheUrbanSocial’,City11,no.1(1April2007),p104.

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storiesthatgenerallyendwithapunchlineorapithysummary.InAlison’snarrative,the

epiphanicmomentofencounteringthepunksceneisrelatedtotransgression–epiphany

andtransgressionarebothwaysofthinkingaboutthepassagebetweenonestateand

another,oroneselfandanother.Theanecdotalformisdifferentinthatitpresentsamore

settled or composed self at the centre of the story, and dramatizes this character’s

relationshiptosocietythroughanarrativeaccount.

DanielJames’analysisofanecdoteinhislifehistoryinterviewwithDoñaMaría,aPeronist

and union organiser in an Argentine meat-packing factory, is instructive here.4

ConsideringwhatDoñaMaría’sanecdotesaboutherroleinthefactoryrevealabout“the

psychicandculturalframeworkwithinwhichunionorganisationandactivismoccurred

in thisperiod,” James says: “Anecdotes represent the relationshipof the individual to

dominant socialmodels and attitudes. They express in a synthesised form, on a local

scale, the transgression or acceptance of hegemonic values.”5 They can function as

moralitytalesorfables–storieswithatwist,orastinginthetailthatrevealssomething

ofthenarratorandofthesocialrelationstheyaredescribing.Butunlikeepiphanies,they

relyontheevocationofacomposedandsometimesarchetypalsenseofself,asinLuisa

Passerini’sdescriptionofhowthe‘born-rebel’formisusedtonarratelifeexperiencesof

conflictandcontestationamongworking-classwomeninTurin,forinstanceasawayto

explain and make sense of arguments with supervisors in the workplace.6 It is this

interplaybetweenastableselfandafluidone,andtherelatedinterplaybetweenthepast

andcontemporaryNorthernIreland,thatthesetwonarrativemodesoftheepiphanicand

theanecdotalmakevisible.

InAlison’sinterview,heranecdotesareaboutmobilityandidentity,andhowthesetwo

thingsarerelated.Otherintervieweesalsouseanecdotestoillustratepointsabouttheir

identityandhowthatrelatestowhatJamescalls ‘socialmodelsandattitudes’,butthe

difficultiesandpossibilitiesofmovementaretherecurrentfocalpointofAlison’saccount

specifically. Tim Cresswell, recognising the productive but potentially disorientating

4PeronismwasapopulistArgentinepoliticalmovementthatwasinitiallymobilisedbyJuanPerónintherun-uphisfirstofthreestintsasthePresidentofArgentinain1946.5James,Daniel,DoñaMaría’sStory:LifeHistory,MemoryandPoliticalIdentity(Durham:DukeUniversityPress,2001),p178;p172.6Passerini,Luisa,FascisminPopularMemory:TheCulturalExperienceoftheTurinWorkingClass,trans.RobertLumleyandJudeBloomfield(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2010[1984]),p27.

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widenessofmobilityasatheoreticallens,arguesinhis2006accountoftheconceptthat

what connects different kinds ofmovement, from the cellular to the demographic, is

meaning, or narrative. “Stories aboutmobility, stories that are frequently ideological,

connectbloodcellstostreetpatterns,reproductiontospacetravel.Movementisrarely

justmovement;itcarrieswithittheburdenofmeaninganditisthismeaningthatjumps

scales”,hesays.7Sowecancharta connectionbetweenmobilityandanecdote, in the

samewayaswecanbetweenepiphanyandtransgression;inthisinterview,anecdotes

arestoriesaboutmobilitythatinvestmovementwithmeaning.

ThechapteranalysestheepiphanicpossibilityAlisonattributestoherfirstencounters

withpunkandproceedtoananalysisoftheanecdotesthatfollowthisinitialencounter.

The final sectionwill consider the relationshipof thesenarratives to temporality and

memory,andconcludebyreturningtotheideaofpunkasastructureoffeeling.

“Weweren’tlikepunks…”–settingthescene

MyinterviewwithAlison,inabusycaféclosetoBelfastCityHall,beganwithadisavowal.

Shetoldmethatwhenafriendhadsenthermycallforparticipants,shehadbeenunsure

ifshequalified.Sheexpandedonthisdoubt:

Wellweweren'tlikepunks,like,shavedheadsandMohicansassuch,we

werepunkstowhatwasakindof…we'refromDungannon[laughter]and

punkwasn'tbiginDungannon,itwasn'tbigatall,sotherewereacrowdof

usthatsortofhitthatageatthattime,andweallwentintothattogetherI

suppose,soIsortof,he'd[herfriend]seentheadvertandsaidyoushould

contactthis,OK,andIsaidwhataboutyourself,andhesaidnobecausehe

can'trememberanyofit![laughter].8

7Cresswell,Tim,OntheMove:MobilityintheModernWesternWorld(London:Routledge,2006),pp6-7;seealsoElliot,AnthonyandJohnUrry,MobileLives(London:Routledge,2010);Sheller,Mimi,andJohnUrry,‘TheNewMobilitiesParadigm’,EnvironmentandPlanningA:EconomyandSpace38,no.2(1February2006),pp207–226.8InterviewwithAlisonFarrell,2015.

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Thisadmissionisahelpfulstartingpointforthreereasons.Firstly,itremindsusofthe

loudnessofacertaintransnationalculturalmemoryofpunk,amemoryencompassing

“shavedheadsandMohicans”, theSexPistols,spitting,safety-pinsandsoon,onethat

makesdivergentindividualmemoriesmoredifficulttoexpress.9Alison’sownmemory

differs fromthedominantonebecauseofherage–shebecame interested inpunk in

1980,wellaftertheperiodfrom1976to1978generallytakenasthehighwatermarkof

Britishpunk–andbecauseshewasinNorthernIrelandratherthanLondon,theepicentre

and transmitter of this particular myth.10 As mentioned previously, after becoming

popular slightly later in theprovince than in the restof theUnitedKingdom,punk in

Northern Ireland enjoyed a late flowering thatwould last up until 1982 or 1983. An

interestingeffectofthisrelativelydelayedengagementwithpunkwasthattheboundary

drawn between punk and post-punk in Britain was blurrier across the water.11 The

centralEnglishbandinAlison’saccountareEcho&theBunnymen,Liverpudlianswho

areverymuchpartofthepost-punksceneMarkFisherdescribesasmarkingabreakfrom

“lumpenpunkRandR”,butmostoftheNorthernIrishbandsshementionsmaintaineda

soundandanaestheticindebtedtotheClashandotherexemplarsoffirstwavepunk.12

Thisisareminderoftheneedtomaintainanawarenessofgeographicalandtemporal

differentiationsinthepunkscene,butalsoareminderofthetransnationalnatureofpunk

assomethingthatworkedagainsttheannexationofparticularcultures intoparticular

geographicalsites.Furthermore,itshowshowthesignifiersassociatedwithpunk-ness

shift in connotation in different contexts and under different constraints, a recurring

themeinAlison’sinterview.

Secondly,Alison’semphasisonDungannonisimportantinthecontextofmobilityand

transgression,presaging the importanceof themovementbetweendifferent locations

9See,forinstance,Robinson,Lucy.‘ExhibitionReviewPunk’s40thAnniversary—AnItchySortofHeritage’.TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory,7September2017,Vol39No2,pp309-317;thisisalsoausefultextforthinkingabouthowthisfrictioncanbeproductiveratherthansimplyprescriptive.10Thetensionbetweenpunkasmythandpunkaslivedexperienceiscomparabletothetensionbetweenpersonalmemoriesofthe‘swinging60s’andthepotentculturalmemoryofthisperiodinBritainanalysedhere:Mills,Helena,‘UsingthePersonaltoCritiquethePopular:Women’sMemoriesof1960sYouth’,ContemporaryBritishHistory30,no.4(1October2016),pp463–483.11SeeforexampleFisher,Mark,GhostsofMyLife:WritingsonDepression,HauntologyandLostFutures(London:ZeroBooks,2014);Wilkinson,David,Post-Punk,PoliticsandPleasureinBritain(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2016);theclassicaccountofthepost-punksceneisReynolds,Simon,RipitUpandStartAgain:Post-Punk1978-1984(London:Faber&Faber,2005).12Fisher,GhostsofMyLife,p109.

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(andtheimportanceofmovementwithinthoselocations)inhernarrative.Dungannonis

asmalltowninCountyTyroneabout40milesawayfromBelfast.Thenearbyvillageof

Caledon staged a seminal moment in Northern Ireland’s recent history when young

Nationalist MP Austin Currie squatted a house there in 1967, to draw attention to

discriminatoryhousingpracticesintendedtomaintainelectoraldominanceforUnionist

politicians.13 Dungannon was also the destination of the first civil rights march in

NorthernIreland,whichleftfromCoalislandinCountyTyroneandwalkedtoDungannon

some weeks after Currie’s protest. This march presaged future tensions after it was

confronted and attacked by Ian Paisley’s Ulster Protestant Volunteers, a pattern that

would recurwith later civil rightsdemonstrations.14AlongwithMoy andPortadown,

Dungannonformedanotorious‘murdertriangle’inthe1970s,partlybecauseofitsstatus

asabaseofoperationsforloyalistandrepublicanparamilitaries.15

Alison’snarrativedoesnotexplicitlydescribeanyoftheviolentincidentsthatoccurred

in Dungannon in this period, or the deeper history of discrimination and structural

sectarianism that animated the protests of 1967 and 1968, but they exist as a frame

throughoutaswellasaspectralpresenceinformingthestructureoffeelingshedescribes.

Thisbringsustothethirdrelevantaspectofthequote,Alison’scommentthatalthough

punkwasn’tbiginDungannon,“therewereacrowdofusthatsortofhitthatageatthat

time, and we all went into that together”.16 The sense of collective and generational

sociality hinted at here is an important part of how Alison composes her narrative,

throughreferencetoagroup;theepiphinalmomentisnotindividualbutplural.Thisis

emphasisedby theway inwhichAlisondescribes findingout about theproject, via a

conversationwithafriendwhoinsiststhathermemoryisbetterthanhis,makinghera

moreproductiveinterviewee–someonewhocanremember,butwhoisremembering

notjustforherselfbutonbehalfofothers.Thefollowingsectionwillturntotheepiphinal

momentofpunk,anditsrelationshiptotransgression.

13SeeKeenan-Thomson,Tara,‘FromCo-optoCo-opt:GenderandClassintheEarlyCivilRightsMovement’,TheSixties2,no.2(1December2009),pp207–225,bothforanaccountofCurrie’sstrikeandforanaccountofhowdiscriminatoryhousingpracticesinDungannonwerechallengedbyagroupofworking-class,femaleactivistsinthe1960s.Keenan-Thomsonarguesthatthisactivismwaseventuallyco-optedbythemiddle-classandmale-dominatedCampaignforSocialJustice,aco-optionthatculminatedinCurrie’sattention-grabbingaction.14Bourke,Richard,PeaceinIreland:TheWarofIdeas(London:Pimlico,2012),p63.15Cadwallader,Anne,LethalAllies:BritishCollusioninIreland(Cork:MercierPress,2013).16AF,2015.

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Epiphanyandtransgression

Afterourdiscussionofhowshefoundoutabouttheproject,Alisonexplainedthatshe

hadbecome interested in thepunksceneafter sheandsome friendsauditioned fora

school play in lower-sixth (sowhen shewas 16 or 17). The play represented a rare

opportunityforthestudentsinherall-girl,defactoProtestantschooltominglewiththe

studentsoftheall-boysschoolnearby.“Soweauditionedfortheschoolplayandthrough

thatwemet…boys!Anditjustallsortofcoincidedthattheboysthatwemetwereall

into,theyhadagaragebandandthatsortofthing,sowesortoffellinto,obviouslywe

wereallintothemusicscenebythatpoint,”sheexplained.17

Um,andthat'showit'sallsortof,howwegotintothat.Andagainitalso

was,oneofthefewthingsinDungannonthatcrossedotherdivides.Sonot

onlydidwemeetboys for the first timebutwealso found thatwemet

people fromother schoolswhichdefinitelydidn'thappenat the time in

Dungannon.Anditwasquitehardtofindsomewherethatwecouldmeet.

Sotherewasacaféthatwasnoteveninaneutralplacebutaveryneutral

cafésoweallusedtomeetthere,andthensortofanyofthebands,you

know,therewasacoupleofthebandsformedaroundtownanditdidn't

matter where they played everybody went to see them so we crossed

religiousdivides,allsortsofdivides.Itwasquiteexciting.18

Thisisanepiphanicstoryabouttransgression–aboutcrossingdivides,inAlison’swords.

LynnAbrams,inthe2014paperaboutepiphanyintheoralhistoryinterviewfromwhich

I am taking this concept, describes it as a narrative strategymobilised by a narrator

“attemptingtoalignpastandpresentselves,tomakeasmoothorcoherentstoryfroma

disjointed or incoherent life”.19 In this movement between past and present it is a

techniqueofcomposure,inthedoublesensegiventothistermintheworkofGraham

17AF,2015;seechapteroneforanaccountoftheeducationsysteminNorthernIreland.18Ibid.19Abrams,Lynn,‘LiberatingtheFemaleSelf:Epiphanies,ConflictandCoherenceintheLifeStoriesofPost-WarBritishWomen’,SocialHistory39,no.1(2January2014),p21.

146

Dawson and Alistair Thomson as relating both to the composition of a self and the

compositionofanarrative.20Specifically,theepiphanicmodeisawayofincorporatinga

breakora change in thenarratedself into the interview.Abramssays it allowsus to

identify “moments of acute self-recognition which occur both in the narrator’s life

experience (as a significant event remembered, recounted and used to explain

something)and inthemomentof theoralhistory interview,expressednot just inthe

wordssaidbutinthewaysinwhichthosewordsareexpressed”.21InAlison’snarrative

above,wehave the schoolplayand the subsequent friendships thatemerge fromher

participationintheplay,andtheengagementwiththepunkscenethesefriendshipslead

to,asanexcitingmomentofself-recognitionwhereshebeginstoquestionthestructuring

ofhersocialworld.ForAbrams’interviewees,agroupofBritishwomenwhogrewupin

theyearsfollowingWorldWarTwodrawingoncompetingdiscoursesofliberationand

respectability to construct their identities, the epiphanic moments in the interview

“enabled them to make a bridge in their ownminds between two selves … enabled

womentoshowhowtheymadethetransitiontoamodernfemaleselfhoodthattheynow

inhabit”.22 Similarly, Alison positions her past self as existing within competing

discoursesandinstitutions(school;religion;popularcultureandpunk)andnegotiating

apaththroughthemtonarrateherpresent,composedself.

Thismovementbetweenpastandpresentbecamemoreapparentnear theendof the

interview,whenAlisonreturned to theway inwhichpunkallowedher toexperience

spacedifferentlyinDungannon.Shesaid:

SuddenlyyouhadthisnewthingwhereyouwereneitherRomanCatholic

orProtestantyouwerethisindividualthatlistenedtopunkmusicandthat

suddenly became your label, you were the girl that was seen up town

wearingherpyjamas–cool–thatwasbetterthanbeingsaidthatIwasthe

girlthatwasuptownthatwasaProtestant,inmyview.Andthat'swhatI

did.AndI'mproudofit!23

20Dawson,Graham,SoldierHeroes:BritishAdventure,EmpireandtheImaginingofMasculinities(Hove:PsychologyPress,1994);Thomson,Alistair,AnzacMemories:LivingWiththeLegend(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994).21Ibid.22Ibid.,p35.23AF,2015.

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Hereweseeaveryexplicitconnectionbetweenthethreemomentsofself-recognitionin

the narrative – the pre-punk Alison, who was implicitly conscious of herself as a

ProtestantandassomeoneinterpellatedasaProtestant;thepunkAlison,whocanreject

thisidentificationviathetransgressivemovementofbeing“seenuptownwearingher

pyjamas”,inatellingconflationofpublicandprivate;andtheAlisonwhoistellingthe

storyandwhoisbothmarkedbyherpastactionsandaffectedbythem–proudinthe

finalstory,andexcitedinthepreviousone.Theshiftispremisedonthepossibilitypunk

offeredtotransgresstheboundariesofidentity–“suddenlyyouhadthisnewthingwhere

youwereneitherRomanCatholicorProtestant”–andtochallengetheprocessoftelling

thatpositionedtheyoungAlisonasbelongingtoonepartofthecommunity.AsAbrams

explains,theepiphanicmomentisrelatedtoboththepastandthepresent,orthemoment

of telling. Alison’s vivid recollection of this sudden shift in possibilities upholds this

interpretation.Thelong,excitedsentenceinwhichsheexplainshowpunkallowedherto

resistinterpellationasaProtestantwasfollowedbytwoshorter,summativestatements

–“that’swhatIdid.AndI’mproudofit!”–stampingthenarrativewiththeimprimaturof

composure.

ThisaccountsfortheepiphanicroleofpunkinAlison’sinterview.Transgressionisthe

specificmovement,orthespecificformofmobility,thatrenderspunkepiphanicwithin

the narrative by allowing Alison to cross boundaries and in doing so to challenge

discourses of sectarianism and respectability. Tim Cresswell, in his 1996 book on

transgression,ishelpfulhere.24Heusesthreeexamples–thewomen’sprotestcampat

GreenhamCommonfollowingtheestablishmentofabasefornuclearweaponstherein

1981; graffiti in New York; hippy festivals at Stonehenge – to draw out the idea of

transgressionasapractice“thatservestoforegroundthemappingofideologyontospace

andplace”.25 So, for example, themoral panic around graffiti inNewYork in the late

1970s(andthesubsequentincorporationofgraffitiintothegallerysystemasanexample

of authentic or ‘folk’ art) showhowplace is investedwithmeaning via symbolic and

24Cresswell,Tim.1996.InPlace/OutofPlace:Geography,IdeologyandTransgression(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress).25Ibid.,p9.

148

material struggle – “the meaning of an act (graffiti) is framed within a discourse of

metaphoricalassociation(dirt,obscenityandsoon)”.26

Myproject is less interested in thediscourses that interpretactsof transgressionand

more interested in how people experienced and remember those acts. But it is also

interested in the symbolic order that the experience and memory of spatial activity

reveal. In the context of Alison’s stories about Dungannon, two connected symbolic

ordersseemtocomethrough–thatofsectarianismandthatofrespectability.

SectarianismandrespectabilityinDungannon

The twin structures of sectarianismand respectability are apparent inAlison’s initial

descriptionofthenascentpunksceneinDungannon.Inthenarrativequotedinfullatthe

topof theprevious section, she said: “And again it alsowas, oneof the few things in

Dungannonthatcrossedotherdivides.Sonotonlydidwemeetboysforthefirsttimebut

wealsofoundthatwemetpeoplefromotherschoolswhichdefinitelydidn'thappenat

the time inDungannon.”27As theaccountof segregatededucation in the first chapter

suggested, meeting people from ‘other schools’ is a circumlocutory description of

meetingpeoplefromtheotherreligiouscommunity,orCatholicsinAlison’scase.Bearing

that in mind, this narrative does several things. It claims that both Catholics and

Protestantsparticipatedinthepunkscene;itsuggeststhatthepunksceneallowedboys

and girls to meet in relatively unconstrained circumstances; and by describing the

exceptional – things that “definitely didn’t happen at that time in Dungannon” – it

describes a perceived norm – segregation, the institutionalised maintenance of

segregationthroughtheeducationsystem,andspatialdivision. It isanaccountthat is

attentive toboth the limits of spatial segregation and the limits to transgression as a

spatialpractice, in that theplacewhereAlisonandher friendsmet isdescribedasan

enclave,“acaféthatwasnoteveninaneutralplacebutaveryneutralcafé”.Thenarrative

oftransgression,‘crossingdivides’,questionsaswellasdescribesthenormativeworldof

spatialsegregationin1980sDungannon.28

26Ibid.,p60.27AF,2015.28Cresswell,InPlace,p9.

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In a 2017 paper on the 1994 Loughinisland murders, Mark McGovern makes the

importantpointthatmuchoftheexistingworkonsectarianisminNorthernIrelandhas

focusedonthetwolargestcities intheprovince,BelfastandDerry. It isnecessary,he

claims, towiden the scopeof this research to consider thenatureofdivision in rural

areas.Thesedivisions,whicharenotsimplyaproductoftheconflictbutinmanycases

precede it, are “deeply rooted in a history of colonial conquest, appropriation and

settlement,[and]havealwaysbeenjustasstarkandrealinmanyruralareasoftheNorth,

ifoftenlessvisibletothoseunfamiliarwiththesigns,signalsandlocalsocialknowledge

ofthesectarianhabitus”.29 It is importantthat(while,asIwillsuggestbelow,Alison’s

narrativemovesbetweenBelfastandDungannonandcannotbeeasilydividedbetween

thetwospaces)theepiphinaltransgressiongeneratedbyherengagementwithpunkis

bothinitiallyandprimarilyapparentinruralspaces,wheresheappearstofeeltheweight

ofboththetellingprocessandofanetworkoffamilialrelationshipsmoreheavily.

ThisemphasisonthebordersinruralNorthernIrelandishelpfulpartlybecauseitacts

as an important corrective to the over-emphasis on spectacular manifestations of

sectarianviolenceandplacesthestructuringroleofsectarianismfirmlyineverydaylife.

AllenFeldman’sworkonthesurveillanceofdifferenceinNorthernIrelandasa“scopic

penetration that contaminates private lives and spaces” is useful here, but where

Feldman concentrates on sectarian processes of telling in Belfast, and especially in

interface areas of the city where violence was especially pronounced in the 1970s,

Alison’sdescriptionofDungannonisattentivenotonlytosectariandivisionbutalsoto

othermanifestationsofpowerandboundary-settinginNorthernIreland,partlyinterms

ofgenderandsexuality,athemethatwillbereturnedtoattheendoftheinterview.30

This is especially apparent in her enthusiastic description of the do-it-yourself (DIY)

cultureofmodifyingclothestoproduceapunkaesthetic,aculturethatwasparticularly

29McGovern,Mark,‘“SeeNoEvil”:CollusioninNorthernIreland’.Race&Class58,no.3(1January2017),p55;formoreworkonruralsectarianismseeMurtagh,Brendan,CommunityandConflictinRuralUlster(Coleraine,UniversityofUlster,1999);Kelleher,WilliamF,TheTroublesinBallybogoin:MemoryandIdentityinNorthernIreland(Michigan:UniversityofMichiganPress,2003);Donnan,Hastings,andKirkSimpson,‘SilenceandViolenceamongNorthernIrelandBorderProtestants’,Ethnos72,no.1(1March2007),pp5–28.30Feldman,Allen,‘ViolenceandVision:TheProstheticsandAestheticsofTerror’,PublicCulture10,no.1(1January1997),p27.

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potentinNorthernIrelandgiventherelativedifficultyofbuyingpunkclothingwithout

goingacrossthewatertoLondonorManchester.Shesaid:

Wewould'vehadeveningsinwherewejustsatandfixedclothes,wegota

doctor'scoat,oneofmyfriendswasdoingmedicalscienceandwegota

doctor'scoat,andtie-dyeditbrightfluorescentpinkandsewedafeather

boaontoit…youcouldnotbeseendead…withpurplepixieboots,what

wasItryingto…andamini-skirtsomewhereinthemiddleofit,butyou

know, I thought, I'm cool tonight. So, uh, you were getting jam-jams

[pyjamas]andrippingthemup…31

The free-wheeling, associativewayAlisonspokeabout thisprocessofDIY tailoring is

suggestive, reflecting both the bricolage form of the process itself and the epiphinal

excitementofdressing-upastransgressiveperformance;thesomewhatbashful, ironic

interjections(“whatwasItryingto…youknow,Ithought,I’mcooltonight”)indicatethe

difficulty and thepleasure of describing this excitement after the fact. Another ofmy

interviewees,JohnCallaghanfromwestBelfast,describedthefirstwaveofBelfastpunks

as“worksofart”.32

AndIkindofgotcaughtupinthatforabitofcracksothenextweekin

schoolagainshopping,mybestmateCarsonwhowasafellowpunkatthe

time,we’regoingtohavetogetintothis,sowhatdowedo,whatdopunks

wear,wentthroughthenewspapersandeverything.Sowecameupwith

theslicedt-shirt,thislovelywhitet-shirt,Adidast-shirt,andIjustsliced

hereandpinnedittogether,scribbledthenamesofafewofthebandson

it.Thisisbrilliant,thisismean!Nohairgeloranythingatthetime,noway

ofspikingthehairup,you’dtryandgetitwet,sosomeonesuggestedusing

yourfather’sBryllCream.Whichdidn’tquiteworkbutwetrieditanyway,

justmessedthehairasmuchaspossible.33

31AF,2015.32InterviewwithJohnCallaghan,2016.33Ibid.

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ThepotencyofmodifiedclothingasavehiclefortransgressionwasalludedtoinAlison’s

narrativeaboveofbeingknownasthegirlthatwasseenwearingpyjamasintown,and

returned to throughout the interview. Clothing also provided a space for performing

genderdifferently.

Sowhendescribingtheimportanceofpunkascreatingaspaceforself-recognition,Alison

said:“Themusicsortofcrossedsomanybarriersandwewereallfindingout,wewere

all17or18,wewereallfindingoutanawfullot,youwereformingyourownviewsabout

what itwas like to be inNorthern Ireland at the time.”34 Thiswas a response tomy

questionaboutgenderandbeingagirlinthepunkscene,whichAlisondismissedasa

relativelyunimportantfactorintheself-realisationofferedbypunk.

Thebigthingthatwashappeningaroundyouisthattherewereshootings,

youknow,Dungannonwasfairlybadlyhit.Imeanalltownswere,butthat

would've been a big thing, you know, so you're trying to get your head

aroundwhatside'srightandwhatside iswrong,andforsomebody like

StiffLittleFingerstocomeonandsingBarbedWireLovemadeyoustop

andthink,there'sanalternative–AlternativeUlster,youknow–thatsort

of,thatwasthebigbigthing,moresothangenderissues,butgenderissues

alsocameintothatbecauseyouhadliketheAuPairsandtheSlits,Patti

Smith,womenwerefindingaplace–Toyahwasthere,OK,shewasn'tpunk

reallybutshewasaspunkasIwas–youwerefindingtherewerefemales

coming outwhoweren't like Bucks Fizz females, you couldwear black

leatherandnotbe…youknow,youcouldbewearingblackleatherbecause

youwantedto,youcouldwearrippedtrousers,youcouldwearpyjamas,

basicallyyoucouldwearanything.LikeIworeatututoadiscomadeoutof

aponcho.35

What is interestinghere is themovementbetweenrememberedviolence, subjectivity

andthepoliticsofgender.Alisonremembersthepunksceneasallowinghertotransgress

theboundariesofsectarianismandtheboundariesofrespectablegenderperformance,

34AF,2015.35Ibid.

152

both in terms of wearing outrageous or unusual clothing and in terms of not using

clothingasameansofattractingmen–“youcouldwearblackleatherandnotbe…you

know,youcouldbewearingblackleatherbecauseyouwantedto”,shesaid.TheAuPairs,

theSlitsandPattiSmithprovidemodels for thiskindof transgression.This isagaina

communalprocess:“Wewould'vehadeveningsinwherewejustsatandfixedclothes,

wegotadoctor'scoat,oneofmyfriendswasdoingmedicalscienceandwegotadoctor's

coat,andtie-dieditbrightfluorescentpinkandsewedafeatherboaontoit.”36

ThisdynamicoftransgressionisexpandeduponinAlison’saccountoftravellingfrom

Dungannon to Belfast to see Echo& the Bunnymen,who are the central band in her

accountmuchastheStranglersareinGareth’sandCrassareinPetesy’s.Shesaid:

Yeah,mostpeopleyouknew,therewould'vebeenawholecrowdfrom

Dungannonthatwould'vegonedownthatyou'dhaveknown,therewas

theonesthatwerelike,reallypunk-y–wehadacouplethatgotontothe

localnewsforbeing,youknow,theywouldcarryakettlelikeahandbag

andhadtheirhairalldone,youknow,weweren'tquitethatextreme,we

wereallBunnymenfreakssoweweredifferent,wedidn'tfitinto

DungannonbutIdon'tthinkwewerethatoutrageous.ButIdoknowthat

twoofmyrelativeswould'vewalkedacrossthestreetandpretendedthey

didn'tknowmesomaybeweweremoreoutrageousthatwhatwe

thought,Idon'tknow.

F:Sodiditfeeldifferent,BelfastfromDungannon,intermsof…

A:YouweremoreaccepteddowninBelfast,itwasalotcoolerdownin

Belfast.Youcouldsortofgetawaywithwearingwhatyouwantedin

Belfast.37

ThekindoflookperformedbyAlisonhereisnotonethatfitswiththehegemonicmemory

ofpunk(asentailingaveryspecificimageandstyle)andsocanonlybeexpressedwitha

36Ibid.37Ibid.

153

pre-emptivedisclaimer;butthisdisclaimerisimmediatelyundercutbythepositioning

ofthelookintoaparticulartimeandplace,thatofDungannonin1981,whichisimplicitly

cast as somewhere that rigorously maintained the bounds of decorum through the

boundariesofrespectability–evenifthe‘reallypunk-y’crowdtookthistransgression

furtherthanAlisonandherfriends.Theconversationherealsosuggestsasubterranean

momentofintersubjectivity,inwhich,assomeonewhoisalsofromasmallNorthernIrish

town,IsharewithAlisontherecognitionofjusthowminoradeviationfromthenorms

ofacceptabilityneedstobetomakeanunfavourableimpressioninsmallNorthernIrish

towns. This implicit description of the mechanisms of respectability-maintenance in

DungannonismadeexplicitwhenAlison,havingsuggestedthatherandherfriendswere

notparticularlyoutrageouscomparedtothenewspaper-baitinganticsofsomeoftheir

peers, remembers that “two of my relatives would’ve walked across the street and

pretended theydidn’tknowme”.Theboundarybeing transgressedhere isnotoneof

sectarianism but one of what Beverley Skeggs calls respectability, a discourse that

determines acceptable and unacceptable behaviour through classed and gendered

processesofprescriptionandidentification.38While(asSkeggsshows)thisisadiscourse

that we can chart through Victorian England into contemporary England, it has a

particular resonance in Northern Ireland given the gendered positioning of women

duringandaftertheconflict.

In a context where “the position of Northern Irish women has (…) been profoundly

affectedby (…) (para)militarism; the ideologicaldominanceof constitutionaldebates;

and the limited impact of feminist politics within the province”, Alison’s double

transgression takes on a particular heft.39 Her narrative insists on the primacy of

transgressingsectarianboundaries,but theepiphaniccapacityof this transgression is

alsorelatedtoAlison’sabilitytoperformherfeminityinadifferentmode.Whatisalso

strikinghereistheassociationofBelfastwitharelativecosmopolitanism,asasitewhere

whatFranTonkisscallstheethicsofindifferencemakeiteasiertoperformone’sgender

differentlyandtobelongtoadifferentkindofcommunity,onethatdoesnot fiteasily

38Skeggs,Beverley,FormationsofClass&Gender:BecomingRespectable(ThousandOaks:SAGEPublishing,1997).39Stapleton,Karyn,andJohnWilson,‘ConflictingCategories?Women,ConflictandIdentityinNorthernIreland’,EthnicandRacialStudies37,no.11(19September2014),p2073;seealsoKitchin,Rob,andKarenLysaght,‘SexualCitizenshipinBelfast,NorthernIreland’,Gender,Place&Culture11,no.1(1March2004),pp83–103foralongueduréehistoryofthemanagementofsexualityinNorthernIreland.

154

alongtheCatholic-ProtestantbifurcationdescribedbyAlisonasformativeofherearly

lifeinDungannon.40IfAlison’sengagementwithpunkistheepiphanichingefromwhich

hernarrativeopens,going touniversityandrentinga flat insouthBelfastcreates the

possibilityofmobilisinghernewly-mintedpunkidentityindifferentways.

Fromthecountrytothecity

Alisonwas a punk inDungannonbefore shewas a punk inBelfast.Or perhapsmore

precisely,shewasapunkinDungannonatthesametimeasbeingapunkinBelfast,given

therelativeeasewithwhichshewasabletotravelbetweenthetwolocations,forinstance

bystayinginherolderboyfriend’sflatinthecityaftergoingtogigsthere.Theseplural

andrecursivetrajectoriesareanimportantcorrectivetothesimplisticrendering(visible

inthetitleofmythesis,andelsewhere)ofthe‘Belfastpunkscene’–theinfrastructureof

punk in Belfast made it an especially important site for the performance of punk

identities, but those doing the performing often came from other parts of Northern

IrelandandreturnedtotheirtownsandvillagesaftergigsordaysoutintheCornmarket.

This is evident in Alison’s movement between Dungannon and Belfast. It was also

apparent in a story John Callaghan told me about meeting punks from around the

province.

A couple of times I remember around town just seeing three or four

strangers – what are you doing here lads, where are youse from –

Ballycastle,where’sthat–justyouhadsomethingincommon,theyhadthe

same thing, the same sense of being on the outside, you just hit it off

straightaway.Itwaseasy,itwassoeasytomakefriendsinthosedays.And

thewholethinginthemiddleofabloodycivilwar!Wenttoschoolevery

morning–doanythingat theweekend?– just arseingabout town,who

wereyouwith,acoupleofpunksfromLisburn–youknow,Prods–and

nobodyeversaidanything,somuchbitternessandsectarianismbutyou

nevergotabite.YouknowIjustthrewitoutthere,justtosee!Nevergota

40Tonkiss.Fran,‘TheEthicsofIndifference:CommunityandSolitudeintheCity’.InternationalJournalofCulturalStudies6,no.3(1September2003),pp297–311.

155

biteatall–peopleexpectedthatyouwouldbebehavinglikethataspunks,

youknow.41

John’sdescriptionhighlightsthreethings.Firstly,asdescribed,theneedtothinkabout

thespatialpoliticsofthepunksceneinBelfastasnotbeingsolelyconcernedwiththe

conditions of segregation described in chapter two, but also as incorporating other

trajectoriesfromoutsideofthecity–“Ballycastle,where’sthat”,heremembershimself

saying.Secondly,thestructureof feelingcreatedbypunkasacommoninterest–“the

same sense of being on the outside” felt by young Protestants and Catholics. Lauren

Berlant’sdescriptionofstructuresoffeelingas“affectiveresiduethatconstituteswhatis

sharedamongstrangers”isrelevanthere;John’stouchingmemorythat“itwassoeasyto

makefriendsinthosedays”isahelpfulmarkeroftheintractablesocialitythatconstituted

acentralpartofpunk’sstructureoffeeling.42Finally,theslightlybatheticdeflationatthe

endofthenarrativesuggestssomethingthatwillalsoberelevanttoAlison’saccount.On

theonehand,youhave the “bloodycivilwar”andon theotherhand, John’sdesire to

shock his schoolmates by describing his day out with some ‘Prods’ from Lisburn is

thwarted.Thisisanimportantreminderthatasimplisticrenderingoftherelationship

betweenpunksandtheirsocietyisimpossible–theformulaofpunkasnon-sectarianand

NorthernIrishpeopleingeneralassectariandoesnotholdtogether.Butthemainpoint

Iwanttodrawoutfromhisstoryisthatpunkofferedboththeyoungpeoplehemetfrom

BallycastleandLisburn,andhimandhisfriendsfromamajority-Catholicenclaveofwest

Belfast,adifferentsenseofgeography,ofthepossibilityformovement,apossibilitythat

“isbothmeaningfulandladenwithpower”.43

MobilityinandoutofBelfast

ThispossibilityformovementisalsoapparentinAlison’snarrative.Alisonexplainedthat

shefeltmorecomfortablemarkingherselfoutasdifferentinBelfast.Thisisclearinthe

quoteabovewhereshesuggeststhat“youweremoreaccepteddowninBelfast,itwasa

lotcoolerdowninBelfast.Youcouldsortofgetawaywithwearingwhatyouwantedin

41JC,2016.42Berlant,Lauren,CruelOptimism(Durham:DukeUniversityPress,2011),p194.43Cresswell,OntheMove,p10.

156

Belfast”.44 This was a somewhat startling narrative for me, given the conditions of

segregationandviolenceIdescribedinthesecondchapter,andasalutaryremindernot

toreifythoseconditionsandbearinmindtheirunevendistributionacrossthecityand

acrossthepeopleofthecity.Thisaspectofhernarrativewasfurtherborneoutwhenshe

dismissedmysuggestion thatpassing through the checkpoints setuparound the city

centrewouldhavebeenafrighteningordiscomfitingexperience.“Thatwasnever,you

know,IlivedontheLisburnRoad.IleftDungannonin‘82andcamedowntoBelfast.And

liveduptheLisburnRoadandtherewasneverissuesaslongasyouwerecivilandpolite

I always thought”, she said.45 This is to some extent a marker of her position as a

Protestant university student. Her experiences, as she recognises at points in the

narrative, are those of someone who lived in the relatively safe and relatively non-

sectariansouthBelfastareaaroundtheLisburnroad,whichwasapopularresidential

area for students at the nearby Queen’s University and remains something of an

aberrationintheoverallgeographyofthecitybecauseofitstransientstudentpopulation

andmixtureofProtestantandCatholicresidents.

ButinspiteofthisevocationofBelfastasasafeplaceaslongasyoukeptyourheaddown

andadheredtosomenormsofpolitebehaviour(evenwhilechallengingothers),Alison’s

anecdotesaboutmobilityandmovementsuggestamoreanxiousandequivocalsenseof

the relationship betweenpower, space and violence. The following section, then,will

analyse threeanecdotesaboutmovementandmobility inwhichAlisoncolours in the

shift in self-recognition brought about by the epiphanic, transgressive possibilities

openedupbyherparticipationinthepunkscene.Theseanecdoteshelptodevelopthe

epiphanicmomentbut theyalso trouble its too-neatdistinctionbetweenoneself and

another,bysuggestingboththelimitstotransgressionasaspatialpracticeandthelimits

topunk-nessasanon-sectarianidentity.

Iwillconsiderthethreeanecdotesinsequence.ThefirstinvolvesatriptoBlacklion,a

smallbordertown;thesecondanencounterwithsomepolicemenonthemotorwayout

of Belfast; the third, a journey to London to see Echo and the Bunnymen. Following

Cresswell, theanalysiswill focusonthe“burdenofmeaning”carriedbyeachof these

44AF,2015.45Ibid.

157

stories about movement; following James, the relationship between memory and

composureevidentintheanecdoteformwillalsobebeconsidered.

AcottageinBlacklion

The first anecdote Alison told me about mobility described her and some friends

spending a weekend in Blacklion, a border village on the southern side of the line

separatingCountyCavan,intheRepublicofIreland,fromCountyFermanagh,inthenorth

ofIreland.46Theborderlocationisimportanthereforthedouble-edgedinflectionofthe

narrative. One the one hand – in terms of showing the narrator’s relationship to

establishedvalues–Alison’sstoryofherandher friendsdrunkenlycriss-crossingthe

borderlinerenderstheexistenceofthelinesomewhatabsurd,atacticthatisastapleof

stories aboutborder life and (for instance) theminor acts of smugglingmanypeople

livingontheborderundertook.47Butontheotherhand,thepresenceofanarmypatrol

andtheaccountoftheirbemusedencounterwithagroupofout-of-placepunksgestures

towardsthedarkeredgeofthenarrativeandofthemilitarisationoftheborderlands,as

asitewhereeverydaylife“wasshapedbytheheavymilitarypresenceandthehighlevel

ofparamilitaryviolence”thatexistedinthisareathroughoutthe1970sand1980s.48

Alisonsaid:

So,weallspentaweekendinthishouse,itwasapumpwithrunningwater

andwehadacoupleofradios–soweweregoingtolistentotheradio–

and candles. And that was it. And yet if you look at it now you’ve got

Blacklionontheborderthere[indicatesonthetable]andwewerestaying

somewhereaboutthere,soyoucrossedtheborderabout20times…49

46SeeEdwards,Rodney,‘Brexit:MixedfeelingsinbordervillagesofBlacklionandBelcoo’,TheIrishTimes,June2016,accessedonline:https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/brexit-mixed-feelings-in-border-villages-of-blacklion-and-belcoo-1.2685930,26/3/18,forthereflectionsofsomeresidentsofbothvillagesonthestrangenessofbeingconnectedacrossaborderandthepossibledifficultiesthatBritain’sdeparturefromtheEuropeanUnioncouldcreatefortheeconomicandsocialconnectionsbetweenthetwosmallvillages.47Leary,Peter,UnapprovedRoutes:HistoriesoftheIrishBorder,1922-1972,(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2016),especiallychapterthree.48Nash,Catherine,andBryonieReid,‘BorderCrossings:NewApproachestotheIrishBorder’,IrishStudiesReview18,no.3(1August2010),p276.49AF,2015.

158

Theactualborderbeingtransgressedhereissuggestiveofaparticularpoliticsofplace,

onethatcombinesaperformativeawarenessoftheartificialityofthesplitbetweenthe

northandthesouthofIrelandwithanequallyperformativebravado.Thisismaintained

throughoutthestory,whichcontinuedwithAlisonandherdrunkfriendsbeingstopped

onthewaybackfromthepubbyanarmypatrol.

Itwassortoflike,haveyougotanyproofofidentification…myhandbag

waslikefromoneendofthestreettoanother…‘No,wehaven’t’…andthen

gothroughwhat’syournameagain,whereareyoufrom,andnobodyknew

wewerethereanywaysoitwashilarious.Buttheyletusgo,weweren’t

arrested.50

How does this narrative function to “represent the relationship of the individual to

dominantsocialmodelsandattitudes”,inJames’terms?51Ononelevel,itsuggeststhat

punk as a licence formobility had definite limits – “I couldn't find ID because I was

completelyoutofmytree,welookedallpunk-yandtheyweren'tusedtosortofpunk-y

type people there” – and loses its effect in Blacklion, in an echo of the idea that the

boundariesplaceonbehaviourandmovementaremoresharply-definedinruralpartsof

Northern Ireland,at least inAlison’saccount.But in in termsofcomposure, it turnsa

relatively frighteningmemory intoacomicstory. In termsofmobility, thestorytakes

whatcouldbeabaldstatementofthegeographyoffearandconstraintthatoperatedin

theborderregionofNorthernIrelandinthe1970sand1980s,andcoloursitinthrough

acomicaccountofyouthfultransgression.Theyarenotarrested,butinraisingthatasa

foreclosedpossibilityattheendoftheaccountAlisongivesusatransitorysenseofthe

pervasiveanxietyofeveryday lifeandofmobility inNorthernIreland in thisperiod–

especially of “delinquent mobility” that refuses the imposition of the static, or that

attemptstomoveinwaysthatthestateisuncomfortablewithbecauseofitsfluidityand

intractability.52

50Ibid.51James,DoñaMaría,p172.52deCerteau,Michel,ThePracticeofEverydayLife:VolumeOne,trans.StevenRendall(Berkeley,UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1988),p130.

159

DrivingtoPortrush

Thisentanglingofanxietyandhumour,typicaloftheformofanecdote-drivennarrative

composuredescribedbyJames,isalsopresentinAlison’saccountofbeingstoppedby

thepolicewhendrivingtoPortrush fromBelfast.Portrush isaseasideresort town in

CountyAntrim,closertoDerrythanitistoBelfast.Anencounterwiththepolicewould

havebeenfrighteninganyway–Alisonnotedinpassingthatshewasfarmorefrightened

ofthepolicethanofthearmy,althoughunfortunatelywedidnotdiscusswhythatwould

bethecase.53Inthisinstancethesituationwasfreightedwithfurtheranxietybecause

theyhadsomefreshly-pickedmushroomsofindeterminatestatusinthebackofthecar,

although Alison was at pains to point out that they turned out to not in fact be

hallucinogenic.

Thepoliceputtheirheadinyouknow,whereareyougoing,whereareyou

from, all that, so my friend P, so she said [her full name], Dungannon,

address,andaskedme,AlisonFarrell,Dungannon,gavemyaddress,put

yourheadintothebackandBsaidthathisnamewas…usedtoplayfor

Liverpool… really famous…KennyDaglish!We sat in the front sort of

goingwhythefuckdidhejustdothis.SotheyaskedChisnameandhesaid

Jean-JacquesBurnell…what the fuck are these twoat, because the last

thingwewantedwastobetakenoutofthecar,wejustwantedtogeton

ourwayandmakesomemushroomsoup.54

Aftertheboyswindthepoliceupsomemore–“So,'whereareyoufromMrDaglish',and

hesaid'OhI'mfromAnfieldRoad,Liverpool'…andthemorethatthiswentonthemore

they did thewholewinding up thing…” – they’re allowed to go on their way. Alison

deflates the animation she displayed in recounting this story by summarising the

situationasa“closeshave”.55Again,theoveralltoneiscomic.Atthelevelofanecdotewe

havebothanactthatworksagainstthestate’sattemptstoconstrainparticularformsof

53SeechapteroneforanaccountofpoliceharassmentofyoungpeopleinNorthernIreland.54AF,2015.IhaveabbreviatedthenamesofAlison’sfriendsinthisaccount.KennyDaglishwasacelebratedcentre-forwardwhoplayedfootballforLiverpoolandScotland;Jean-JacquesBurnellwasamemberoftheStranglers;AnfieldisthehomestadiumofLiverpoolFC.55Ibid.

160

mobilityandthesublimatingofpotentiallydisruptivenarrativeelementssuchasfearor

dangerintoapunchlinethatemphasisesthelimitstotheseconstraintsandhelpssustain

theessentiallypositivemoodofAlison’soverallstoryofpunkasepiphany.Intermsof

theperformanceofthestory,thereisasensethatthiswasafrighteningexperience,and

itisnotablethatinthisstory(comingafterthepreviousone)thereisasenseofthepolice

asamalignandfrighteningforce–“wewerestoppedbythepolice–thatwasworse,you

hatedbeingstoppedbythepolice”.56

IntermsofmobilitythesetwostoriesdescribeAlisonandherfriendsonthemove–to

ruralBlacklion,onthemotorwaytoPortrush–andindescribingthattrajectoryshowthe

rules and practices of surveillance thatmark out its accepted boundaries. “While the

boundedterritoriesofplannersimposestructureandorderontheworld,theabilityto

movethrough,within,andbetweenthesespacesconstitutesakindofalmost-freewill,”

suggestsCresswell.57Thatfinalclauseisimportant–themovingfiguresinAlison’sstories

areonlyalmost-free,pushingagainsttheboundsofacceptedmobilityinNorthernIreland

intheearly1980swhilestillconstrainedbythem.Thisseemslikeanimportantelement

ofthestructureoffeelingwearelookingfor.BenHighmore,writingaboutthepost-punk

sceneinLondonin1981,describestheatmosphereas“asolidairofenergy,anxietyand

somethingelse,somethingthatalsoseemedtobeeruptingandmakingholesinreality”–

this interplaybetweenenergy,anxietyandthepossibilityofmakingholes inreality is

comparabletowhatisgoingoninAlison’sanecdotesaboutmobility.58

Hitch-hikingtoLondon

A final story about hitch-hiking from Belfast to London (via ferry) offers another

illustration of punk’s status in Alison’s narrative as ametaphorical passport offering

licencefornewkindsofmobility.“Wegotover…wehitcheddowntotheferryinLarne

andthenwehitchedfromStranraerthewholewaydowntoseetheBunnymengig,”she

said.59TheythenwaitedoutsidetheBBCstudiostomeettheDJJohnPeel,whoseevening

56Ibid.57Cresswell,OntheMove,2006,p213.58BenHighmore,CulturalFeelings:Mood,MediationandCulturalPolitics(London:Routledge,2017),p131.59AF,2015.

161

showonRadioOnewasafixtureofandimportanttaste-makerinthepunkandpost-punk

scenes.Hitch-hikingisaformoftransgressivemobilityparexcellence,onethatconjures

upaparticularculturalimaginarythat(asinthestoriesabove)involvesbothanxietyand

freedom.This isnotreallydrawnout inthestory, though,whichwasashortoneand

mainlyconcentratesontheexcitementofmeetingPeel.

Shesaid:

IcanrememberthenightheplayedBillyBraggandyousatupandwent

[sitsboltupright]whatwasthat,youknow!Itwassuchaninfluentialpart

ofyournightbecause therewasn't socialmediaorstuff,you listened to

JohnPeeltoknowwhatwasgoingon[…]Anditwassortof…youknew

thatyouweren'tjustthislittleisolateddotinBelfastanymore,JohnPeel

knowswhoIam!Not.60

Themobilityattestedtohereisslightlydifferentthanthatoftheprevioustwonarratives,

in that it ismorepoeticormetaphorical thanmaterialorspatial.Existingaspartofa

transnationalimaginedcommunityofpunksandpost-punks–afeelingthatisheightened

by having actually met John Peel when visiting London – allows Alison to exist in a

structureoffeelingthatextendsoutsideofNorthernIreland,onethatmeanssheisn’tjust

“thislittleisolateddotinBelfast”.Thisismobilityasthepossibilityofjoiningyourselfup

with other parts of theworld – London,Manchester, New York – and of feeling that

possibility as freeing, even while remaining bounded by the material and social

constraintsoflifeinBelfastin1982.

PunkasstructureoffeelinginAlison’snarrative

Through Alison’s account, then, we can sense something of the structure of feeling

constituted by the punk scene in Belfast. It is equivocal, ambivalent, describing the

capacity punk offered her to transgress the boundaries of respectability and

transgression,andthenewtypesofmobilitythistransgressionmadepossible,butalso

60Ibid.

162

describingtheexistenceofthoseboundariesandtheanxiousawarenessofviolencethat

existalongsidethepossibilityforself-inventionandfreedom.Thisanxious,knottedsense

ofimaginativefreedomisacentralcomponentofwhatisbeingdescribedhereaspunk’s

structureoffeeling.61

Thesummativemomentsfromneartheendoftheinterviewreinforcethisclaim.Here,

Alisonbothseesher teenageself fromtheperspectiveofherselfasanadult,andalso

attemptstorelatetheexperiencesofherteenageselftotheexperiencesofherdaughter,

inacomplicatedengagementwithtemporalitythatistypicaloftheoralhistoryinterview

asaformandsuggestiveofthewaysinwhichthesenarrativescanhelpusthinkabout

therelationshipofthepasttothepresent.First,shesaid:

Ourparentswereverygood…tolerant,yes…andagainhadalottocope

withveryquickly.NowI'maparent,andlookingbacktheyhadtocopewith

aboyfriend,theyhadtocopewithachangeinclothes,achangeinattitude,

thiscrazythingaboutwritingquotesalloverthebedroom,um,youknow,

havingbeensortofgoingtoanall-girlsschoolandbeingquiteconservative

I suppose and suddenly going in to wearing these outrageous clothes,

havingbluehairattimes,theycopedwithit,andtheycopedquitewell.My

mumwasneverkeenonmestayinginBelfastbutIthinkthatwasmoreto

do with boyfriends than security. I think so. [Laughter] And I know

certainlyifmydaughtersdidaquarterofthethingsIknowIdid,wewould

notbe…62

Thisisacomplicatednarrativeinthatitworksacrossthreedimensions–Alisonseesher

parents’tolerantresponsetoheradolescentmobilityandtransgressionthroughthelens

ofherrelationshipwithherdaughter,whileadmittingthatshemightnotbeastolerant

of such transgressions on the part of her daughter. This account involves a kind of

boundary-marking between then and now, one that is performed alongside a subtle

awarenessoftheartificialnatureofthoseboundaries.Asinthestoriesdiscussedabove,

61SeeNgai,Sianne,UglyFeelings(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,2005),p3,foranaccountofhowtoread“difficultemotions”as“unusuallyknottedorcondensed‘interpretationsofpredicaments’–thatis,assignsthatrendersocialproblemsvisibleandaffective.62AF,2015.

163

Alison’sdissectionofparentalrelationshipslinkstheimposedstructuresofrespectability

with the way in which violence and the threat of violence shaped everyday life in

NorthernIreland–“mymumwasneverkeenonmestayinginBelfastbutIthinkthatwas

moretodowithboyfriendsthansecurity.Ithinkso.”63

Afinalexampleofthistriangulationbetweenpast,presentandfuturecameneartheend

oftheinterview,whenwediscussedtheTerriHooleybiopicGoodVibrations.64Inmany

ofmy interviews,as the followingtwochapterswilldiscuss, the filmfunctionedasan

exemplary site of memory. Interviewees responded to it in complex ways, often

combining a thrill of recognitionwith a less easily-expressed feeling of uneasiness, a

sensethatthenarrativecomposureofthefilmtendedtowardsanelisionofthemessiness

oftheirownstories.65InAlison’scase,thiswasdrawnoutinaparticularlyinteresting

way because the film functioned as a way to discuss the past with one of her two

daughters.Thequoteisalongonebut,becauseofitscomplexity,worthconsideringin

full.

Butwatchingthefilm[…][oneofmydaughters]watcheditandfoundit

hilariousandshewanted to talkabout theMiamiShowband [shooting],

andexplainingtoher…she'sinterestedenoughinhistorytoknowthatit

waswrongandyouknow, 'Canyourememberthatmummy?',andthere

areseveralinstancesthatIrememberthatmademesitinmybedroomand

crymyheartout,youknow,youcouldnotcomethroughtheTroublesand

notcry,youknow,you just,youcouldnotbehuman.Andtherearestill

incidencesthathauntmeforwantofabetterword,Isupposemusicsortof

helped,youknow,forgetaboutit.SowetalkedabouttheMiamiShowband

and I saidyou'vegot tounderstand […] , youknow,Dungannonwas so

different and Northern Irelandwas so different and this brought us all

63Ibid.64D’sa,LisaBarrosandGlenLeyburn,GoodVibrations(London:UniversalPicturesUK,2012).65So,forinstance,Garethwasproudthathewasaskedtoprovidesomemusicforthefilmbutcriticalofitstoo-neatnarrative;Petesy,similarly,waspleasedtohavehadasmallpartinthefilmbutquestioneditsfocusonTerriHooleyratherthanonthegrass-rootsformationofthescene;Johnsaid:“Ifounditreallyemotionaltobehonest.Justrightattheendtheyshowedpictures.Iknewacoupleofpeopleinit,notgreatfriendsbutjustpartofthebigfraternity,acoupleofthemaredead,youknowwhatImean,JesusChristwasthatreally30-oddyearsago.”(GM,2015;PB,2016;JC,2016).

164

together.Itbroughtustoasafeplace,nowshewouldbequiteyouknow,

quiteafewofherfriends,Ithinkyoungpeoplehavethisweirdthingabout

sexualityanyway,Ithinkyouhavetosortof…thisfluidityaboutsexuality

…butherfriendstendtobefluidmoreonewaythantheother[Ithinkthis

meansthatherfriendsaremostlygay].ButIdon'tknow,theyjustdon't

seemtohavethisthingaboutsayingifthey'reheterosexualorhomosexual,

theyjustsortoffluidaboutitallthetime,whichIthinkiscool,butIsortof

say…yourfriends,youknow,everybodyacceptsthatnow…growingup

youwere Roman Catholic or youwere Protestant, thatwas it, it didn't

matter,thatwasitbottomline.66

This is a dense story, bringing together the various narrative strands that have been

unspooledthroughoutAlison’sinterview–itwasoneofourfinalexchanges.Itsuggests,

firstly, the capacity of Good Vibrations to act as a prompt for the transmission of

intergenerationalmemory,bridgingtheyearsbetweenmotheranddaughterbymaking

Northern Ireland’s history tangible, if not quite comprehensible. Watching the film

togethercreatesaspaceforwhatAnnetteKuhncallsmemorywork.Thefilmitselfisnot

a repository of memory in the same way that a photograph album is, for instance,

althoughitdoesfinishwithacollageofphotographsofthepunkscenethatprompted

emotional recollections from some of my interviewees, as in John’s account in the

footnoteonthepreviouspage.But itsstatusas“an instrumentofsocialperformance”

thatsanctionsparticular“kindsoftalk[and]modesoftelling”issimilartothatofthebook

ofoldfamilysnapshotsdescribedbyKuhn.67

Alison andher daughter talked about theMiami ShowbandMassacre, a 1975 loyalist

killinginwhichthreemusicianswereshotbytheUVF,possiblywiththecollusionofthe

RoyalUlsterConstabulary.68Thespaceopenedupbywatchingthefilmmakestheviolent

pastsayable,butitdoesnotmakeitcomprehensible–Alisonsays“wetalkedaboutthe

MiamiShowbandandIsaidyou'vegottounderstand[…],youknow,Dungannonwasso

66AF,2015.67Kuhn,Annette,‘MemoryTextsandMemoryWork:PerformancesofMemoryinandwithVisualMedia’,MemoryStudies3,no.4(2August2010),p304;seealsoKuhn,Annette,FamilySecrets:ActsofMemoryandImagination(London:Verso,2002).68Travers,StephenandNeilFetherstonhaugh,TheMiamiShowbandMassacre:ASurvivor’sSearchfortheTruth(London:HodderHeadline,2007).

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differentandNorthernIrelandwassodifferent”.Theincommensurablegapbetweenpast

andpresent isreaffirmedhere inbothapositiveandanegativeway;that is,Alisonis

insistentthatthereisafundamentaldifferencebetweenpastandpresent,butcannotfind

awaytoexpresstoherdaughterthecontoursofthatfundamentallydifferentperiod.

This flash of discomposure is heightened through Alison’s admission that “there are

severalinstancesthatIrememberthatmademesitinmybedroomandcrymyheartout,

youknow,youcouldnotcomethroughtheTroublesandnotcry,youknow,youjust,you

could not be human”. We see here two limits – both of the punk scene’s tactics,

transgressionsandmobilitiesasmodesofdealingwiththedifficultyofeverydaylifein

NorthernIreland,ofbringingAlisonandherfriendstoa“safespace”,andoftheepiphinal

rolepunkplaysinstructuringtheselfaspresentedintheinterview,asAlisonaccedesto

theunsettlingpresenceofmemoriesthatdonotfitwithinthisnarrativestrategy.Music,

shesuggests,allowedhertoforgetaboutthematerialconditionsofexistencein1970s

and1980sNorthernIreland,butrememberedviolenceexistsatthemarginsofthestory

andthestructureoffeelingwithinthestory.

Finally, there isanapparentdigressionattheendof thenarrativeasAlisondescribes

changingattitudestosexualityamongyoungpeopleinNorthernIreland,beforemaking

anapparentlyobliquecomparisontoherownchildhood–“growingupyouwereRoman

CatholicoryouwereProtestant,thatwasit,itdidn'tmatter,thatwasitbottomline”.In

themomentoftheinterviewIfoundmyselfsomewhatblindsidedbythischangeoftack,

and did not quite graspAlison’smeaning.On reflection, this seems like ameaningful

anacoluthon, a “breakdown of grammar or syntax that is oftenmistakenly treated as

thoughitsmanifestationrevealsnothingaboutlanguage”.69Alisonismakingaconnection

herebetweenherdaughters’ friends’desirenottobeplaced intoabinarycategoryof

sexuality(straight/gay)andherowndesirenottobereadasaProtestant,oras‘not-a-

Catholic’.Thisalsoservestodrawtogetherthedifferentboundariessheseesherselfas

transgressingasayoungwoman–thoseofsectarianismbutalsothoseofrespectability.

Earlier in the interview, shehaddescribedgoing to theOrpheus, abar frequentedby

punksbutbetter-knownasavenueforBelfast’ssmallgayscene.Alisonsaid:

69Mieszkowski,Jan,‘Who’sAfraidofAnacoluthon?’,MLN124,no.3(2009),p648.

166

Andagain,itwasn'teventodowith….Twoofmyfriendsweregayatthe

time,well,theystillare,butitwassortofagainjust,crossingallboundaries.

Likethesmellofpoppersasyouwalkedinwouldhaveabsolutelyblown

yourheadoff,itwasdisgusting,um,yeah,so,itwassortoflike…70

Hereandintheconversationwithherdaughterrememberedabove,wegetasenseofthe

complexityofpunkasstructureoffeelinganditsrelationshiptoNorthernIrelandthen

andnow.

Conclusion

ThischapterhasanalysedaninterviewwithAlisonFarrelltoarguesheremembersher

engagementinthepunksceneasanepiphanicmoment.ForAlison,thisepiphanyrelates

tohowbeingapunkchangedherrelationshiptosectarianisedspaceinDungannonand

Belfast. In her narrative, developing a punk identity within these spaces entailed a

newfound capacity for transgression.This capacitydoesnot erase the architectureof

surveillance and control she describes, or the “sediment of history” that makes

sectarianismmanifestineverydaylife,butitdoesallowhertonegotiatetheboundaries

in a new and exciting way.71 It is notable, also, that the idea of respectability and

discoursesaroundrespectablebehaviouraregenerativeofboundarieshere,ratherthan

justthesectariandivide;asdiscussedinchapterone,onefacetofthestructureoffeeling

within thepunkscene canbeunderstoodasa rejectionof traditionalismaswell as a

rejectionofsectarianism.

After outlining the epiphanic moment in the narrative, I drew out three of Alison’s

memoriesaboutmobilityandthepunkscene.Inthese–oneaboutgoingtoatowncalled

BlacklionontheborderbetweenCavanandFermanagh,oneaboutgettingstoppedbythe

police while driving and one about visiting London to see Echo & The Bunnymen. I

describedthesememoriesasanecdotes,suggestingthatDanielJames’theorisationofthe

70AF,2015. 71Burton,Frank,ThePoliticsofLegitimacy:StrugglesinaBelfastCommunity(London:Routledge&KeganPaul,1978),p49.

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anecdoteasawayofachievingnarrativecomposureandofrelatingindividualnarratives

to social discourses is helpful in understanding what these memories suggest about

Alison’s description and memory of punk in Northern Ireland. Alison’s memories of

movement, I argued, show that the capacity for transgression generated by her

engagementwiththepunkscenedidnotentirelyelidetheanxiousandtroublingaspects

ofmobilitytheanecdotesreveal.

Inconclusion, I considered twoof thesummativemoments in the interview, inwhich

Alison described her parents’ response to punk and her own discussions with her

children about Northern Ireland’s violent history. These reflective and thoughtful

considerations, I suggested, bring the structure of feeling of the Belfast punk scene

forwardintoAlison’ssenseofcontemporaryNorthernIrelandandthewayinwhichitis

stillshapedbyelementsofthepast.

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CHAPTERFIVE:GARETHMULLAN–HABITUSANDSTORYTELLINGINMEMORIESOFTHEPUNKSCENE

Introduction

IthinkitwasbecauseitdefinitelyaffectedthewayIlookatthings.Idon’t,

youknow,youdon’tpre-judgeasmuch.Ithink,notthatIeverwasthatbad,

it’shardtoexplain.Likethere’ssomuchcreativestuffwenton,notthatI

wasinanywaypartofthat,butallthealltogetheritwasawholemish-

mashofthingscomingtogetherandthewayyoulookatlifeandtheway

you look at things, it definitely helped my political views not to be as

judgementalandyouknowdon’tjudgeabookbythecover,gettoknow

someonebeforeyoubrandishthem,butIwasalreadyaweebitlikethat

anywaytobehonestbutitjustsortofunderlineditandstrengthenedthat

aspect.1

MyinterviewwithGarethMullantookplaceinhisflat insouthBelfast.Hisflat isvery

closetothehouseinwhichhegrewup,justofftheUpperLisburnRoadtowardsBalmoral

andMusgraveParkHospital.ThefirstthingInoticedinhistidy,sparely-furnishedliving

roomwasalongglasscabinetunderneaththetelevision,packedneatlywithhundredsof

records;thesecondwasabookshelf,similarlypackedwithbooks.Irecognisedsomeof

the spines,particularly the fewbooksaboutpunk inNorthern Ireland that Iwasalso

familiarwith – Terri Hooley’s autobiography, the collaborative A-Z of Northern Irish

punk,ItMakesYouWanttoSpit–andothersaboutpunkinEngland.Duringmyinitial

emailconversationwithhim,Garethhadexpresseddoubtsabouthisusefulnessforthe

project,andmorespecificallyaboutthehistoricityofhisexperienceofthepunkscene.

Hesaidthathehadonlybeena fan,someonewhoattendedgigsandenjoyedhimself.

Furthermore,hesuggestedthatthenarrativesofpeoplewhoplayedamorepublicrole

inthecreationofthescene(byrecordingmusicormakingfanzines,forinstance)would

havemoreinnatehistoricalvalue.Thistendencytoundervaluethehistoricityofone’s

experienceshasbeenremarkeduponasan important factor inshapingoralhistories,

1InterviewwithGarethMullan,2015.

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particularly through theways inwhich “class, race and ethnicity… create significant

differencesinhowwerememberandtellourlives”.2

InGareth’scase,thisuncertaintyledtoasomewhatself-criticalnarrativeabouthisyoung

self,whichemphasisedhisrelativepassivityasayoungmancaughtupinthepunkscene.

Thisnarrativewascounterbalanced,though,byasenseofhisolderself’sroleascollector

and storyteller – as someonewhowas there andwhounderstandspunk inNorthern

Ireland as part of what is being described here as a particular structure of feeling.

AlthoughquestionsoftransgressionandmobilitybothfigureinGareth’saccount,they

arelessprominentthantheyareinAlison’s–rather,heconcentratesontheelementsof

cultural (or, following Sarah Thornton’s reading of Bourdieu) subcultural capital

developedbyhisinvolvementinthepunkscene.3Butwhatultimatelycomesfromthe

narrativeasunderstoodhereisastoryaboutthedevelopmentofasetofdispositions

within a particular habitus, more than a story about the accumulation of cultural or

subculturalcapital,anditisthislensthatwillbeusedtoanalysetheinterview.

Thechapterisdividedintotwosections,relatingtothetwonarrativestrandsdescribed

above.ItfirstconcentratesonGareth’searlylifeandhisyouthfulengagementinthepunk

scene,beforemovingontohisaccountofhowherelatestothepunkscenenow,especially

as a collectorof recordsandotherparaphernalia.The logichere isnot chronological.

Rather, the twosectionsare intended to informoneanother.The firstwill showhow

Gareth’s identification of himself as punk relates to his feeling of displacement and

uncertaintyasayoungman fromaworking-classbackgroundgoing toamiddle-class

school, and how this can bemade sense of through Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the

“embodied history” that generates an individual’s habitus. Gareth describes his

involvement in the punk scene as changing his modes of thought and his modes of

behaviour,fromthelevelofgestureandstancetothelevelofattitudes,expectationsand

behaviour.4AnexampleoftheeffectofpunkonGarethisapparentinthequotethatopens

2Sangster,Joan,‘TellingOurStories:FeministDebatesandthePracticeofOralHistory’,inTheOralHistoryReader,AlistairThomsonandRobertPerks(eds.)(London:Routledge,2003),p89.3Thornton,Sarah,ClubCultures:Music,MediaandSubculturalCapital(Middletown:WesleyanUniversityPress,1996);BourdieuusestheconceptofcapitalmostproductivelyinBourdieu,Pierre,Distinction:ASocialCritiqueoftheJudgementofTaste,trans.RichardNice(London:Routledge,2010).4Bourdieu,Pierre,TheLogicofPractice,trans.RichardNice(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1990),p56.

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thechapter:“Itwasawholemish-mashofthingscomingtogetherandthewayyoulook

atlifeandthewayyoulookatthings…Iwasalreadyaweebitlikethatanywaytobe

honestbutit justsortofunderlineditandstrengthenedthataspect.”5Engaginginthe

punk scene, Gareth suggested, changed the way in which he perceived Belfast and

Northern Ireland during the conflict, encouraging him to look at things in a different

light.6

In following this strandofGareth’s story, Iwill drawon theworkof sociologists and

anthropologistswhouseBourdieutothinkabouthowthisprocessfunctionsingroups

that are smaller than the national, class-based groups that tend to interest Bourdieu

himself–soamonggreenactivists inNewYorkwho take food fromskips inorder to

reducetheirenvironmentalimpact,oramongboxersinasmallgyminanimpoverished

neighbourhoodofChicago,forexample.7ThisworkwillallowmetosuggestthatGareth’s

accountofhisimmersionintopunkgeneratedadifferentsetofdispositionsthathelped

resolvetheout-of-placenesshefeltasayoungerman.

ThesecondsectionofthechapterwillconsiderthetensioncreatedbyusingBourdieu’s

concept of habitus in an oral history project. Habitus is not just embodied history,

according to Bourdieu’s use of the concept – it is “embodied history, internalized as

secondnatureandso forgottenashistory”.8 InchartingGareth’sunderstandingofhis

ownroleasahistorianofthepunksceneandhowthisallowshimtomakesenseofhis

youthful experiences, this section will unpack Bourdieu’s argument about forgotten

historyandshowhowGarethisabletonarrateaspectsofhispast.9Itwillsuggestthatas

5GM,2015.6SeeBourdieu,Pierre,TheLogicofPractice,trans.RichardNice(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1990)pp60-64,foranaccountofhowahabitusistheproductofbothobjectiveconditionsandtheindividuallife-courseofeachperson,andforanaccountofhowthehabitusismaintainedthroughitsroleindeterminingactionsandstrategiesthataredecideduponbasedonone’spastexperiences.7ThetwotextsreferredtohereareBarnard,AlexV,‘MakingtheCity“SecondNature”:Freegan“DumpsterDivers”andtheMaterialityofMorality’,AmericanJournalofSociology121,no.4(1January2016),pp1017–1050andWacquant,Loïc,Body&Soul:NotebooksofanApprenticeBoxer(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2007).8Bourdieu,TheLogic,p56.9DespitetheemphasisinTheLogicofPracticeonhabitusassomethingthatcanonlybeobserved(ratherthandescribed,ornarrated,bythosewithinit),thereissomethingofanambivalenceinBourdieu’soverallbodyofworktotheuseofinterviewmaterial.Hereliesespeciallyheavilyonthiskindofmaterialinhissprawlingco-producedbookontheexperienceofpoverty,TheWeightoftheWorld–Bourdieu,Pierre,TheWeightoftheWorld:SocialSufferinginContemporarySociety,trans.SimonPleasance,FronzaWoodsandMathieuCopeland(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1993).Forahelpfulaccountofthis

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a form of historical practice, Gareth’smemorialising of the punk scene serves both a

privateandapublicpurpose–thatis,itisbothaformofself-representationandaway

ofrepresentingthematerialandsocialprocessesoftherecentpast.Again,LynnAbrams’

notion of epiphany is useful here, but arguably the epiphanicmoments occur at two

differentpointsinthisnarrative–notonlywithGareth’sinitialinvolvementinthepunk

scene,butalsowiththeprocessofmemorialising,collectingandpublicisingthescene,

andwithchartingtheantecedentsofthescene,thatGarethdiscoversashegetsolder.10

CatherineNash’sessayonlocalhistoricalpracticesinNorthernIrelandarguesthatthey

“suggestamorecomplexpictureofhistoricalknowledge,interestandpracticethanthat

contained within the image of two violently destructive, intense and permanently

irreconcilableperspectivesonthepast”.11ItisinthiscontextthatGareth’saccounthasa

specificallypublic-facingaffect,asaformoflocalhistory.

Thehistory-makingpracticesdescribedbyNashabove,andthehistory-makingpractices

describedbyHenryGlassieinhisaccountoffolkloreintheruralFermanaghvillageof

Ballymenone,suggestthattherearenon-eliteandextra-statepracticesofremembering

and narrativising history that complicate Bourdieu’s schema of habitus as embodied

history.12Likeoralhistory,thiskindofsubalternpublichistory–althoughitshouldnot

beunderstoodasoperatingoutsideofassemblagesofpoweranddiscourse–doesallow

individualstoproducereflexiveaccountsofthewayinwhichtheyworkinhistoryand

history works in them, even if the subterranean, dispositional layers of habitus this

generatesarenotalwaysexplicitlypresentwithinnarrativeaccountsof thepast.This

relationshipwillbediscussedinmoredetailbelow.

Field,habitusanddispositions

ambivalenceseeBarrett,Timothy,‘StoryingBourdieu:FragmentsTowardaBourdieusianApproachto“LifeHistories”’,InternationalJournalofQualitativeMethods14,no.5(9December2015);foranexemplaryuseofBourdieualongsidecriticalethnographicresearchseeLeaney,Sarah,LocatedLives:AnEthnographicRepresentationofPeopleandPlaceonaBritishCouncilEstate(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofSussex,May2016).10Abrams,Lynn,‘LiberatingtheFemaleSelf:Epiphanies,ConflictandCoherenceintheLifeStoriesofPost-WarBritishWomen’,SocialHistory39,no.1(2January2014),pp14–35.11Nash,Catherine,‘LocalHistoriesinNorthernIreland’,HistoryWorkshopJournal60,no.1(1October2005),p49.12Glassie,Henry,PassingtheTimeinBallymenone:CultureandHistoryofanUlsterCommunity(Bloomington&Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1995).

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PierreBourdieu’s theory of habitus is an account of how individuals internalise their

cultural, social and material worlds in ways that structure their perception and

appreciation of thoseworlds. The habitus is the corpus of embodied and conceptual

behavioursandattitudes(whichBourdieucallsdispositions)thataregeneratedthrough

this interaction – that is, the interaction between individual lifecourse and objective

structuresandconditions.Thisprocesstakesplaceacrosscertainfields–soeducation,

forexample,butalsothefamily,theworkplaceandsoon.

LoïcWacquant’s 2016 genealogy of habitus emphasises its origin in Bourdieu’s early

workoncolonialAlgeriaandrural,post-warFrance.13Concentratingonthegestationof

Bourdieu’s project in conflictual spaces andhistories serves apurpose inWacquant’s

pugnacious account anddefenceof the concept.He insists thathabitus shouldnotbe

understoodasexclusivelyatheoryofthereproductionofpowerinsocialfields,andthat

it isnotasteelcage inwhichactorsare locked incyclesofbehaviouranddisposition

whichcannotbebroken.14Elaborating,Wacquantstates:“Habitusisneverthereplicaof

a single social structure, since it is amultilayered and dynamic set of schemata that

records,storesandprolongstheinfluenceofthediversesetofenvironmentssuccessively

traversedduringone’sexistence.”15Inhisreading,itisawayofthinkingaboutthesocial

intheindividualandtheindividualinthesocial,“thewaysinwhichthesociosymbolic

structures of society become deposited inside persons in the form of lasting

dispositions.”16 Because the depositing of this sociosymbolic residue takes place over

time, it is an intimately historical process that produces (and is produced by) both

individualandcollectivepractices.Bourdieuexplainsthatit“ensurestheactivepresence

ofpastexperiences,which…tendtoguaranteethe ‘correctness’ofpracticesandtheir

constancyovertime,morereliablythanallformalrulesandexplicitnorms”.17Becauseit

encompassesboththesocialandtheindividualitislayeredwithboththespecificandthe

general.Onecanspeakcoherentlyofamasculinehabitus,butalsoofahabituscorrelating

13Wacquant,Loïc,‘AConciseGenealogyandAnatomyofHabitus’,TheSociologicalReview64,no.1(25February2016),pp64–72.14See,forinstance,RichardJenkins,whoargues:“Giventheclose,reproductivelinkbetweenthesubjectivitiesofthehabitusandtheobjectivityofthesocialworlditisdifficultnottoperceivethemasboundtogetherinaclosedfeedbackloop,eachconfirmingtheother.”Jenkins,Richard,PierreBourdieu(London:Routledge,2002),p82.15Wacquant,‘AConciseGenealogy’,p68.16Ibid.,p65.17Bourdieu,TheLogic,p54.

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withaspecificinstitution–acarceralhabitus,oraneducationalhabitus.Eachofthese

entailsasetofdispositions,performedwithinaparticularfield.

Sodispositionsaretheembodiedwayinwhichweengagewiththeworld,bothphysically

and through thought, planning and perception; the habitus is the sum of these

dispositions; the field is thesetting inwhichtheseengagements takeplace.Tohavea

habitusistoknowtherulesofthegameintuitively–tounderstandhowtoactincertain

situations in the ‘correct’way.Some fieldsaremoreautonomous thanothers–so for

instance“inmuchofBourdieu’sresearch…theintellectualfieldofuniversityeducation

[inFrance]isconceptualisedasafieldwithahighdegreeofautonomyinthatitgenerates

itsownvaluesandbehaviouralimperativesthatarerelativelyindependentfromforces

emergingfromtheeconomicandpoliticalfields”.18InGareth’snarrative,hedevelopsa

habitusthroughthewaysinwhichbeingapunkchangeshisdispositionswithinthefield

of thepunkscene. Importantly, thisemergesalongsidehisexperienceofgoing froma

working-class childhood to a middle-class school and the subjective discomfort this

movement creates – in Bourdieusian terms, the emergence of a habitus clivéor cleft

habitus in which someone feels discomfited following a jarring experience of social

mobility.19

Community,placeandschool

GarethdescribeshimselfasBelfast“bornandbred”,andspecificallyasbeingfromthe

intersectionofthreesmallresidentialareasofftheUpperLisburnRoadinthesouthof

thecity–PrioryPark,SicilyParkandLocksleyPark.20Hisaccountofthisareaintheearly

18Naidoo,Rajani,‘FieldsandInstitutionalStrategy:BourdieuontheRelationshipbetweenHigherEducation,InequalityandSociety’,BritishJournalofSociologyofEducation25,no.4(1September2004),pp457–471.Thefieldorchampistheleastsatisfyingaspectofthistriptychofideasforme–particularlyinlightoftheworkdoneinchaptertwoofthisthesis,itisdifficulttoascertainthedistinctionbetweenconceptualfields(asintheexampleoftheuniversitysector,whichisnotonesitebutaheterogeneousbundleofsiteswithasharedsuperstructureandethos)andspatialfields(so,forexample,theboxinggyminWacqaunt’swork,whichisaveryspecificplaceandimportantlysituatedinanimpoverished,majority-blackneighbourhoodofChicago).InthecontextofGareth’snarrative,‘thepunkscene’isgivenacertainconceptualandspatialunitythatmeansitworksasfieldinthecontextofBourdieu’swork;thisseemstoholdthethreetermstogethersufficientlyfortheanalysistocohere.19Friedman,Sam,‘HabitusClivéandtheEmotionalImprintofSocialMobility’,TheSociologicalReview64,no.1(1February2016),pp129–147.20GM,2015.

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tomid-70s intertwinesquestionsofclassandsectarianism.Thehouseshegrewup in

wereterraces,withhisparents’houseborderedononesidebyhisgrandparents,andon

theotherbyhisgreat-auntandgreat-uncle.Hedescribesthemas“wee,asIsaytwo-up

two-down,onefireplace,poorcomparedtotherestofthepeopleonthestreet”.21Despite

thisinitialsuggestionofclassanxiety–whichwillbecomeexplicitinhisrecountingofhis

schoolexperiences–theareaisnevertheless“aweebitofanoasis…alittlebitofanoasis

ofmixedcommunity,mynext-doorneighbourswereCatholic,youknowProtestantsand

Catholicswehadbonfiresonthestreetandweallcollected,youknowwewereallkids

playing together”.22 This sense of separateness and its concomitant sense of hostile

outskirtswhichare“sectarian,youknow,hardcore,Taughmona,WhiteCity”servesasa

narrativepreparationforhisbaptismintothepunkscene–“therewasnorealsectarian

upbringingformebecausewehadProtestantandCatholic friends,sothewholepunk

thingwasjustnatural formethen, inthatway”.23Inthissense,thehabitusofpunkis

linked to his childhood experiences and an aversion to sectarianism is narrated as a

natural,domestically-inculcateddispositionforGareth.Buttheaccountalsoworksasa

temporalmarkerwithinthe interviewfor theshift thatcomesaboutthroughgoingto

school,whichhasbothnegativeandpositiveeffects.

Firstly,educationburststheprelapsarianbubbleofchildhoodpresentedinthispartof

thenarrative.24

It’sjustthatIwasisolatedfromit[theviolencegoingoninneighbouring

areas],butthenitall,whenitdidblowupbigstyleandweallgotabitolder

I mean my Catholic friends went to a Catholic school and I went to a

Protestant school and you just never saw each other. I don’tmean you

neversaweachotheragain,yousaweachotheratnightandstuff,playing

footballinthestreet,butitwasdifferentthen.25

21Ibid.22Ibid.23Ibid.24It’sworthnotingherethatthissharpdichotomybetweenapre-conflictandpost-conflictBelfastissomethingofanarrativetropeinautobiographicalaccountsoftheconflict.25GM,2015.

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Thisdifferenceisapparentintheenforcedcodificationofsegregatededucationandin

theincreasedpoliticalawarenessofhisadolescence,bothofwhichcontributetotheend

ofinnocencedescribedinGareth’saccountofhisearlychildhood.

Wheneveryouwereintroducingfriendsfromschooltoyourfriendsfrom

home,youfeltaweebit,wellIfeltaweebitintimidatedbysomeoftheir

friends. And I don’t knowwhether they felt the samebut itwas a peer

pressurething,youknowyouhadto…it’snotthatyouhadto…again,I

wastooyoungtobeinoneoftheTartanGangs.26

Having been too young to take part in the street violence of the early 70s, Gareth’s

separateness from the sectariannexus of southBelfast is confirmedwhenhe goes to

Methodyafterprimaryschool,makinghimonlythesecondpersononhisstreettogoto

agrammarschool. IfFinaghyPrimary is thesitewhereGareth’s senseofhimselfasa

Protestantisconfirmed,Methodybecomesthesiteinthenarrativewherehissenseof

himselfasworking-classisconfirmed,andwherethatdifferencebecomesaspurtowards

inthegenerationofpunk-nessashabitus.

Methodyandfeelingoutofplace“Methodywouldn’tbecalled, itwasn’tahardschoolbyanymeans.But formeasyou

knowrealworking-classfamilygoinginto,Iwasafishoutofwater…GoingintoMethody

wasjustatotalcultureshockforme.”27Methody(orMethodistCollegeBelfast,asit is

formallybutnotpopularlynamed)isaninterdenominationalandcoeducationalschool,

26GM,2015.SeeGarethMulvenna’scomprehensive2016accountoftheformation,attitudesandpoliticisationoftheTartanGangsformoredetailsonthisyouthsubculture.Thegangs,associatedwiththeirresidentialareasandcomposedofworking-classProtestants,hadtheirrootsinstreetviolenceandfootballhooliganism.InMulvenna’saccount,thisconcoction–relativelyfamiliartoyoungpeopleinBritishcitiesinthe‘70s–isrendereddistinctfromitsBritishcounterpartsfrom1972onwards,asitbecomesinstrumentalisedasatoolofloyalistviolencethroughassociationwithparamilitarygroups,mainlytheUlsterDefenceAssociation,theUlsterVolunteerForce,andtheRedHandCommandoes.Mulvenna,Gareth,TartanGangsandParamilitaries:TheLoyalistBacklash(Liverpool:LiverpoolUniversityPress,2016).27GM,2016;thereisaneataleatoryconnectionherebetweenGareth’sphrasingandBourdieuandWacquant’s1992accountofhabitus–“whenhabitusencountersasocialworldofwhichitisaproduct,itislikea‘fishinwater’:itdoesnotfeeltheweightofthewater,andittakestheworldaboutitselfforgranted”.SeeBourdieu,PierreandLoïcWacquant,AnInvitationtoReflexiveSociology(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1992),p127.

176

foundedin1865.ItisonthesouthsideofthecityclosetoQueen’sUniversityBelfast,with

aleafy,Edwardiancampusandaprestigiousreputationforbothsportingandacademic

achievements. Gareth’s sense of disorientation in this environment manifested itself

throughafeelingthattherewereanewsetofcodesinplacethathedidnotunderstand,

exemplifiedbythefactthatrugby,ratherthanfootball,wastheprimarysportingactivity

encouragedamongthestudents.28

Aweebitofclass,youknowyoudefinitelynoticedthat…wellIfeltthatI

wasaweebit,whoareallthesekids,Ifeltpoorerthanthem,Ifelt–Ididn’t

knowrugby!–it’sabigrugbyschool.[Thisis]aweebitAmericanisedbut

itwaslikeajockculture…GoingintothereIjustdidn’thaveaclue.Ireally

didfeellikeafishoutofwater.29

Therepeatedsimilehere–a fishoutofwater–recalls thebucolicdescriptionofpre-

school childhood innorthBelfast asa small, isolatedpond that existedoutsideof the

sectarianflowselsewhereinthecity. ItalsoemphasisesGareth’sunderstandingofhis

ownpassivityasateenager,onethatiscontrastedinthenarrativewithhisengagement

withthehistoryofthepunksceneasanadult.

Thedislocationanddisorientationofbeingeducated inamiddle-class institutionasa

working-classpersonhasbeenmuch-discussed,althoughnotinthespecificcontextof

Northern Ireland.Aclassic textremainsRichardHoggart’sTheUsesofLiteracy,which

anatomisestheexperienceofthe‘scholarshipboy’,existing“atthefriction-pointoftwo

cultures” and not entirely comfortable within either.30 This may be a slightly ironic

evocationinthiscontext,however,givenHoggart’scritiqueof‘Americanised’working-

classculture’svapidityandtherolethatpunkplaysinGareth’snarrative.Garethsays:

“AndIjustdidn’tclickinthere[Methody]eitherandIthinkthat’salso,that’swhatsortof

droppedme into the punk thing. It was like the disenfranchised youth, the outsider,

28SeechapteroneforanaccountoftheroleofsportinNorthernIrishsociety;briefly,rugbyisalargelymiddle-classandProtestantsportwherefootballispopularwithworking-classProtestantsandCatholics.29GM,2015.30Hoggart,Richard,TheUsesofLiteracy(London:Penguin,2009[1957]),p243.ForanoverviewofthisliteratureseeLeMahieu,D.L,‘“ScholarshipBoys”inTwilight:TheMemoirsofSixHumanistsinPost-IndustrialBritain’,JournalofBritishStudies53,no.4(2014),pp1011–1031;foraNorthernIrishexampleofthegenreseeBoyd,John,OutofMyClass(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,1985).

177

always felt that, you know.”31 There is something here of the adoption of readymade

archetypesinnarrativisingexperience,analysedbyLuisaPasseriniinherearlyworkon

popularmemoryandItalianfascism.Thefigureofpunkasoutsideriscomparabletothe

‘bornrebel’stereotypePasseriniidentifiesinsomeofherinterviewees’narratives.32In

herwork,thespecificallygenderedelementofthisstereotypeiscrucial,becauseitserves

“asameansofexpressingproblemsofidentityinthecontextofasocialorderoppressive

of women, [and] also of transmitting awareness of oppression and a sense of

otherness”.33 In Gareth’s narrative, the archetype is redolent of a male tradition of

outsiders–fromJamesDeantoJoeStrummer–butitalsoexpressesaproblemofidentity,

andthecomplicatednexusofrelationsformedbyclass,religiousbackgroundandgender

in1970sBelfast.

Another way of thinking about the relationship between these identities and the

institutionsthattheyareconnectedtoandmouldedbycomesfromBourdieu’snotionof

habitus,particularlyaselucidatedbyhisformerstudentLoïcWacquantinBody&Soul.34

BothAlisonandGarethidentifyschoolasalocusofpower,asaninstitutionthatinhibits

forms of identity and inculcates other forms of identity – forAlison this is related to

respectabilityandthefamilyaswellastoherProtestantism,whileforGareththeunease

caused by school is related to class, as described above. Punk is epiphanic in both

narratives.Wheretheiraccountsdifferisthewayinwhichtheyresistthisinculcation.In

her interview,Alisonwidensherboundariesthroughaseriesofmovements, fromthe

country to thecity, and fromrespectability topunk-ness,whichentail the crossingof

symbolic and material borders. Gareth, on the other hand, presents his epiphany as

entailingaformofself-work–astheadoptionofasetofgenerativepracticeswithina

socialcontextthatformahabitus,onethatcontinuestoinfluencehissenseofhimselfin

the present, or at least for the duration of the interview. Thinking about these two

narrativestrands(punkastransgression;punkasformativeofahabitus)together–that

is,notcomparingorcontrastingthem,butkeepingbothinmind–isuseful,inthatithelps

understand punk in Belfast as a set of practices and cultural forms that were

31GM,2015.32Passerini,Luisa,FascisminPopularMemory:TheCulturalExperienceoftheTurinWorkingClass,trans.RobertLumleyandJudeBloomfield(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2010[1987]),p25.33Ibid.,p26.34Wacquant,Body&Soul.

178

simultaneously reactive and generative, imbricated in power and reaching towards

resistance.Importantly,bothtransgressionandhabitusareaffective,embodied,spatial

concepts,framesofunderstandingthathelpusthinkaboutthebodyinspace,aswellas

aboutthetemporalandnarrativetechniquesusedinAlisonandGareth’sinterviews.

Punk,sectarianismandhabitus

Garethwas16whenhegotintopunk,meaninghe’dbeenastudentatMethodyforaround

fouryears.Hesaid:

IknowadefinitivemomentwasseeingtheStranglersonTopofthePops.

GoBuddyGo,andthenextdaythewholeschoolwastalkingaboutit.There

wasagroupof–bythatstageyouknowyou’dmadealliancesinschooland

againitwastheoutsider,youknow,nottherugbyplayingones.35

Hisself-identificationasanoutsiderisrepeatedhere,butimmediatelytransformedinto

aself-identificationthathasapositiveratherthananegativeconnotation,throughthe

definitivemomentofseeingtheStranglersplayontelevisionandbeingabletodiscuss

the performance in school. So, seeing a punk band on Top of the Pops (a band, the

Stranglers,thatwouldgoontoprovethefoundationuponwhichhisidentityasapunk

was built and that he remained extremely invested in) is the first move towards

establishinghimselfascomfortablewithintheschool.BeverleySkeggs,callingforause

ofBourdieu thatgoesbeyond thedichotomybetweendominant (middle-class)values

andresidual(working-class)valuestorecognisethatthelatterdoesnotsolelycreatea

habituspredicatedonlackorexclusion,isusefulhere.Shesays:

Wealsoneedtobeabletounderstandthehabitusofrecalcitrance,ofnon-

belonging,ofno-caring,thosewhorefusetomakeavirtueoutofnecessity,

the [fuck] off and ‘so what’ of utterances, the radical emptiness of the

habitus.36

35GM,2015. 36Skeggs,Beverley,‘Exchange,ValueandAffect:Bourdieuand“theSelf”’,TheSociologicalReview52,no.s2(6April2005),p89.

179

Gareth’snewfoundcapacitytofindpleasureratherthanpaininbeinganoutsidermarks

thedevelopmentinhisnarrativeofadifferentkindofhabitus.

The secondmove involves an encounterwithwhat Gareth calls “a higher echelon of

society”,whenanencounterwithanotherschoolboyallowshimandsomeotherfriends

toformaband,albeitsomewhathalf-heartedly.37

Theylivedinabighousethathadbigatticrooms,hehadtwobrothersand

eachofthemhadanatticroom,andhehadanatticroom–hewasallowed

tobringhismatesin[…]Weusedtogogetacarryout[NorthernIrishslang

fordrinksboughtfromanoff-licence]andgouptohisbedroomandthen

thatbecameallthepunkpicturesrounditandlisteningtorecordsupin

there[…]Ithinkwedidtrytoformaband[…]sothatwasquitefunny,we

actuallyhadanameandallaswell.WecalledourselvesBacteria.38

Inalow-keyway,thisaccountspeakstothecomplicatedclasscompositionofpunk,one

thatisnotapparentin,forinstance,DickHebidge’sclassictextTheMeaningofStyle.39On

amacrolevel,facilitatorsofthepunkscene–TerriHooleyinBelfast,MalcomMcLarenin

London–usedcapital,nousandcontactstoarrangegigsandhelpcreatethebeginnings

ofaculturalinfrastructure,theconditionsofpossibility;onamicrolevel,bandsneeded

money for instruments and space to practice, something more readily available for

middle class adolescents. On the narrative level, it is the second stage in Gareth’s

engagementwithapunkhabitus, inwhichhisdiscomfortwith the “higherechelonof

society”heencountersatMethodyisreplacedbyasenseofsocialityengenderedthrough

shareddispositionsandthematerialephemeraofpunk–recordsandpicturestornout

ofmusicmagazines.

Thebandnevermakes it out of thebedroomor the garage, butGareth’s affiliation is

confirmedwhenheplanstogototheStranglersgigattheUlsterHallin1977,askinghis

37GM,2015.38Ibid.39Hebidge,Dick,Subculture:TheMeaningofStyle(London:Routledge,1979).

180

mum to help himbuy some suitable clothes – namely, drainpipe corduroy jeans.Our

discussionofclothingledintoanotherdigressiononthedualitybetweenschoolandthe

outsideworld,andthefuzzylinebetweenthosetwofields.

Talkingaboutthewayyoudressedaswell,becauseyouwereatagrammar

schooltherewasthatbitofa,yousortofnearlyhadtohavetwo,youknow,

Icouldn’tdresslikeapunkatschool,gettingdetentionandeverything.[F:

You’vegottowearablazerandthat?][Inaudible]…collegesocks,butyou

didhaveyourownsortofprivatewee,you’dputyourtiestraightinstead

ofhavingthebig[makesknottinggesturearoundhisnecktoindicatethe

topknotinatie],andwearingDMsandyouknow…40

Theperformanceofhabitusisn’talwaysovert–unlike,forinstance,therebelliousyoung

meninPaulWillis’sstudyofadolescentresistanceLearningtoLabour,Garethattempts

tokeephispunk-nesssimultaneouslypresentandprivateinschool,performedbutina

minorkey.41AlexBarnard,inhis2016accountofhabitusamongfreegansinNewYork,

describes how their engagement with the material world (through finding food in

dumpstersorturningdiscardeditemsintousefulones)“[givesthem]asenseofplacein

theurbanenvironmentevenasitdeepenedtheirsenseofbeingoutofplaceintheir[non-

freegan]socialmilieu”.42Similarly,MichaelO’Reganinhisethnographyofhabitusand

clothingamongbackpackersinNepaldescribeshow“dressbecomesademonstrationof

belonging,oftravelexperiences,ofconfidenceandauthorityaswellasausefulvehicleto

demonstratedistinction.”43Thisdynamicbetweenbeingin-placeandout-of-place,and

thewayitrelatestoboththeformalrulesofschoolandtheinformalrulesofthepunk

habitus,isaclearindicationofthewaypunkfunctionsinGareth’snarrativeassomething

thatallowshimtonegotiatediscomfitingandunfamiliarspaces.

From favourite bands to clothes and gigs, we moved on to records, the crucial final

componentofsealinghispositionwithinapunkhabitusinGareth’saccount.

40GM,2015.41Willis,Paul,LearningtoLabour:HowWorking-ClassKidsgetWorking-ClassJobs(Farnham:Ashgate,2000).42Barnard,‘MakingtheCity’,2016,p1040.43O’Regan,Michael,‘ABackpackerHabitus:TheBodyandDress,EmbodimentandtheSelf’,AnnalsofLeisureResearch19,no.3(2July2016),p343.

181

You started going into Good Vibes and they had the singles, the punk

singlesupandimports[…]startedgoingintherebecauseofsecond-hand

recordsandyouwereseeing,excuseme,seeingthepeople,andthenBig

Timewas out, and itwas playing in the shop,what the fuck’s that, you

know,Rudi,ohmygodthat’s,ahhbrilliant,youknow.Andthenyouwere

startingtogetintothelocalscene,theOutcasts[…]Youknowyouwerejust

sortoflearningthesethingsasyouwentalong.44

Herewehaveaforegroundingoftheeducationalordidacticelementofpunkfandom,the

way in which familiarity with the scene is developed in an apparently aleatory way

throughchanceencountersandoverheardrecords,‘learningthingsasyouwentalong’.

ThefactthatbuyingrecordsoccupiesacentralplaceinGareth’saccountisanimportant

wayofcentringhisnarrativeandgeneratingcontinuityofselfwithinthenarrative–as

explainedabove,Garethremainsacollectorofrecordsandotherdocumentsofthepunk

scene, even buying back some of the albums he had originally owned but sold as a

youngerman.Crucially,though,thisstoryentailshimnotjustlearningmoreaboutthe

Britishorlocalpunksceneasadevelopmentofculturalcapital,butshowsawaylearning

abouthowtobehavewithinthatscene,thedispositions,attitudesandinteractionsthat

cometogethertoformapunkhabitus.45Ifrecordshopsareasitewherethisisformed

and friendships create a space for anotherwayof practicing this habitus, it is at gigs

whereitfindsitsidealfieldandthespaceforitsmostobviousexpression,asGarethgoes

ontoexplain.

His firstconcert(theStranglers,whoplayedBelfast inSeptember1978afterhavinga

plannedgiginSeptember1977cancelled)isanotherepiphanicmomentinthenarrative,

eventhoughhemakesadealwithhismotherthatifheistobeallowedtostayoutafter

elevenheandhisfriendshavetositinthebalconyoftheUlsterHallratherthanstand

44GM,2015.45Arguably,thisalsopointstooneoftheproblemswithSarahThornton’sattractivelycynicalmobilisationofBourdieu’sworktoanalysethemechanismsofdistinctionsheperceivesin‘90sclubculture,inwhich“thesociallogicofthesedistinctionsissuchthatitmakessensetodiscussthemasformsofsubculturalcapital,ormeansbywhichyoungpeoplenegotiateandaccumulatestatuswithintheirsocialworlds”–seeThornton,ClubCultures,1995,p249.TheeconomicmetaphoricssheshareswithBourdieuonlygosofar,becausecultureisexperiencedandnotsimplyaccumulated.

182

withthecrowdinfrontofthestage.46Intheevent,thisprovestobeanidealvantagepoint

forthegig.

ThewholefaçadeoftheUlsterHallwasjustcracking,theplasterwasfalling

downontotheonesbelow,itwasjustsoamazing,itreallywas,andthen

the stage got invaded at the end – there’s a picture in [Belfast punk

anthology] ItMakesYouWant toSpitofBurnellplayingamongall these

kids.AndImeanI’mlookingatitthinkingI’myoungtobehereandthere’s

fuckingweekidsuponthestage!47

Theideaofpunkasclaimingofspace–thedifferentrelationshippunkallowedyoung

people tohavewith space– is apparenthere in the cracking façadeof the somewhat

dilapidatedmonumenttomiddle-class,ProtestanttastefulnessthatistheUlsterHall;this

facetofthepunkscene’sspatialstructureoffeelingwillbeconsideredfurtherinchapter

six. Gareth’s ability to negotiate with parental authority as he attempts to navigate

constraintsonhismobilityechoAlison’saccountofmobilityandtransgressionasmade

possiblebyherinvolvementinpunk.Temporally,thisanecdotemakesinterestinguseof

thephotographofthegig,seenyearsafterwardswhenthebookispublishedin2002,as

a punctum that opens a way into thinking about age and adolescence. Several times

throughouttheinterview,Garethalludestohisfeelingofbeingtooyoungforthepunk

scene as a feeling that has been challenged or at least reassessed through his adult

awarenessofhowmanyveryyoungpeoplewereinvolvedinthescene.Thiswillingness

to interrogate his former self from his adult position is an interesting facet of his

engagementinakindofhistoricalpracticearoundpunk,whichwillbediscussedfurther

below.

Forthissection,however,ofmostinterestistherelationshipofthisnarrativetoapunk

habitus,whichinthefirstaccountofgig-goingrelatestothebroadlyanarchicattitudeof

youngpunkstoauthorityandregulation.Howthisattitudeisnegotiatedwithinsectarian

46Ibid.47Ibid.SeeO’Neill,SeanandGuyTrelford(eds.),ItMakesYouWanttoSpit:TheDefinitiveGuidetoPunkinNorthernIreland(Dublin:ReekusMusic,2003).

183

framesofidentityisafurtherconcern,onethatbecomesmoreapparentinGareth’snext

anecdoteaboutgoingtoconcertsattheHarpBar.

Hesaid:

We used to go down [to theHarp] sometimes on a Saturday afternoon

whentheyhadapunkdisco.[…]Andyou’dgoupthesestairsintothisdark

room,you just saw therewas faces thatyouknewaboutbutyoudidn’t

knowtotalktothem,youknow?Butyouneverfeltintimidatedoranything

becauseyouwereallthereforthemusic.Andagainthewholethingabout

theProtestant-Catholicthingandpunkbreakingallthatdownandmusic

beingthefirstinterest.48

Thisstoryisagoodexampleofpunkasanembodiedhabitus,assomethingthatworks

onthebody.NickCrossley,inhisanalysisofBourdieu’sworkonthephysicalaspectsof

thehabitus, explains that “the apparentlymost insignificant techniquesof thebody–

waysofwalkingorblowingone’snose,waysof eatingor talking… [reveal] themost

fundamental principles of construction and evaluation of the social world.”49 The

adoptionof theembodied, feltdispositionsofpunkmeansGareth canwalk “up these

stairsintoadarkroom”andnotfeelintimidated,withtheassumptionofsharedinterests

andattitudesbreakingdowntheProtestant-Catholicdichotomythatmighthavemade

meetingstrangersinBelfastinthe1970sparticularlyintimidating.

48GM,2015.49Crossley,Nick,TheSocialBody:Habit,IdentityandDesire(London:Sage,2001,p6);seealsoWainwright,SP,andBSTurner,‘ReflectionsonEmbodimentandVulnerability’,MedicalHumanities29,no.1(1June2003).

184

TheHarpBar,early80s.PicturebyThomasIanMurdock.

However,thevividdescriptionofastepintothedarkandtheunknownbeingmadeeasier

byamutualinterestinthepunkscenewasfollowedbyalongpauseonGareth’spart,as

he gathered himself for an extended analysis of the relationship between punk and

sectarianism.Althoughthefactofamutualinterestinpunkhelpsdissuadeanyfeelingof

intimidation,itdoesnotmakethepossibilityofintimidationdisappear.Gareth’sanalysis

herecomplicatesthetoo-easyevocationofpunk’srolein‘breakingallthatdown’,while

maintainingthatitdiddoso,toanextent.

That’sprobablytruebutyoustillknewbypeople’snames,ifyougottalking

tothem…it’snotthatyoucared.IalwaysfeltthatIlikedtoknowincaseI

insultedanybody.IndirectlytalkedaboutsomethingIshouldn’thavebeen

talkingaboutandupsetsomeoneyouknow.SoIjustlikedtoknow…50

Inthisaccount,punkinBelfastisnotexactlyabouttransgression(orresistance,inthe

senseofbeinganattempttoresolvethecontradictionsinthewiderculturethrougha

50GM,2015.

185

symbolic or material development of an alternative culture). Instead, it is a set of

practicesthatallowitspractitionerstonegotiatetheboundariesofNorthernIrishsocial

life in a safeway,but largely throughactsof camouflage, concealmentandavoidance

rather than through acts aimed at countering sectarian narratives or producing

alternativenarratives.Garethadded:

Thatwasjustpartofitbutitdidn’tmatter.Andthenthose…(deepbreath)

…Idon’tknowwhetherpunkreallyopenedupthecitycentreassuchbut

itcertainlymighthavebeenaweetrickleinthedam.Crackeditopenyou

know.ButveryrarelywouldI,likeafter,atnightIwouldn’thavegoneinto

thecitycentreatall.51

Again,punk’sresistantcapacityispartial,andboundedbythesectariannormsapparent

inotherfieldsandotherspacesoutsideofitseffectiveorbit.

The spatial limits of punk as a practice – its usefulness, as habitus, being confined to

certain fields – is not exclusive to thismoment. Gareth’s analysis here forms part of

several narratives throughout the interview that aim to position punk as inherently

limitedbythespatial,socialandhistoricalconditionsinwhichitwasformedinmid-70s

Belfast.Butthislimitinggesturecomesalongsideamoreexpansiveunderstandingofthe

waysinwhichpunkallowedGarethtoaccessnewformsofexperienceandfriendship,

withoutdislodginghimfromthediscursive,knowledge-producing‘telling’practicethat

readscertainnamesandcertainbodiesasCatholicorProtestant.

Whenyoudidgointotownonanafternoonwhenthetownwasopen–cos

youwouldgodowntotheSmithfieldMarket[…]youknowtheredefinitely

was, you could seepeople, therewas alwayswee cliques of otherpunk

people.Andyouacknowledged[oneanother]…youknowIneverreally

gotanypeopleshouting,anyweewomencomingover…butyoudefinitely

didfeelasortofside-stepapartfromeverybodyelse.Anditfeltgood!52

51Ibid.52Ibid.

186

Thispositivesenseofbeinganoutsiderisforgedinoppositiontoothergroupsperceived

asbeingmoreinvestedintheterritorialandsectariancultureofBelfast,althoughGareth

does reflect that these groups might also have enjoyed the same affective sense of

togethernessheenjoyedinthepunkscene.“Itwassortofagangculturewiththem,more

likeananti-gangculturewithusbutweweregangingtogetherforprotection.Because

we were the outsiders, not the norm.”53 This set of group dispositions is spatially

bounded, ashasbeensuggested,butnot temporallybounded, asGareth concluded in

discussingtheeffectthatpunkhashadonhislifesinceheencountereditasateenager.

Youdon’tpre-judgeasmuch,Ithink,notthatIeverwasthatbad,it’ssorta

hardtoexplain[…]itwasawholemish-mashofthingscomingtogether

andthewayyoulookat lifeandthewayyoulookatthings, itdefinitely

helpedmypoliticalviewsnot tobeas judgemental andyouknowdon’t

judgeabookbythecover[…]Iwasalreadyaweebitlikethatanywayto

behonestbutitjustsortofunderlineditandstrengthenedthataspect.54

His assessment here, taken alongwith the various fragmentary narratives presented

above, suggest an understanding of the punk habitus as entailing several modes of

behaviour.Thesecoherearoundadeliberatepracticeofavoidance–notsayingcertain

things,notaskingcertainquestions,notperformingone’sidentityincertainways–and

a more positive practice of non-judgement that requires a repetitive, reflexive

questioningofone’sownpoliticalandsocialbackground.InWacquant’sdescriptionof

theChicagoboxinggym,pugilistichabitusispredicatedon:

Respectfortheheritagereceived[throughthetrainingprocess]andonthe

notion, acceptedby all as tacit condition for admission into the specific

universe,thateveryonemustpaywithhisperson,nottakeshortcuts…the

refusaltorationalisetraining…isanchoredinethicaldispositionswhose

internalisationisthehiddenfaceofthelearningofgesturaltechnique.55

53Ibid.54Ibid.55Wacquant,Body&Soul,p125.

187

Itispunkasasitefortheinculcationofethicaldispositionsthatcomesthroughmostly

clearlyinGareth’snarrativetakenasawhole.

Thelimitsofhabitusandhistoricalreflection

This is tempered throughout, however, with an understanding of limits that both

positions punk as one cultural field within many competing fields, and foregrounds

Gareth’ssenseofhimselfasadoptingmultipleidentitiesandmovingbetweendifferent

spaces as an adolescent. These limits are shown in different ways throughout the

interview, including an interesting digression on the way in which punk’s semiotic

contentchangedwhentransplantedfromEnglandtoNorthernIreland–wearingat-shirt

copyofJamieReed’sfamousSexPistolsalbumcover,Garethpointsout,couldbereadas

an anti-monarchy and thus explicitly republican statement in Belfast, rather than as

expressingadiffuseanti-authoritarianoranarchicpolitics.Buttheyaremostapparentin

adramatically-recountedstoryaboutanencounterafteragigin1979.Thegigisatthe

UlsterHall, Siouxsieand theBansheeswith local support fromtheOutcasts,andruns

muchlaterthanplannedbecausetheEnglishband’sequipmentismisplacedsomewhere

onthejourney.GarethleavesbeforetheOutcastscomeon,buthisfrienddecidestostay.

So I was left one o'clock at night in Belfast walking up Bedford Street

towardsShaftesburySquareontotheLisburnRoad,andIhadparkedmy

weemopedathishouse–helivedupjustpastthecityhospital–soIwas

walkinguptotheretopickupmybiketoheadonhome,andthesetwoguys

werewalkingdownthesideofthestreet.AndImeanthere'snobodyelse

about,no cars, streets arequiet andyou're sortof – you'rewary.And I

startedspeedingupaweebitandtheystartedcrossingtheroad.SoIsped

upaweebitmoreandtheycurvedtomeetme.SoIsaidwhentheyhitthe

whitelinesinthemiddleoftheroad,I'mtakingoff.AndIranandtheytried

tocatchme, I justranandranandran, Iranright thewayuponto the

Lisburn Road up past the Samaritans there, and stopped and looked

around, therewas nobody about and Iwas going thank god, absolutely

wreckedyouknow,lacticacidbuildingup,couldn'tgetabreath,walking

along and the next thing I hear this dum-dum-dum-dum [indicating

188

footsteps], looked round and they're running after me again.

[Performativelydeepintakeofbreathtosuggesthowshockedhewas,or

perhapshowwindedhewas.]AndIhadtotakeoffagain,Ijust,youknow,

andagainitwasjustthatfear–flightorfightanditwasflightforme!Iran

andtheychasedmeallthewayuptomymate'shouse,Igotintothedoor

andluckilyhismumhadleftthedooronthelatch.SoIturnedroundand

closedit,wentroundtheback,gotontomymopedandwheeleditout,and

theywerewaitingforme.SoIjuststartedupandtoreout,thenbythetime

Igothomeofcourse,Inearlywishedtheyhadofcaughtmecosmymawent

throughmeforashortcut.56

Reflectingontheevent,headded:“AndthenIsincefoundoutthattherewassortofan

offshoot of the paramilitaries called The Friendly Society that decided to beat up on

punks,I'msortofwonderingweretheypartofthat.”57

Intheinterview,thisanecdotedirectlyprecedesadiscussionofthedivisiveelementsof

punkcultureasinterpretedinaNorthernIrishcontext,prefacingGareth’sattempttoset

somelimitsonitspotentiallyemancipatoryhabitusandpraxis.Theevocationoffamilial

(or specificallymaternal) authority– something that looms large throughoutGareth’s

accountofhisadolescence–isironicallyjuxtaposedwiththethreatofstreetviolence;

thismightsuggestthatpunk,here,helpsGarethevadecertaindomesticconcernsbutis

unable to extricate him from the material threat of paramilitary (or simply

indiscriminate) violence. The performance of this story was especially animated on

Gareth’spart, as I haveattempted to indicate in thebracketswithin the text, and the

vividnesswithwhichherecalledandrecountedthis frighteningevent isan important

counterparttotheequalvividnesswithwhichherecountedhisearlyencounterswith

punkgigsandrecords.Atthelevelofnarrative,itistheclearestattemptmadetosuggest

thatthepunkhabitusGarethdescribes,andthepracticesheadoptswithinthathabitus,

areconfinedtocertainsites(school,gigs,certainbars,therelatively-safetowncentre)

and not applicable to others; indeed, as his digression on a paramilitary society that

targeted young punks suggests, in particular places looking and dressing like a punk

56GM,2015.57Ibid.

189

couldputoneatriskofviolence.Gareth’srevisionofthisnarrativethroughfactsreceived

aftertheevent(thatis,fromunderstandingitasrandomstreetviolencetounderstanding

itaspotentiallydrivenbyaspecificparamilitaryanimusagainstpunks)isalsoatypical

oftheapproachusedthroughouthisinterview,suggestinghisreflexive(andhistorical)

desiretounderstandthepastthroughanaccretionoffactsandobjectsaswellasthrough

memory.ItistothisspecificallyhistoricalapproachthatIwillnowturn.

‘Iwannaseesomehistory’–historicalpracticeinGareth’sinterview

ThestartofmyinterviewwithGarethwasenlivenedbyanaccountofhismeetingthe

leadsingerofRudi,BrianYoung,whoGarethinterviewedforaStranglersfanzineand

webzine that he occasionally writes for. Rudi’s single Big Timewas the first record

produced by Terri Hooley’s Belfast-based GoodVibrations label, and the band’s fitful

successincomparisontocontemporarieslikeStiffLittleFingersandtheUndertoneshave

madethemperennialfavouritesoftheBelfastscene,asabandthatneverreceivedthe

plauditsorexposuretheydeservedintheirheyday.58Garethdescribedhisexcitementat

meetingaformerhero(andhissurpriseatrealisingtheybothnowworkforBelfastCity

Council),thendiscussedBrian’snewband,arockabillygroupcalledtheSabrejets.This

ledtoafurtherdigressionontheincreasingdiversityofGareth’smusicinterestsashe

getsolderandgrowsmoreengagedintheantecedentsandoffshootsofthepunkscene.

IsweartoGod,youknow,youcansortofagainit'sthepunkrocksortof

thing, initially itwas the year zero, everything else before then doesn't

exist,butyousortofseeasyougetolderandyougetintomusicandyou're

sortoffindingouttheDamnedweredoingBallroomBlitzbytheSweetand

whenIwasakidlisteningtoglamrock,youknow,thatwassortof,they're

doing that, and they're doing the Beatles, Help, there's all these

interconnectionswhenbandsaredoingcoverversions,yousortof then

delvebackandgetintothenuggetsstuff…59

58SeetheintroductionforpartsofmyinterviewwithBrianYoung,Rudi’sleadsinger.59GM,2015.

190

AsIsuggestedabove,theepiphanicmomentinGareth’snarrativeisbifurcated.Thereis,

typicallyformygroupofinterviewees,hisinitialencounterwithpunkastheimpetusfor

theformationofapunkidentity;then,moresubtly, thereishiscurrentpositioningas

someonewithaninvestmentinandmemoryofthepunkscene,whichhecontrastswith

hispassivityasayoungerman.Thisthemeispresentthroughout,butcomesoutmost

clearlyneartheendoftheinterviewinadiscussionabouttherecentTerriHooleybiopic

GoodVibrations.Garethdescribedhowhemanagedtogetticketstothepremiereandthe

afterpartyofthefilm.

Idon'twanttobeblowingsmokeupmyownarseherebutIgotticketsfor

thepremieretobeshown,becausetherewasatrackonthe…asoundtrack,

oratrackonthesoundtrack!BytheAnimals,calledI'manOutcast.AndI

thinkitwasonFacebookwasprobablywhereIgottohearaboutit,they

neededadifferentformatofit.AndIwasabletodoit.NowI'mtheworst

technicalperson in theworldbut there'sa lotof sortofbootleg stuff…

illegallydownloadedprobably [laughter]…and I justhappened tohave

thisappIsupposeyouwouldcallitthatchangesitfromwhatitwastowhat

theywantedittobe.Andtheysaidifyoucanforwardthatyou'llgetaticket

tothepremieresoIdid.60

Thisanecdoteiscouchedinself-deprecationandhumour,butitsuggestsGareth’ssense

ofconnectiontothefilm,andtothehistoryofthepunkscenethatthefilmnarrates,as

wellasindicatingthewaysinwhich‘retro’culturaldocumentsandmomentscanallow

fora re-engagementwith thepast. InTheatresofMemory,RaphaelSamuelargues for

understanding micro-historical practices (in the context of punk, searching for

bootleggedconcertrecordsorcollectingrecords,zinesandotherdocumentscouldallfit

intothiscategory)asbothusefulwaysofunderstandingtheperceptionsofthepastthat

existineverydaylife,andasformsofhistoricalunderstandingintheirownright.Itseems

possible,inhisreading,thatthiskindofpara-historicalworkhas“preparedthewayfor

60Ibid.

191

awholenewfamilyofalternativehistories,whichtakeastheirstartingpointthebric-a-

bracofmaterialculture.”61

InGareth’saccount,hisnear-lifelonggathering-upofthisflotsamandjetsammoveshim

intoadifferentrelationshipwiththepunkscenemuchashisinterviewwithBrianYoung

does.Italsogeneratesaspaceforacritiqueofthefilmitself.

So,um,again,it's[thefilm]takenonalifeofitsown.There'salotofthe

filmIreally likebuta lotof it ispoetic licenseused…Iactuallywentto

school,wenttoMethodywiththewriterofitGlennPattersonandwentto

Finaghyprimarywithhimaswell.62

Patterson,awell-knownNorthernIrishnovelist,journalistandscreenwriter,ismorea

spectator of than a participant in the punk scene as described by Gareth, and this

distancedengagementwiththesceneisonefactorinthelackofauthenticityGarethreads

intoGoodVibrations.Thisdoesn’tentaildismissingthefilmentirely.Insteaditcreatesthe

space for a nuanced critique that understands the interplay between facticity,

authenticity and narrative. He describes several key scenes from the film – the

Undertonesplaying toanear-empty townhall inOmagh,adepictionofaparticularly

debauchedyoungpunkcalledFinesinthefilmandWeeGordyinreality–asbeingbased

onactualeventsandactualpeople.“There'salotoftruthinitbutthere'salsoalotofthe

legend,therose-tintedglasses,thestoryfluffedoutaweebittomakeitsound–that'smy

impression.”63Garethdoesnotsuggestthathislivedexperienceismoregenuine,ormore

real,thantheoneproposedbythefilm,however.

Butagainyoucanunderstand,it'safilm,youknow,soifyou'regoingto–

againyoucouldtalktothreedifferentpeopleandgetthreedifferentstories

about the same thing that happened, sowho's to say that I'm right and

that'snotright,thisisjustmyimpression.Ithinkit'saverygood,avery

goodfilm,butIdothinkthere'sanawfullotofrose-tintedglasseslooking

61Samuel,Raphael,TheatresofMemory:PastandPresentinContemporaryCulture(London:Verso,2012[1994]),p114.62GM,2015.63Ibid.

192

backonthe…what itwas like,and I'mprobablyadding to itby talking

here!Youknow,therevisionistthing,asIsaidit'smiddle-agedmenreliving

theiryouth.64

There is a bathetic deflation at the end of this point, deflecting any sense of self-

importance,butthethrustoftheargumentisthatthefilmneedstobeunderstoodasone

narrativewithinapolyphonic,multiplesetofnarratives,narrativesthatarenotfixedbut

insteadopentorevisionandtointerpretation.

This act (of positioning his narrative as one of those that can help historicise and

understandtheBelfastpunkscene)helpscompletethetransitiondescribedatthestart

ofthispiece–thatis,Gareth’stransitiontowardsunderstandinghisownexperienceas

historical,whichisalsoatransitionbetweentheyoungerandolderselvespresentedin

theinterview.Heexplained:

Umand I justdidn'thave the,an inkling, IknewIcouldn'tbe inaband

because I wasn't good enough but I didn't even think about starting a

fanzine!Didn'teventhinkabout,Icould'vebeenaDonLetts[celebrated

documenteroftheLondonpunksceneasaDJandfilmmaker]butInever

eventhoughtaboutdoingthatitwasjust,yeahhh,partytime,haveadrink,

goandwatchaband,youknow,andjustgowiththeflowratherthanbeing

creative.65

Thispassivityiscounteredintwowaysthroughtheolderselfthatisbeingpresentedin

thenarrative.Firstly,intheperformanceofthenarrativeitself,andinthevariouspunk

dispositions he ascribes to himself within that narrative. Secondly, in his role as a

collector.Thesenarrativestrategieswillbeconsideredinturn.

The durability of his punk dispositions (their capacity to be retained outside of the

specificfieldoftheBelfastpunkscene)isparticularlyapparentinthisclosingcomment.

64Ibid. 65Ibid.

193

Andyouknowwhenyou'regoing,IwentawaytouniversityandlikeIdid

asciencedegree,notonebitcreativeatall,butwhenIwasthereItookthat

–itwasstillpartofmethere.AndwhenI'mgoingovertoseetheStranglers

inEngland…youcantaketheBelfastoutoftheboybutyou,or,youcan

taketheboyoutofBelfastbutyoucan'ttakeBelfastoutoftheboy.66

This is the clearest statement in the interview of theway inwhich the punk habitus

retainsanaffectiveandembodiedcapacitythroughoutGareth’slife–itwasstillpartof

himatuniversity,anditisstillpartofhimwhenhegoestoStranglersreuniongigs30

yearslater.Theinitiallymuddledsyntaxofthefinalclauseissuggestiveofthedeliberate

muddling of self, subculture and city in this account, theways inwhich thematerial

componentsoflifeinBelfast,engagedwiththroughGareth’sidentificationofhimselfas

a punk, have formedhis understanding of himself as a person. Bourdieu’s concept of

habitusasembodiedhistoryisimmediatelyrelatabletothisaccountoftheself–however,

the Bourdieusian understanding of this history as folding itself upon people

unconsciouslyandwithouttheiractivereflectionissomewhatcomplicatedbyGareth’s

reflexiveunderstandingofthewayinwhichhecarrieswithhimboththedispositions

generated through punk and the dispositions generated through his youth and

adolescenceinsouthBelfast.

Storytellingandlocalhistory

This sense of narrating history from experience given here is instead redolent of the

anthropologist Henry Glassie’s account of storytelling in the Fermanagh townland of

Ballymenone.67 Glassie’s account suggests away of thinking about Gareth’s historical

practice thatextendsSamuel’sschema, in thatSamuel focusesmoreonthestructures

thatallowforanengagementwith(forinstance)theretrothanonthewaysinwhichwhat

comes into the structures are actively mediated, engaged with and used (ironically,

earnestly, critically, andsoon). It is alsoawayof recalibratingBourdieu’s conceptof

history,bymakinghistorysomethingthathappensonthelevelofeverydayexperience

andsomethingthatisbothunderstoodandnarratedonthelevelofeverydayexperience

66Ibid.67Glassie,PassingTheTime.

194

–anunderstandingofhistoricalreflexivitythatisarguablymorepresentinWacquant’s

accountofBourdieuthaninBourdieu’sworkitself,atleastinitsearlierforms.

For Glassie, the stories told at ceilidhs (an Irish word for social gatherings, usually

featuring music) are irreducible to the status of objects under the lens of academic

analysis, and in fact are themselves simultaneously acts of analysis and acts of

performance as well as forms of historical practice. “Stories preserve actions and

quotations; their wholeness requires memory as well as skill. While existing for

themselves as confections of the speaker’s craft, stories connect the transitory to the

immutablethroughthefragileself.”68Theperformanceoftheseselvesrequiresbothskill

andexperienceonthepartoftheteller:“Bookscanpreservetheunmemorable,butthe

history that owes its existence to an oral dynamic, to limited memory, and to the

intricaciesofthesocialcontract,cannotbeboring.”69Thestoriesdonotonlyrelyontheir

positionwithin this social contract, theyperformatively reinscribe it – they canbring

groupstogether,althoughtheycanalsounderlinethedistinctionbetweencommunities.

Tilly’sreadingofGlassiearguesthat“Ballymenone’sstories,withtheirpartialdivision

intoProtestantandCatholicstories in thismixedvillage,providebolsters forpolitical

identity,buttheyalsoprovidethemeansofsurmountingpoliticalbarriers”.70

Thereareimportant limitstodemarcatehere.Firstly,totheclaimthatTillymakeson

Glassie’sbehalf–dostoriesprovidethemeanstosurmountpoliticalbarriers,ordothey

simplyallowthestorytellersnewmeanstounderstandthosebarriers?Iftheydoallow

the barriers to be surmounted, is that a collective process? Does this process only

function in thekindofsmall-scaleruralcommunitiesdescribed inPassingtheTime in

Ballymenone, or can it be extrapolated to themore atomised andmodernised urban

spaces of Northern Ireland? In a culture of storytelling that, as Glassie recognises, is

almost exclusivelymale, does this indicate a particularly gendered conception of the

relationshipbetweennarrativeandpeacemaking?

68Ibid.,p48.69Ibid.,p109.70Tilly,Charles,Stories,Identity,andPoliticalChange(Oxford:RowmanandLittlefield,2002,p10).

195

Secondly, there are limits to the way in which Glassie’s attractively generous

understandingofstorytellingasaspecificallyfolkloricpracticecanbeextendedtothe

practicesbeingdiscussedhere–boththeoralhistoryinterviewandthewaysinwhich

Gareth tells his story outside of the interview, either in conversation with fellow

aficionados of the scene (like Brian Young) and onwebsites or in zines. Butwithout

collapsing these intoonestructure–onestory– it ispossible todiscernanumberof

interesting points of connection. Stories, for the folk historians Glassie speaks to in

Ballymenone,areintimatelyconnectedtoplace.Itisplacethatallowsforthetellingof

storiesthatarenottemporallyconnected;itisalsoplacethatallowsforanunderstanding

of continuityandchangewithin thenarratives.71This relationshipbetweenplaceand

storiesisapparentinseveralplacesinGareth’saccount,wherepunkactsasamediation

betweenhissenseofselfandhissenseofplace,asdescribedabove;punkalsoallowshim

to narrate place in a particular way, drawing on his embodied and fundamentally

historicalknowledge.

Glassie’sstorytellersarealsoimbricatedinthesocialworldinaparticularway,forming

aswellasdescribingit.History,inthesestories,suggestswaysoflivingthatconnectthe

pastandthepresent.72ForGlassie,it“expandsthroughenlargingcirclesofidentityfrom

theselfthroughthegatheringofactiveparticipantstoawideimaginedcollective”.73This

dynamic,whichincorporatesbothsamenessanddifferencewithoutattemptingtofixit

withinaparticularstructure,isalsoapparentinGareth’sstorytelling,asafurtherfacetof

hishistoricalpractice.Itsfailuretocompletelyresolvethetensionsofbroadersocietyis

apparentinthisaccount.

Definitely,andit'sthewholething,whatwasitJoeStrummersaidaboutit

if there'sanyplacethatpunkshouldhavebeenitwasNorthernIreland.

Becauseitwasanarchywhenyouthinkaboutit,thethingsthatweregoing

on,andthentheDamnedbrokeupandbecametheDoomed,andtheywere

playingthePound,onthatBloodyMonday–welltherewerebombscares,

therewasbombseverywhere–andIdon'tknowifitwasactuallyBloody

71Glassie,PassingtheTime,pp200-210.72Ibid.,p269.73Glassie,Henry,‘ThePracticeandPurposeofHistory’,TheJournalofAmericanHistory81,no.3(1994),p964.

196

Mondayornotbutwhateverdayitwastherewerebombscaresgoingoff

all over the place. And I nearly didn't get out that night because of the

troubles thatwere going on,mumwas going 'howare you going to get

home',youknow,'lookwhat'sbeengoingontoday'…'I'llbealright,I'llbe

withmymates'…againwewentdrinking,don'trememberathingabout

thegigatall…there'sbeensomanygigsintheyoungerdaysthatarelike

that,justdon'tremember.Iwenttothe…TerriHooleyputonthePunkand

New Wave Festival, I think that was in ‘79 or ‘80. And they had the

StimulatorsandtheSaints,whowerefromAustralia,theStimulatorsare

fromNewYork,Rudiwereplaying,theOutcastswereplaying,StageBwere

playing,two-dayfestivalthingintheUlsterHall.AndtheonlythingIcan

rememberofthatwhole…wellIdidn'tevenmakeittothesecondday.The

firstdaytheonlythingIrememberishearingKillingJoke.74

Thisisatroublingstory,althoughitwastoldwithlevity.Itisnotfolkloreormyth,butit

capturessomethingofwhatGlassiecallsthe“problemvibratingwithoutresolution”that

folklore, myth and local history contain and express in his study of Ballymenone.75

Coming after the discussion about division within the punk scene, it re-enacts the

communitywithinthepunkscene–acommunitythatisgeneratedthroughbeingboth

withinandoutsideofthethreatofviolence.Garethalsoplaceshimselfbothwithinand

outsidethenarrativehere;hedescribesafailureofmemorythroughbeingdrunk(and,

ashisspokentoneifnothistranscribedwordsmakeunavoidablyclear,frightened),while

offeringupahistoricalmemorythatreadsIRAbombingcampaignsinBelfastthroughthe

lensofapunkgig.Glassiesuggests:

Storiesofreligiousfactionfightssymboliseallthecommunity’sreasonsfor

division, all its forces of destruction, and describe its reality. To be a

74GM,2015.‘BloodyMonday’isgenerallyusedtorefertoa1972bombinClaudy,nearDerry,thatkilledninepeople,andsoisunlikelytobetheincidentthatisdescribedhere.ItispossiblethatGarethisthinkingof‘BloodyFriday’,another1972IrishRepublicanArmybombinginBelfast,slightlybeforetheClaudybombing,inwhichninealsodied–seeMcKittrick,DavidandDavidMcVea,MakingSenseoftheTroubles:AHistoryoftheNorthernIrelandConflict(Belfast:BlackstaffPress,2001,p87).Whilethishappenedatleastsixorsevenyearsbeforethegigbeingdescribed,itloomslargeintheculturalmemoryofBelfastasoneofthemostviolentincidentsinthecitycentre.Itisastrikingtranspositionhereandsuggeststhewayinwhichthesocialityofthepunkscenewasgeneratedthroughviolenceandthefearofviolence.75Glassie,PassingtheTime,p305.

197

community, itmust have unity. To be real, itwill be divided. Existence,

everyone’slife,formsbetweenunityandseparation,societyandself.76

InthesensethatthepeopleGlassiespeakstoinBallymenonearehistorians,Garethis

alsopractisingakindofhistory,andthisgeneratesadifferenceinthesenseofselfbeing

presentedwhenheisdescribinghisolderself.

As suggested in the introduction, this is a public aswell as a private transformation.

CatherineNash,inaperceptive2005essayonthepracticeoflocalhistoryinNorthern

Ireland,offersaninterestinginsightintotheparticularpublicaffectofthispracticeinits

specifichistoricalandpoliticalcontext.Localhistory,shesuggests,hasbeenengagedin

an attempt from the 1960s onwards to “reimagine Northern Ireland as a region

characterizedbyculturaldiversityratherthandivision,asasocietymadeupofacomplex

mixofmultiplesharedanddistinctivetraditions,ratherthan‘twocommunities’or‘two

traditions’”.77ItisinthiscontextthatGareth’svarioushistoricalpracticescanbeplaced

– this is also a frame that couldbewidenedout to include thevariouspunkheritage

activitiesthathavetakenplaceinBelfastinthelastfewyears(suchasconcerts,DJnights

andothereventsaimedatbringingtogetherbotholderpunkandyoungerenthusiastsfor

thescene),andalsoto includespaces likeSeanO’Neill’sSpitRecordswebsiteandthe

variousFacebookpagesdedicatedtomemorialisingtheNorthernIrishpunkscene.78One

thingthisframingdoesisexpandtheconceptoflocalasitisusedwithinlocalhistory,

followingthecallofDoreenMasseytoseetheimbricationoftheglobalinthelocaland

viceversa.79

Anotheristoplacepunkheritageinconversationwiththeproblematicsoflocalhistory

inNorthernIreland,whichforNasharetwofold–thedangerthattop-downinitiatives

aimedatfinding‘thecommonground’inthepastwillerasememoriesthatdon’tfitinto

that schema, and the danger that a mythologised account of the past will take

preponderanceoveracritical,politically-engagedone.Theseissuesexistinthehistoryof

76Ibid.77Nash,‘LocalHistories’,p54.78Seethefirstchapterforamoreextendedengagementwiththesevarioussources.79Massey,Doreen,Space,Place&Gender(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,1994),especiallypp146-156.

198

punkinBelfastjustastheydoforothersubjectsof ‘localhistory’,andareapparentat

variouspointsinGareth’snarrative.Asindicatedinthestoryabove,however,thereisa

wayofacknowledgingdifficultyanddivisionwhilestillaffirmingcommunityandshared

emotional structures within these histories. Nash claims: “If one challenge for local

historyinNorthernIrelandishowtodealwithhistoryinacontextwherehistoryhas

beenusedinsectarianways,andwheredistantandrecenthistoriesofconflictaredeeply

sensitiveandcontentious,anotherishowtoaffirmaversionofthelocalthatdoesnot

serve exclusive, introspective and conservative versions of community.”80 Reading

Gareth’srolehereashistorical,andunderstandinghissenseofhishistoricalrolewithin

hisnarrative,suggestsonewaytoexpandthelocalbeyondtheparochial.

Collectingandculture

ThesecondandrelatedwayinwhichGarethcountershisyoungself’spassivitycomesin

theaccountofhisinterestinthedevelopmentofpunkmusicandtherecords,booksand

objects he has collected as this interest increased. This could be understood through

Bourdieu, and especially through his idea of cultural capital.81What, in otherwords,

makes someone collecting old punk records different than the lawyer interviewed in

Distinction, describing his accumulation of objets d’art – “I’d love to own a very fine

bronze.Therearebronzes thatareabsolutelyextraordinary...”82–other than that the

latter’stasteisapparentlylessconcernedwiththeostentatiousdisplayofwealth?The

argumenthereisthat,inthesamewaythatBourdieu’snotionofhistoryexcludeslocal

andpara-historicalpracticesthatallowpeopletomakesenseoftheirownrelationtothe

objectivestructuresthatgenerateahabitus,hisnotionofculturesubsumescultureasa

way of life into culture as a specific set of behaviours, attitudes and tastes that are

hegemonic, and various sub-categories that are non-hegemonic.While his account is

helpfulinmakingsenseofhow(forinstance)aclass-stratifiededucationsystemmakes

certaintastesandinterestshegemonic–asinGareth’saccountofthedifferencebetween

rugby and football above – it does not allow for the affective resonances ofmaterial

80Nash,‘LocalHistories’,p58.81Bourdieu,Distinction.82Ibid.,p271.

199

culture, or “the mutual constituitiveness of objects and people.”83 In other words,

collectingthings istodowithfeelings,not justwithcapital. It isalso, likestorytelling,

firmly embedded in questions of temporality and temporal strategies; for instance,

describing the collage artwork of German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters, Roger Cardinal

proposesthat“tocollectistolaunchindividualdesireacrosstheintertextofenvironment

andhistory”.84

Garethstartedcollectingalbumswhenhewasstillatschool,butthisprovedfinancially

difficult.

Thenyouweresellingstuff[records]againbacktothemtogetbeertokens.

[Laughter]Cosyou,like,Iwasstillatschool–asIsaidIcomefromavery

poorfamilycomparedtosomeoftheotherpeopleIwashangingaboutwith

–notthatIhadto,youknow,keepupwiththeJoneses…[…]Andthenyou

wantedtobedrinkingwiththemsoyouweresellingyourrecords,andnow

inmymiddleageI'mbuyingrecordsbackatexorbitantpricestogetwhat

Ihadwhen Iwasakid. [Laughter]And that'sanotheraspectof it that I

reallytooktowasthecollectingoftherecords.85

Thisnarrativedelineatesacomplicatedtemporalmovement,wheretheolderGarethis

able to redress the losses he experienced as younger man, while recognising the

melancholicdifficultyinthiskindofbackward-lookingrestorationorcollection.Walter

Benjamin,describinghisfeelingswhenunpackinghiscollectionofbooksaftermovingto

anewflat,putsitwell:“Everypassionbordersonthechaotic,butthecollector’spassion

bordersonthechaosofmemory…Torenewtheoldworld–thatisthecollector’sdeepest

desirewhenheisdriventoacquirenewthings.”86Thisisperhapstooneataformulation,

however.NaomiSchor,describingtheactofcollectingpostcardsofParis,suggeststhat

thepleasurethisevokesforherisrelatednotjusttotherepresentationsonthecardsbut

83Dudley,SandraH,‘Introduction:Objects,collectorsandrepresentations’,p3,inDudley,SandraH,AmyJaneBarnes,JenniferBinnie,JuliaPetrovandJenniferWalklate(eds.),NarratingObjects,CollectingStories(London:Routledge,2012).84Cardinal,Roger,‘CollectingandCollage-making:TheCaseofKurtSchwitters’,p68,inTheCulturesofCollecting,Elsner,JohnandRogerCardinal(eds.)(London:ReaktionBooks,1994).85GM,2015. 86Benjamin,Walter,Illuminations(London:Pimlico,1999),p60.

200

totheirstatusashistoricalobjects–“afragmentofpastParisianlife”.87Thepleasurethey

generateisthepleasureofthesnapshot,asnapshotinwhich“thecomplexandshifting

realitythatwasParisattheturnofthecenturyisherereducedtoaseriesofdiscreteunits

thatcanbeeasilymanipulatedandreadilyconsumed”.88Theappealofcollectingrecords

forGarethseemstofallbetweenthesetwoconceptions;ontheonehandanattemptto

makeupfortherecordshecouldn’tkeepasayoungerman,andontheotheranattempt

toorderandre-orderthecomplexandshiftingrealityofpastexperience.

Collected items cannot create a window into the past, but they can be generative of

memoriesandnarrativesofthepast,inasimilarwaytothefamilyphotographsanalysed

byAnnetteKuhnasartefactsofculturalmemory.89Describinga‘performativeviewing’

ofafamilyphotographownedbyayoungChinesemanthatshowshismotherholding

himasaninfant,Kuhndescribesthetemporalmovementadiscursiveandconversational

analysisoftheseimagescantrack.“ClearlyforJackthephotographisasmuchabouthis

lifenow,farfromwherehewasbornandgrewup,asitisabouthisown,hisfamily'sor

hiscountry'spast;thoughinawaythesepastsandthepresentarefoldedtogetherinhis

account,”sheexplains.90Thisalsotouchesonthewayinwhichcollectionisbothapublic

andprivateact,onethatbothliterallyandfigurativelyinvolvesimaginedcommunitiesof

othercollectors,aswellasparticularnarrativesaboutthepastthatarebothpublicand

personal.

AndtheStranglersstuff,likeIneedtohaveeverything,completist,sothis

iswaypost-punkbutwhentheywerebringingout12-inches,seven-inches,

CDs,cassettes,picturediscs[F:andtheimportedstuff]…gotacoupleof

quiterarestuff,andthenjustpunkrecords,punkbooks,sortofjustgetting

intothesceneofit.Ithinkit'sanOCDpartofme[laughter].Especiallywith

theStranglersstuffyouhavetobeacompletist.AndonFacebook,because

IgooverandseethemquiteabitinEnglandthere'ssortofasocialscene

87Schor,Naomi,‘“CartesPostales”:RepresentingParis1900’,CriticalInquiry18,no.2(1992),p237.88Ibid. 89Kuhn,Annette,FamilySecrets:ActsofMemoryandImagination(London:Verso,2002).90Kuhn,Annette,‘PhotographyandCulturalMemory:AMethodologicalExploration’,VisualStudies22,no.3(1December2007),p290.

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totheseStranglersgigs,you'reseeingpeople,realhardcorefollowingwho

allhateGoldenBrown[acrossoverhitsinglefortheStranglers].91

Inthisaccount,then,thebifurcatedepiphaniesdescribedaboveareresolved;Gareth’s

initialencounterwithpunkisarouteintooneformofcommunity,andhislaterposition

asahistorianofpunkandacollectorofpunkmemorabiliaandrecordsisarouteinto

another.

Conclusion

Gareth’sinterview,then,suggestsafurtherfacetofthepunksceneasstructureoffeeling

–asastructureoffeelingthatemphasisedthecapacityforself-workandforchange,while

remainingconsciousofitsrelatively-boundedstatus;sointheexampleGarethgivesof

visitingtheHarpBarforthefirsttimeandmaintainingaconsciousnessoftheprocesses

of sectarian identificationwhile not allowing them to determine his attitude towards

others, there is a sense of punk as changing his attitude towards the segregated and

sectarian space of the city without changing the space itself. This is where an

understandingofpunkasprovidingGarethwithaparticularhabitusisuseful.Bourdieu

says:

Only in imaginary experience (in the folk tale, for example), which

neutralisesthesenseofsocialrealities,doesthesocialworldtaketheform

ofauniverseofpossibilesequallypossibleforanypossiblesubject.Agents

shapetheiraspirationsaccordingtoconcreteindicesoftheaccessibleand

theinaccessible,ofwhatisandisnot‘forus’,adivisionasfundamentaland

asfundamentallyrecognisedasthatbetweenthesacredandtheprofane.92

His engagement in thepunk scenedoesnotneutralise the senseof social realities, in

Gareth’snarrative,butitdoesalterhisperceptionofwhatisaccessibletohimandopens

up “a wee trickle in the dam” in terms of his spatial experience of segregation and

91GM,2015.92Bourdieu,TheLogic,p64.

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sectarianisminthecity.93Itcreatesalastinghabitus,describedbyGarethwhenhesaid:

“Andyouknowwhenyou'regoing, Iwentaway touniversityand like Idida science

degree,notonebitcreativeatall,butwhenIwasthereItookthat–itwasstillpartofme

there.AndwhenI'mgoingovertoseetheStranglersinEngland…youcantaketheBelfast

outoftheboybutyou,or,youcantaketheboyoutofBelfastbutyoucan'ttakeBelfast

out of the boy.”94 In Gareth’s narrative, dislocation is produced through two factors.

Firstly, through going to Methody and being made uncomfortably conscious of his

working-classchildhoodasmakinghimoutofplaceinthemiddle-classschool;secondly,

throughtheincreasingsegregationandviolenceentailedbytheemergenceoftheconflict

in theearly1970s,becauseofwhichhis“littlebitofanoasisofmixedcommunity” in

south Belfast changes in terms of atmosphere if not in terms of direct exposure to

violence.Hisepiphanicencounterwithpunkisgenerativeofahabitusthatallowshimto

placehimselfwithinthecity.

However, theargumentherehasalsobeenthatenlargingourconceptionofhistorical

practice to incorporate collecting, ‘heritage from below’, and the social world of

storytellingenablesustothinkoftheagentsBourdieudescribesasreflexiveandcritical,

capableofpositioningthemselvesinrelationtotheirchanginghabitusratherthanpurely

buffetedbycircumstancesoutsideoftheircontrolandmoreimportantlyoutsideoftheir

capacitytodescribeornarrate.TimothyBarrettarguesthat“narrativematerialmaybe

employedtoinvestigatetheincorporatedstructuresofthehabitus,toidentifytheimplicit

assumptionsandtaken-for-grantedcategoriesthatstructurethewayagentsconstruct

andunderstand themselves andhow theyperceive the objective chances available to

themwithinthebroadersocialspace”.95Fromtheperspectiveofacriticaloralhistory

method,Gareth’smemoriesofthepunksceneasaformativeexperienceinhislifesuggest

bothhis awareness of its role in generatingdifferent attitudes andbehaviours, and a

broadersenseofpunkinBelfastasastructureof feelingthatmadeacreative,playful

engagementwiththeurbanlandscapepossible,albeitanengagementthatwaslimitedto

certainsitesandmoments.

93GM,2015.94Ibid.95Barrett,‘StoryingBourdieu’,p6.

203

Thefollowingchapterwilldevelopthisideaofanengagementwiththeurbanlandscape

throughananalysisofmyinterviewswithPetesyBurnsandDamienMcCorry,thinking

abouttheroleofspaceandplaceintheirmemoriesofthepunkscene.

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CHAPTERSIX:PETESYBURNSANDDAMIENMCCORRY–PUNK,POLITICS

ANDTHEPRODUCTIONOFSPACEIntroductionThis chapter will take two interviews, one with Petesy Burns and one with Damien

McCorry,toconsiderathirdwayofconceptualisingandnarrativisingtheBelfastpunk

sceneafterAlison’saccountsofmobilityandtransgression,andGareth’saccountsofself-

work and collecting.Myprimary lensof analysis in this chapterwill beonpunkas a

spatial practice, one which cannot exclusively be understood as a way to cross

(conceptualandmaterial)boundariesbutwhichinsteadattemptedtocreatenewplaces

andnew social practices in the context of 1970s and1980sBelfast in amode that is

reminiscentofHenriLefebvre’sevocationoftherighttothecityasoeuvre–therightfor

urban residents to shape the spaces inwhich they live.1 The difficulties of doing this

withinspacesmarkedbysectarianismandclassdivision isapparent throughoutboth

interviews, and this difficulty will also be reflected on throughout. On one hand, the

understandingofthepunksceneinPetesyandDamien’snarrativesisaresultofhowthey

participatedinit–theywerebothinsuccessfulbands,andPetesyinparticularremains

awell-knownfigure intheremnantsof thesceneandonthe livecircuit.Ontheother

hand,itisalsorelatedtotheirexplicitlypoliticalconceptualisationandnarrativisationof

thescene.Thispoliticalmodetakesdifferenttacksinbothcases.Petesy’saffiliationwith

theanarchistWarzoneCentreandtheinfluenceofanarcho-punkbandslikeCrassand

PoisonGirlsinflectshisunderstandingofpunkandpolitics.Damieninsteaddrawsonthe

leftistpoliticsoftheClashandRockAgainstRacismtomakesenseofhisownexperiences

inwestBelfastandchallengedominantpoliticalreadingsof theconflict.Nevertheless,

thereisacommonthemeherethatwillbedrawnoutthroughanalysisofthenarratives.

ThisanalysiswillbedevelopedthroughLefebvre’sworkontheproductionofspaceand

oftherighttothecity,butalsothroughanunderstandingoftheembodiedandaffective

experienceofspace,andoftheclaimtoadegreeofautonomyintheurbanlandscape(the

right to the city)asencompassing thedesire to feel the citydifferentlyaswell as the

1Lefebvre,Henri,WritingsonCities,translatedandeditedbyElizabethKofmanandElizabethLebas(Oxford:Blackwell,1996);TheRighttotheCity:AVersoReport(London:Verso,2017).

205

demandfor“theexerciseofacollectivepowertoreshapetheprocessesofurbanization”.2

Toputthisslightlydifferently,Iaminterestedinhowthecityisconstitutedasasocial

spaceandthesocialrelationsandcontestationsthatentails;butIamalsointerestedin

thehybrid,experientialandfeltwaysinwhichthecityisnarratedasaspecifictypeof

placebyPetesyandDamien.3

Both interviews tookplace, severalmonthsapart, in theLinenHall Library in central

Belfast.Thiswaschosenasanalternativetothesmallcaféafewyardsawayfromthe

libraryon the corner oppositeCityHall,wheremost ofmyprevious interviewswere

conducted.Theinitialreasonforthechangewassimplythatthelibrarycaféwasquieter,

with no music playing and only the clattering of cups and plates to be heard when

listeningbacktotherecording.Onreflection,though,thisfeltlikeanappositechoiceof

location.TheLinenHallLibraryisanimportantnationalinstitution.Formerlibrarianand

foundingmemberoftheUnitedIrishmen,ThomasRussell,wasarrestedinthebuilding

in1796andlaterexecuted.Itholdsaremarkableselectionofdocumentsrelatingtothe

Troubles,theNorthernIrelandPoliticalCollection.Thelibraryfeelshistoric,inLauren

Berlant’ssense,affectivelyandmaterially;thestepsfromthestreetarewornandscuffed

bygenerationsoffeet.TalkingaboutpunkwithPetesyandDamieninthefaintlygenteel

caféoftheLinenHallLibraryfeltgenerative,jarring,upsetting.Itcreatedasituation,“a

stateofthingsinwhichsomethingthatwillperhapsmatterisunfoldingamidsttheusual

activityoflife”.4Thissenseofunfoldingorunravellingamomentofimportanceseems

likeausefulwaytothinkabouthowthepunkscenewasabletomakeplaces,conceptually

andmaterially,withinthestructuresandpowerrelationsof1970sand1980sBelfast,in

a similar way to how it remade the Linen Hall Library for a few hours during the

interviews.

BothPetesyandDamiendescribetheirencounterwiththepunksceneasexpandingtheir

senseofplace,inepiphanicnarrativesthatareimmediatelycomparabletothoseofAlison

2Harvey,David,‘TheRighttotheCity’,NewLeftReview53,2008,p23.3ThedistinctionmadebetweenspaceandplacehereisindebtedtoJosephPierceandDeborahMartin’s2015account,inwhichtheybringtogetherLefebvre’saccountofspatialproductionwithworkonthe“social,experientialandphysicaldimensionsofplaces”.SeePierce,Joseph,andDeborahG.Martin,‘PlacingLefebvre’,Antipode47,no.5(9October2015),p1279.4Berlant,Lauren,‘ThinkingaboutFeelingHistorical’,Emotion,SpaceandSociety1,no.1(1October2008),p5.

206

in chapter four. At the start of the interview, Damien described his childhood and

adolescenceinthemajority-CatholiccommunityofAndersonstown.

Interesting,really,Isupposeumtheperiodyou’reinterestedinismyteen

years.Itwasfunnybecauseitwasjustwhatyouknew,youdon’tknowany

different,you’reakid,youdon’tknowthateverybody’slifeisnotthesame

asyours.Yougotoschool,yougooutandplaywithyourmates,youseethe

army, there’s riots, there’s you know trouble – you try and stay out of

troublelikeanykid–andallthatisgoingonaroundyousoitwaskindof

very interesting times. And that was our norm, we didn’t know any

different,soyoujustadaptverywellbeingakidtothat.5

AlthoughDamien’snarrativewillgivepunkanepiphanicroleinchannellinghispolitical

experiencedownparticularavenues,it isimportanttonotetheexpressionofyouthful

adaptivenessthatbeginshisaccount,beforepunkhasplayedanyroleinhislife.Atthe

endoftheinterview,hereturnedtothewayinwhichhisengagementinpunkstretched

andtransgressedtheserelativelyconstrainedhorizons–horizonsthatarebothpersonal

andspatial,ormateriallimitsthatentailpsychicandsubjectivelimits.

Youknowitenabledmeasapersontostepoutsidemysmallhorizonsand

boundariesanditenabledmeto…obviously,yougetconfidencethrough

playing in bands, being on stage and that, and to express yourself,

artistically,coswewroteourownsongsandallofthat,itwasverygood,

verygood.6

For Petesy, from the majority-Catholic New Lodge area of north Belfast, his initial

encounterwiththeHarpBarhasasimilarresonancetoDamien’sexperienceofjoininga

band.

P:TheHarpwasgreat,itwasgoodformebecauseitwaslike–fromwhere

Iliveditwasabout15minutes’walk.Sortadownintothecitycentreonthe

5InterviewwithDamienMcCorry,2016. 6Ibid.

207

north side,Hill Street,which is theCathedralQuarternow.Youknow, I

mean,onfirstsightitlookedlikealotofotherbarsaround–Imeanwhere

I grew up all the bars had grills around them, sorta you know security

measures.

F:Theonly,I'veseentheSunflowerhaskepttheirsup,soI'veseenitthere.

P:Yeah,allthebarsusedtobelikethat.Andyouhadbuzzersonthedoors

andstufflikethatforgettinginlike.So,itlookedlikeanyotherbarexcept

theplace,thewholearearounditwascompletelyrundownandderelict,

thatpartoftownwascompletelydead.Butonceyougetinitwasjust,wow,

youknow,wall-to-wallpunks,andnotonlypunks,therewerepeoplewho

wenttherewhoweren'tpunks,butitwasjustlikeyouknow–itfeltlike

quiteahomelyandsafeenvironment.Andpeopleyouwouldneverhave

dreamedofmeetinginyourlife,fromdifferentpartsoftownanddifferent

classes and religions. So, itwas really interesting in that respecthaving

grownupinthissingleidentityareaallofmylife,allofasuddentobejust

inaplacewhereyouknew,youjustknewpeoplefromalloverthetown

anditdidn'treallyseemtomatter.7

What ties these accounts together is their understanding of how space, place and

subjectivity are imbricated. In Petesy’s story, thematerial markers of conflict (grills,

buzzers, security doors) and thematerial conditions of deprivation onHill Street are

contrastedwiththeinsideofthebarandits ‘wall-to-wallpunks’.Heevokesasenseof

howrelationshipsbetweenpeoplecanalterplacewhileremainingconfinedandbounded

bypowerandspace.Petesy’sdescriptionoftheHarpas‘ahomelyandsafeenvironment’

isalsostriking,bothinitsrefusaltoofferupthecasualtropeofpunknessasaggressive

or violent, and in the implicit contrast being made to the unhomely and unsafe

environmentofotherbars in thecity.TheHarp,Petesy says,wasaplace “whereyou

knew,youjustknewpeoplefromalloverthetownanditdidn’treallyseemtomatter”.8

As in the other interviews, the final clause proposes an understanding of the spatial

7InterviewwithPetesyBurns,2016.8Ibid.

208

politicsoftheBelfastpunksceneasnotbeingpredicatedonignoringdifference–which

inPetesy’saccountisnotaneatCatholic-Protestantbifurcationbutalsocomplicatedby

thevectorof class–butas insteadentailingcertainwaysofnavigatingandexploring

difference.9Morebroadly,thisissuggestiveofaparticularwayofthinkingaboutplace

andpoliticsinthecity,andaboutthestructureoffeelingofthepunkscene.

Space,placeandLefebvre

As described in the second chapter, the work of the French Marxist theorist Henri

Lefebvreiscentraltomyunderstandingofhowspacesareproduced,throughadialectical

relationship between representations of space, representational space and spatial

practice. His argument that emancipatory politics cannot “aim for power without

reachingfortheplaceswherepowerresides,withoutplanningtooccupythatspaceand

tocreateanewpoliticalmorphology–somethingwhichimpliesacritiqueinactsofthe

oldone,andhencetooofthestatusofthepoliticalsphereitself”illuminatesthewaysin

whichbothintervieweesinthischapterconceptualisetherelationshipbetweenpunkand

thecity,andtheirdesirefornewpoliticalspacesinBelfast.10But(giventhatneitherthe

WarzoneCollective or theClash created a ‘newpoliticalmorphology’ inBelfast), it is

neccesary to augment Lefebvre’s insightswith amore nuanced understanding of the

relationshipbetweenexperienceandspace–anunderstandingthatcanaskwhatitfelt

liketocreatecontingentandcircumscribedplacesofsocialityandsolidaritywithinacity

that remained stubbornly enmeshed within the logics of sectarianism, violence and

profit,andwhatthestructureoffeelingproducedfromtheseeffortswascomposedof.

This entails an engagement with two concepts – place and memory. Thomas Gieryn

arguesthat“aspotintheuniverse,withagatheringofphysicalstuffthere,becomesa

placeonlywhenitensconceshistoryorutopia,dangerorsecurity,identityormemory.”11

In both the statements from Petesy and Damien cited in the previous section of the

chapter, there is a clear sense of place as relational, that is, as entailing the relation

9Ibid.10LefebvreHenri,,TheProductionofSpace,trans.DonaldNicholson-Smith(Malden:Blackwell,1991),p38611Gieryn,ThomasF,‘ASpaceforPlaceinSociology’,AnnualReviewofSociology26(2000),p465.

209

between people, events, history,materiality and so on.What is helpful in Pierce and

Martin’saugmentationofLefebvre’sschemaisthattheyincorporatehisemphasisonthe

ontology of space (what space is constituted of, what it is) with the “consilience of

physical,socialandexperientialcomponents”ofplace–withthe“hybridepistemology”

ofplace,orwithwhatplacemeansandhowitfeels.12

BothspaceandplacearecentralinDamienandPetesy’saccount.Theydescribethecity

as a specific kind of space, produced by the intersection of symbols, practices and

experiences.Theyalsodescribetheirunderstandingsofandfeelingsaboutit,andtheir

attemptstointerveneinit,aswaysofcreatingaspecifickindofplace.FollowingPierce

andMartin, then, this chapterwill describe the “alternativebundles andhybrids that

produceplace”.13Theyarguethat:

Individuals experience place/bundles, but socio-political processes

producethebundles.Placesarecontingent:negotiatedagonistically,they

evolveintheeyesofparticipants,asinthecaseofneighbourhoodactivism

aroundurbanrenewal.Yettheyalsohavetrajectoryandpathdependency:

long-standing places are often resilient in the face of seemingly

transformational physical or political events, as in New Orleans after

HurricaneKatrina.14

Place,theexperienceofplaceandtheattemptstomakeplacesthatrelatetoaparticular

structureoffeelingaretheanimusbehindthepracticesPetesyandDamienbothdescribe.

Focusingonplaceaswellasspacealsomakesiteasiertothinkaboutthegeographical

purview of the punk scene while avoiding “the tendency toward a universal, class-

antagonistic“demanding”subjectinLefebvre”.15

Importantly, however, there is a double temporality in work in the interviews that

requires consideration of the relationship between place and memory. That is, the

analysisrequiresunderstandingthenarrativesasdescriptionsofplace-makingpractices

12PierceandMartin,‘PlacingLefebvre’,p1280.13Ibid.,p1294.14Ibid.,p1287.15Ibid.

210

inthepast,butitalsorequiresunderstandingthewaysinwhichmemoryisitselfaplace-

makingpractice.Thisdoubletemporalityisacharacteristicofalltheoftheinterviews

analysedinthethesis–soAlisonisdescribingtheformsofmobilitysheengagedin,but

she is also remembering them in a way that contextualises and makes sense of

contemporary Northern Ireland, for instance for thinking about how her daughters’

friendsnegotiatetheirsexualities;Garethisdescribingthewayinwhichthepunkscene

changedhisdispositionsandgeneratedhishabitus,butheisrememberingitfromthe

perspectiveofsomeonewhoseethicalandculturalframeworksarestillcastinthemould

hediscoveredinthemid-1970s.AsGierynsays,thematerialstuffthatconstitutesspace

“becomesaplaceonlywhenitensconceshistoryorutopia,dangerorsecurity,identityor

memory.”16Listeningtotheseoralhistoriesrequiresmakingsensebothofthepractices

beingrememberedandoftheirstatusasmemories,andoftherelationshipbothpractice

andmemoryhastoplace.

RememberingtheplacesofpunkinBelfast

Ina2011essayontheseminalBritishart-popbandPulp,OwenHatherleyconcludeshis

descriptionoftheband’scareerbysuggestingthat“theirworkreanimatesthemundane

citieswetrudgethrough,speaksbitterlyoftheinequalitiesweignoreandtolerate,andis

carriedmostofallonarefusaltoforgiveandforgettheslightsinflicteduponus”.17At

theirbest,Hatherleysuggests,Pulp’sworkisengagedwithinakindofséancewiththe

failed utopian possibilities of the 1970s, interspersed with the dismal reality of

Thatcherite and laterBlairiteBritain. Jarvis Cocker’s early lyrics in particular rely on

intenselyspecificevocationsofthegeographyofSheffield,usingnamesasplaceholders

foremotionsinamannerreminiscentoftheiruseinthenarrativesunderdiscussionhere.

ThenarrativeofplaceinPetesyandDamien’sstoriessuggeststhewaysinwhichpunk

‘reanimated’Belfast(andreanimatestheirmemoriesofBelfast),whilealsotouchingon

theinequalitiesanddivisionsthatmarkedtheirexperienceofthecityasyoungworking-

classCatholicsinthe1970sand1980s.Thisentailsmakinganinterventioninthelinks

betweenoralhistoryandculturalgeographyalreadytoucheduponinthesecondchapter,

andsituatingmyunderstandingoftheirnarrativesasonethat is informedbybothan

16Gieryn,‘ASpaceforPlace’,2000,p465.17Hatherley,Owen,Uncommon(London:ZeroBooks,2011),pp131-132.

211

ideaofplaceassocially-constructedandanideaoforalhistoryasprovidingamediated

andpartialaccesstosubjectivitiesthatarethemselvesbothpartialandfragile,asSean

Fieldsuggests.18Oralhistoriesgiveusawayofthinkingabouthowspaceandplaceare

constructed;placegivesusawayofthinkingabouttheintersectionofsubjectivity,power

and materiality that can be perceived in the interviews. This understanding of the

dialoguebetweenplaceandoralhistorynecessarilyalsoentailsanunderstandingofthe

waysinwhichpastandpresentareconstantlyinteractingwithintheseaccounts.

InhisresearchondislocationandviolenceinapartheidSouthAfrica,SeanFieldargues

that“theplacesandspacesinwhichpeoplehaveplayed,workedandlivedovertimeare

crucialtotheirdevelopmentasindividualsandascommunities”.19Hedescribestheways

inwhichlifestoriesinterweavethepastandpresentinaseriesofinterviewswithAfrican

families forced to move from Windermere, near Cape Town, under segregationist

apartheid laws between 1960 and 1963. These stories include a great deal of

remembered pain and distress, as well as a critical nostalgia for “the physical and

emotionallossofacommunitydestroyedbyapartheid”.20Theproblemsofthepresent

that emerge in the interviews are contrasted with narratives of community,

neighbourlinessandwarmththatrecreateWindermereasaprelapsarianidyllformany

ofField’sinterviewees.“TheromantictoneandlongingfortheWindermerepastreflects

agenuinedesireforthepleasuresandrelativefreedomsofbeingyounginavibrantsemi-

ruralsquattercommunity,”hesays.21

Muchoftheviolenceandpovertyoftheareaisoccludedhere,but–followingAlessandro

PortelliandPaulThomson–Fieldemphasisesthewaysinwhichthismyth-makingserves

apurposeinthepresent,atthemomentofitstelling,asawaytocomposeandsettlean

unsettledsenseofselfandofhistory.Inthissense,itisaformofplace-makingaswell,

onethatreconstructsasiteinnarrativewhilealsosuggestingthewaysinwhichidentity

and subjectivity are generated throughan engagementwith thematerialworld. Field

concludes:"Sitesofmemoryare locatedwithinafluidwebofmeanings,whichsignify

18Field,Sean,OralHistory,CommunityandDisplacement:ImaginingMemoriesinPost-ApartheidSouthAfrica(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2012).19Ibid.,p39.20Ibid.,p54.21Ibid.,p59.

212

that thepast remainsopen tonew insightsandproblems in the future.”22Theway in

whichPetesyandDamiendifferentiatebetweenBelfastnowandBelfastwhentheywere

young suggests how these insights and problems emerge in oral history interviews,

whichdescribethepracticesofthepastinwaysthatilluminatethepresentandthefuture

beingnarratedandimaginedbytheinterviewee.

ThemovementbetweenpastandfutureisespeciallyapparentinPetesy’saccountofhow

punkkepthimawayfromanyinvolvementinviolence.“Ittookmeoutofalifestylethat

Iwouldhave,fornotknowinganybetterthatIwouldhavejustfollowedanddonewhat

everyonearoundmewasdoing.Andfollowedthattrack.Thateveryonewasfollowing

youknow.Itsortatookmeawayfromthatandshowedmeotherpossibilities.”23

StephenBrooke,ina2017essayontheaffectivegeographyof1980sLondon,relatesthis

ideaofplace-drivenmyth-makingtoRaymondWilliams’sconceptofstructuresoffeeling,

contendingthat“everydayexperience,emotionandspaceformedanaffectiveecologyin

1980s London which helped shape and was shaped by a particular culture of

democracy”.24MattCooke,writingaboutthegaysquattingsceneinBrixtonofthe1970s

and1980s,makes a similarpoint about the relationshipbetweenemotion and space,

althoughunlikeBrookeheisworkingdirectlywithoralhistoryinterviewsratherthan

archivalmaterial.“Thesquatterstalkedmoreandlessexplicitlyaboutthewaysinwhich

their backgrounds and personal histories in the 1950s and 1960s modulated their

subsequentexperiences inMayallandRailtonRoad,but theyalsodescribehowthose

experiences in turn informed later life choices and shaped their subsequent

understandingsofthemselvesandtheirrelationshipswithothers.”25

Attentivenesstotheformandcontentofthesenarratedexperiencescanhelphistorians

understandtherelationshipbetweenthelocalandthenationalaswellastherelationship

between past and present. For bothwriters, it is possible to spatialise ‘structures of

feeling’inawaythatgeneratesnewunderstandingsofboththefeelingsandthespaces.

22Ibid.,p116.23PB,2016.24Brooke,Stephen,‘Space,EmotionsandtheEveryday:TheAffectiveEcologyof1980sLondon’,TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory28,no.1(1March2017),p112.25Cook,Matt,‘“GayTimes”:Identity,Locality,Memory,andtheBrixtonSquatsin1970’sLondon’,TwentiethCenturyBritishHistory24,no.1(1March2013),p108.

213

SarahAhmed’sworkonemotionsasembodiedsocialexperience,whichsuggests that

“affective economies are social and material, as well as psychic”, fits well alongside

Williams’sworkasamodelforthinkingabouthowemotionsandpoliticscirculateamong

bodies and spaces in oral history narratives.26 An example of thiswill be seen in the

‘sticky’emotionalityofPetesy’srecollectionofanarcho-punkgigsintheACentreandthe

spurthisprovidesforsettingupGiro’sandtheWarzoneCollective.27

Insummary,then,spaceandplace,andpastandpresent,arebroughttogetherinboth

theseinterviews.Readingthemmeansthinkingabouttheproductionofspace(through

representations, practices and symbols); it also means thinking about place as it is

experienced,feltandknown.ItalsomeansthinkingaboutBelfastinthe1970sinrelation

toBelfast in2016,and the temporalelisionsdescribedbySeanFieldandapparent in

theseaccounts.ThiswillbeshowninitiallyinmyinterviewwithPetesyBurns.

PetesyBurns

HowplacefunctionsinPetesy’snarrative,andhowitrelatestoastructureoffeeling,is

alsorelatedto theway inwhichhisengagementwithpopularculturebothmadehim

aware of his own horizons and raised the possibility of discovering others. His first

awarenessofpunkmusiccameaboutnotthroughactuallyhearingthemusic,butrather

inreadingthenewsthattheSexPistols’GodSavetheQueen(atnumbertwointhecharts

in1977)wouldnotbebroadcastontheradiobecauseofitsshockingcontent.“Itsortof

hadthateffectonalotofpeople,youknow,ifitwasbanned…whatbetterpublicitycould

yougetyouknow.AndthenIsortofsookthatoutandjustreallylovedthewholespirit

ofthewholethingandwantedtoknowmoreandmoreaboutit.”28Itisinthispursuitthat

thespatialparametersofhisaccountbecomeclearer.

Yeahatthattimeagainsortoflifewasveryself-containedandyoudidn't

reallygooutofthatareatoomuch.Andtherewasarecordshopnearto

CarlyleCircus–about fiveminutes fromwhere I lived, Iwas skint then

26Ahmed,Sara,TheCulturalPoliticsoftheEmotions(Edinburgh:EdinburghUniversityPress,2004),p46.27PB,2016.28PB,2016.

214

anyhow,soIjustwentinbychanceandthereitwas–thesingle,GodSave

theQueen,youknow.Yeah,so,andthatwasit.AndthenfromthereIthink

justthemoreyougotinvolvedandthemorebandsyouwenttosee–uch

therewasalotofrecordshopsinthetowncentresothelikesofCaroline

Musicandthen[I]eventuallydiscoveredGoodVibrationsandplaceslike

that,therewasquiteafewindependentrecordshopsinthemidtolate70s

inBelfastyouknowsotherewasneverreallyan issuegettinganything.

Youknowbutitwasjust,asyousay,therewasnointernet–youhadto

physicallygothroughtherecordcollection.29

Record shops provide an infrastructure for developing Petesy’s interest in punk, a

physicalandembodiedexperienceofexplorationthathecontraststothedisembodiedor

atomisedexperienceoffindingmusiconline.Thiscontrastsuggestsoneofthepossible

movementsbetweenpastandpresentinoralhistorynarratives,wherethepast(finding

recordsasanspatialandsocialpractice)isusedtocritiquethepresent(findingmusic

onlineasametonymforatomisation).

ThisearlyinterestinthepunksceneeventuallyleadstoPetesyformingaband.

Likematesjumpinguponthestageinbetweenbandsorsomethinginthe

Harpanddoingacoverofoneofyourfavouritebandsorsomething–chaos

–butitwasjustagradualprocessofyouknow,andthenyouknowthere

wasacoupleoffriendswhohadabandandtheirbassplayerleftandthey

saiddoyouwanttojoinsortofthing,sothatwas,itwasjustthestartof

thatprocess,beinginvolvedinadifferentlevel.30

Findingplacestogigandtorehearsewasdifficult,however.TheHarpBarclosedin1981

or 1982 – subjected to a short-livedWestern-themedmakeover, “wagonwheels and

nooses and things like that … quite embarrassing”.31 The Pound, near Oxford Street,

29Ibid.30Ibid.31Ibid.

215

would occasionally put on punk gigs, but inconsistently –what is implicit in Petesy’s

narrativehereisthatitalsolacksthesenseofcommunitythathedescribesinthePound.

Nahnah,definitelyseparate, so therewasn’ta lotofopportunities–we

would've had a few places, maybe the Manhattan, which is down near

VictoriaStreet,justaregularvenue.Butsortofveryearly80s,verylittle

happening,soyoufoundyourselfplayingwhereverpeoplecouldorganise

gigs.Sothey'dbeallovertheplace,outof town,upthewest,wherever,

playing inyouthclubs,whateveropportunityyoucouldget toplay.The

AnarchyCentrewasagreatplace[but]itwasshortlived.32

There is an ambivalent edge to thepositively-inflected sense ofmobility punk allows

Petesyinthisaccount.Itissuggestivenotjustofmobilitybutalsoofthecontingencyand

dependencythatmadethemobilitynecessary,thusavoidingtheapplicationofanostalgic

(oranuncriticallynostalgic)lenstothisperiod.

TheAnarchyCentre

Asdiscussedinthethirdchapter,theAnarchyCentrewasonlyopenforaboutsixmonths,

butmarksaninterestingintersectionbetweenthepunksceneasayouthcultureandthe

older, more politicised but often more middle-class anarchist culture that coalesced

aroundJustBooksandtheuniversity.Petesydescribesthisintersectionwhilereiterating

its ephemeral nature – although despite its ephemeral nature, it is apparent that the

anarchistemphasisonDIYcultureandmutualaidhadalastingeffectonPetesy,onhis

senseofcommunityandhishabitus.“Punkswouldalwaysgoonaboutanarchyandstuff

likethat…inasortofincoherentandnihilisticwaybutherewereabunchoftheoretical

anarchistswhoweresortofputtingtheirmoneywheretheirmouthwasandactuallyit

was–buthavingsaidthatitwasreallyveryshortlived.”33Despitethis(anddespitethe

tensionPetesydescribesbetweentheidealisticanarchists’desiretopoliticisethepunks

andthepunks’continuedcommitmenttohedonism,andparticularlytosniffingglue),the

nascent social centre takes on a central role in his narrative as hedescribes his own

32Ibid.33Ibid.

216

conversiontoamorepoliticallyactiveunderstandingofthepunksceneandofhisband’s

role within that scene. The epiphanic moment here occurs when the the venue

temporarilyreopensforgigsfromtwoBritishanarcho-punkgroups,CrassandPoison

Girls.

F:DidyouseetheCrassgigsandthePoisonGirlsgigs?

P:Yeahweplayedwithbothofthem,mybandStalag17playedwiththe

PoisonGirlsandplayedwithCrass.AndactuallyIwasprettymuch–atthat

pointIwasstillfirmlyentrenchedinthesorta,notwhatIwouldcallthe

fashionendofpunkbuttheapolitical,thehedonisticsortachaostypething,

andthatwasthefirsttime…andIwouldhavealwaysdismissedCrass…

[Longpause…F:Hectoringorpreachy?]…Noteventhat,justtheway,just

took the line from the media, basically saying they were middle-class

hippies.Andjusttookthatlinewithoutreallyhavingmetthemorthought

aboutit,andthenwhentheycameImetthemandsawhowengagedthey

werejustwithpeople,outsideofbeingonthestage,sittingabout,notbeing

stars, just being really interesting and interested, you know. And then

seeingthebandandthespectacleofit–becausetheyhadalltheirfilmsand

bannersandthemthemselves,justcompletelyengaging,itwasjustlikea

completelydifferentkindofexperienceandyousortathought,that'swhat

punk'sabout.

F:[Youthought]there'ssomethingthere?

P:Anditreallygrabbedyouyouknow.Andthatreallywasaturningpoint

formepersonally.34

Petesydescribesthewayinwhichthebandoccupyeverydayspaceinaparticularway:

“Sitting about, not being stars, just being really interesting and interested.” This is a

spatialperformancethatisfundamentallydifferentfromtheperformancethatisvisible

34PB,2016.

217

in,forinstance,theClash’smuch-malignedpublicityshotsfromtheirfirstvisittoBelfast.

Thisisawayofbeinginthesocialworldthatavoidsgeneratingadistancefromtheband

and the fans, suggestive of Crass’s desire to find a different route than the dead-end

hedonismofearlypunkbandsliketheSexPistols.Inausefulaccountoftheband’scareer,

GeorgeMcKayarguesthat“whatwasdifferentaboutCrasswasthatherewasapost-punk

bandwhosesolereasonforexistencewasthattheyweregoingtochangetheworld”.35

Asthedescriptionofthegigabovesuggests,Crass’sattemptstochangetheworlddidnot

exclusively entail sloganeering and the vocal espousing of left-wing political causes.

Rather, it consisted of an anarchistic desire to engage in the micropolitics of space,

dispositionandaffect,wherehowyouengagedwithanaudienceandhowyoubehaved

offstagewerethenecessarystartingpointforactivismandorganising.Thismeansthat,

as McKay and Petesy both argue, Crass’s aesthetic and politics were founded on an

internaltension,inthisaccountthetensionbetweentheirdeliberatelylow-keypresence

offstageandtheirhighlychoreographed,agit-propstageshows–“thespectacleofit…

alltheirfilmsandbanners”.Petesy’sstoryconcludeswithahighlyphysicalsenseofthe

wayinwhichCrassinhabitedthespace–“itreallygrabbedme…thatreallywasaturning

pointformepersonally”–whichindicatesashiftinhisnarrative.

ThetensionapparentherebetweenCrass’suseofspaceonstageandoffstagesuggest

two types of spatial practice. On stage, the use of symbols and performance is a

spectacular claiming of space as a form of politics, but an inherently transient and

temporary claim; it is theatrical and bounded, in a similar way and with similar

limitationstothecarnivalesqueappropriationsofpublicspacedescribedbyJohnNagle

inhisapplicationofLefebvretocross-communityparadesandcelebrationsinBelfast.36

Off stage,Petesy says, “Imet themandsawhowengaged theywere justwithpeople,

outsideofbeingonthestage,sittingabout,notbeingstars,justbeingreallyinteresting

and interested, you know”.37 This encompasses a different, more quotidian sense of

spatialpractice,asadescriptionofhowacertainsetofdispositionsrelatedtothewayin

whichoneoccupiesaroomcanhaveaffectiveandsignifyingcomponents;inthissenseit

35McKay,George,SenselessActsofBeauty:CulturesofResistanceSincetheSixties(London:Verso,1996),p76.36Nagle,John,‘SitesofSocialCentralityandSegregation:LefebvreinBelfast,a“DividedCity”’,Antipode41,no.2(25February2009),pp326–347.37PB,2016.

218

isimmediatelyrelatabletoGareth’saccount,inthepreviouschapter,ofgoingtotheHarp

for the first time and feeling welcome rather than intimidated despite the daunting

appearanceofthebar.

SaraAhmedasks:“Howdoemotionsworktosecurecollectivesthroughthewayinwhich

theyreadthebodiesofothers?Howdoemotionsworktoalignsomesubjectswithsome

othersandagainstotherothers?”38Herargumentisthatemotionsandfeelings–shame,

pain,love,fear–arestickyintwosenses;thatis,theyadheretothebodyoftheperson

whoexperiencesthem,constitutingaformativehistorysimilartotheembodiedhistory

ofthehabitus inBourdieu,buttheyalsomovebetweenbodiesandacrossgroups like

burs, sticking toothers throughcontact. “The impressionswehaveofothers, and the

impressions leftbyothersareshapedbyhistories thatstick,at thesametimeas they

generatethesurfacesandboundariesthatallowbodiestoappearinthepresent,”Ahmed

concludes.39InPetesy’saccountofmeetingCrassabove,heisarrestedbytheirdesireto

occupy space in a particular way, creatingwhat is for him a history that sticks. The

epiphanicrolethatencounteringanarcho-punk(ratherthanjustpunkassuch)playsin

hisnarrativeisreinforcedbyhisaccountofseeinganotherbandfromthatsmallscene,

Conflict.

Andtheyplayedinaweesmallbar,Conflictwere[stretchesoutinthechair

toindicatethesizeoftheladsintheband]Imean,tall,andbigspikyhair,

itwasjust…andColinthesingerwasjustsoangry,youknow.Anditwas

suchaspectacletoseethepowerofthatanger.Ofthatsortof,someone

whowasreallyfuckedoffwiththewaythingswereandwasgoingtodo

somethingaboutit.Stufflikethat.40

The remainder of the interview was about Petesy’s role in setting up the Warzone

Collective,alonger-lastinganarchistsocialcentre,caféandrecordingstudio.Heexplains:

38Ahmed,Sara,‘CollectiveFeelings:Or,theImpressionsLeftbyOthers’,Theory,Culture&Society21,no.2(1April2004),p25.39Ahmed,‘CollectiveFeelings’,p39.40PB,2016.

219

“YeahtheACentreopenedin‘81andCrassplayedin‘82,that'sright.So

umtheyreallysowedtheseedsforwhatwealldidlater.AfterCrassand

thepoliticisationthing,Stalag17wentfrombeinglikeapartybandorjust

anotherpunkbandtohavingabitmoreofapoliticalorananarchistslant.

EventhoughImightnothavequiteunderstooditatthetime[laughter]I

stillwantedtoidentifywiththatideaofdoingthingsforyourselfandall.

Andthroughthatwemetotherpeopleliketheotherbandaboutlocallythat

would have professed anarchism at that timewas ToxicWaste, so they

would'vebeenbasedinNewtownardssotheystartedtocomeintotown

and we would've shared gigs. And basically through that, through that

camethecatalyst,forwhatbecametheWarzoneCollective.Nowthiswas

‘83,‘84.Andagainwewerejuststartingtogetouracttogetherintermsof

poolingresourcesandorganisinggigs.Sortatryingtoeducatepeopleabout

whatwasgoingonintheworld.AndatthatstagealsotheJustBooks–there

wasacaféinJustBooksandtheoneswhohadbeenrunningitgaveitup.

Sowetookiton.”41

ThecafébecametheWarzoneCollective,asitefromwhichPetesyandothermembers

correspondedwithotheranarchist-inclinedbandsandgroups,mostly fromEngland–

“Dirt, Conflict, Subhumans.”42 Petesy explained that although even in the early 1980s

manybandswereunsureabouttheriskandthelogisticsinvolvedincomingtoBelfast,

thosewithapoliticalbenttendedtobecuriousaboutthesituation.“Likealotofbands

talkingaboutsocial issuesandsingingaboutsocial issues, tome theoneswhomeant

somethingactuallymadetheefforttocomeandtrytounderstandwhatwasgoingon.Did

theirheadsinmostlylike,youknow,becausetryandexplain…(laughter).”43Thereisan

interesting interplay here between the desire of the bands to practice their politics

through coming to Belfast, Petesy’s admiration for this commitment but finally the

impossibilityofmakingcomprehensiblethecomplexityoftheNorthernIrishsituation.A

furtherstrandinthisnarrativeisPetesy’srealisationthatevenwiththecaféasabaseof

operationsandwiththeincreasinglytransnationalnetworkthisenabledhimtogenerate,

41Ibid.42Ibid.43Ibid.

220

theirgroupsremainedlargelyatthemercyofvenueownersandconcertpromotersin

termsofsettingupgigs,leadinghimandhisfriendstodevelopthespaceintoarehearsal

spaceandoccasionalvenue.Thismarkedasignificantstepinthepoliticaldevelopment

of Stalag17 aswell asPetesy, allowing them todevelop a less commercial andmore

confrontationalapproachtomusicandsongwriting.

TheWarzoneCollective

Andthatwasthewholethingandweweregoingeverythingwedohere

and everythingwe create – andweweren't really interested inmaking

moneyourselves–buteverythingwedoitgoestosomeoneelse.Andthat

fairenoughwherethebandsareconcerned,theydeservethemoney,blah

blahblah.Butwe'regivingthismoneytoallthesebarsallthetime,what

thehelllike,whataboutjusthavingourownbloodyplacelike.Sothatwas

fromabout‘83or‘84thatideaofletsjusttryanddothis.44

Thisdesiretocircumventthevagariesandwhimsofcommercially-drivenclubsandbars

isalsomotivatedbyathree-weektripStalag17tooktoEuropeinthemid-80s.

Squatsandsocialcentres,anditwasjust…actuallythatwasthebasisfor

Giro's,fortheWarzoneCentre.OurselvesandToxicWastehadbeenaway

andwecamebackandweweretalkingaboutthatmodelandgoinglike,

that's fantastic, it's fantastic, and it'swithin the realmsofpossibility. So

yeahthe,that'swhatIlovedabout,therewasnorockstarattitudes,people

cameandjustcameforwhattheygotbasically.45

ThetransnationalconnectivitydescribedhereisreminiscentofAlison’snarrativeofher

triptoLondonandherfeelingsaboutJohnPeel’sradioshow(thatwhenlisteningtoitshe

nolongerfeltlikeanisolateddotinBelfastbutpartoflargerfabric).Itisalsosimilarto

Gareth’s description of going to Scotland for university but retaining his punk

dispositions–“youcantaketheBelfastoutoftheboybutyou,or,youcantaketheboy

44Ibid.45Ibid.

221

outofBelfastbutyoucan'ttakeBelfastoutoftheboy.”46Thisisalsoamobilitystoryin

thesamewaythatsomeofAlison’snarrativesare,suggestiveofthedynamicbetween

Belfastandelsewhereand theexperienceofmovingbetween them.Withhelp froma

Rathcoole charity and the Unemployed Centre near Donegall Place, Petesy and other

membersoftheWarzoneCollectiveexpandtheircaféintoafully-fledgedsocialcentre

and gig venue, called Giro’s (after the popular name for unemployment benefit).

FollowingafewminutesofchatabouttheperiodisedwavesofpunkfashioninBelfastin

the ‘70s and ‘80s, the interview tookon amore intense tone asPetesydescribed the

processofsettingupthecentre.

Thisis‘86,soIwas24.We’dnothingbuttimeonourhands.Sowewentin

andjustcompletelyrefurbishedthisplace,gotthegroundfloorreadyand

turneditintoapracticeroom.Andwithinafewmonthswehadliketwo

practiceslotsaday,fouratweekendsorsixatweekendssomethinglike

that,theywerebookedoutsolidwithinacoupleofmonthswithjustbands

generallycomingtotheplace.Andthenthecaféopened,wehadascreen

printingworkshopandstufflikethat.Andthathappenedwithin,wewere

initaboutayear,lessthanayearbeforethecaféopened,andthecaféthen

wasit.Assoonasthecaféopenedtheplacewasestablished.Peoplewere

coming–andnot justpunks–peoplewerejustcomingtoseewhatwas

goingon.47

The animated performance of this epiphanic narrative, and its position at the arc or

centreoftheinterview,suggestsitscontinuedimportancetoPetesy’ssenseofself,and

totheaccountheiscreatingofhowhaving“nothingbuttimeon[his]hands”allowedhim

andtheotherfoundingmembersofthecollectivetomaketheirownplaceinBelfast.This

is also an account that links Petesy’s experience to the connection between the

‘libertarianleft’andthepost-punkscenedrawnoutbyDavidWilkinsonand,toalesser

extent,SimonReynolds.48The“prefigurativebuildingofalternativeinstitutionsbuilton

46GM,2016.47PB,2016.48Wilkinson,David,Post-Punk,PoliticsandPleasureinBritain(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2016),pp37-77;Reynolds,Simon,RipitUpandStartAgain:Post-Punk1978-1984(London:Faber&Faber,2005).

222

principles of sharedownership anddemocratic control… co-ops, left trades councils,

women’sandcommunitycentres,independentprintingpresses,radicalbookshops”isa

featureofwhatWilkinsoncallsthe ‘libertarianleft’,drawingontraditionsthatstretch

backtothecounter-cultureofthe1960s.49TheWarzoneCollectiveispartofthishistory,

butitalsoneedstobereadthroughthespecificityofitspositioninBelfast,whichisnot

directly addressed in the interview fragment above, but becomes clear when Petesy

describedtheotherimpetusforsettingupthecentre.

Whilerunningtheoriginalspacetheyinvitedbandsovertoplaywiththembutfoundthat

“youwere just constantly at themercyofpeoplewhoownedbars and clubs…we're

givingthismoneytoallthesebarsallthetime,whatthehelllike,whataboutjusthaving

ourownbloodyplacelike.Sothatwasfromabout‘83or‘84thatideaofletsjusttryand

do this”.50 This lack of infrastructure is one specific aspect of the centre’s position in

Belfast,whichlackedtheresourcesofcitieslikeManchesterasdescribedbyWilkinson.

Thesecondistodowiththesectariandivisionofthecityandthecapacityforpropinquity

thattheplacegenerated.

Asdescribedinchaptertwo,ShirlowandMurtaghsuggestthatincontemporaryBelfast,

“communityandhistory[serve]asmicro-territorialconstructions,whichreinforcethe

manner through which the presentation of hostility was a valid and necessary

sectarianisationofspace”.51InthesectarianisedgeographyofBelfast,thecreationofa

socialcentrethatactivelyattractspeoplefromdifferentcommunities(andnotjustpunks,

asPetesymakesclear)isaninterventioninthisgeography,albeitonethattakesplacein

therelativelyneutralspaceofthecitycentre.“TheJohnHewitt,there’sanarchwaythere,

andthroughthatarchwaythere’sabuildingontheright.Itbelongstotheunemployed

centre now so it does but thatwas ours then,” Petesy explained.52 It is this claim of

ownershipovertheplacethatgivesapresent-orientedaswellasapast-orientedheftto

thisnarrative;asdiscussedbyJohnNagleandothers,theneoliberalurbanreimagining

49Wilkinson,Post-Punk,2016,p42.50PB,2016.51Murtagh,BrendanandPeterShirlow,Belfast:Segregation,ViolenceandtheCity(London:PlutoPress,2006),p96.52PB,2016.

223

ofthecitycentreofBelfastmayreinforceitsneutralornon-sectarianstatusbutitdoes

sowhilevalourisingtheroleofcapitalincreatingpeace.53

Beyondthesectarianisationofspacedescribedaboveandinchaptertwo,then,itisalso

importanttothinkaboutthisnarrativeinthecontextoftheUnitedKingdomasawhole.

In an extensive analysis of the way in which Thatcherism affected Northern Ireland,

Gaffikin andMorrissey concede that theprovince is somethingof an aberrationhere.

Thatcheritepolicyhasanunevenimpactbecauseoftheregion’shistoryofindependent

administration,thelevelofautonomygrantedtosuccessivesecretariesofstateandthe

backdrop of violence against which policy is conducted.54 However, attempts to

regenerateBelfastthroughcommercialmeansarecomparabletothoseseeninEngland.

Thesepolicies(EnterpriseZones,theLagansideDevelopmentOrder)arepredicatedona

logicofeconomicrationalitybasedonatrickle-downmodelthatassumesthatprivate

sector successwill invigorate thewhole city; as Gaffikin andMorrissey indicate “the

processhasalsoinvolvedconsiderablesocialcosts,includingcommunitydislocationand

effective disenfranchisement”.55 In this sense, The Warzone Collective is not just an

intervention in sectariangeographybut ina city centre that is shapedbycommercial

imperatives. In Lefebvrian terms, there is an obvious tension here between the

representation of space – that is, space as it is conceived of by the city planners and

business-owners“regardedbygovernmentaspre-eminentinvestorsandemployersina

modernurbaneconomy”,andtherightforpeopletoshapethecityinwhichtheylive.56

ToreturntoLefebvre,Petesy’sstoryofsettinguptheWarzoneCollectivecanbereadas

anactualisationofhisinsightthat“thecityisanoeuvre,closertoaworkofartthantoa

simplematerialproduct”.57Ifweunderstandurbanspaceasbeingshapednotonlyby

53SeeforinstanceNagle,John,‘PotemkinVillage:Neo-LiberalismandPeace-BuildinginNorthernIreland?’,Ethnopolitics8,no.2(1June2009),pp173–190;Ramsey,Phil,‘“APleasinglyBlankCanvas”:UrbanRegenerationinNorthernIrelandandtheCaseofTitanicQuarter’,SpaceandPolity17,no.2(1August2013):164–179;forafascinatingaccountoftheattemptstoutiliseurbandesignasapeacebuildingtoolinBelfastsincethe1970sandasetofproposalsforhowthisshouldbedoneinthefutureseeGaffikin,Frank,ChrisKarelse,MikeMorrissey,ClareMulhollandandKenSterrett,MakingSpaceforEachOther:CivicPlace-MakinginaDividedSociety(Belfast:Queen’sUniversityBelfast,2016).54Gaffikin,FrankandMichaelMorrissey,NorthernIreland:TheThatcherYears(London:ZedBooks,1990);seealsoCurtis,Jennifer,‘“ProfoundlyUngrateful”:TheParadoxesofThatcherisminNorthernIreland’,PoLAR:PoliticalandLegalAnthropologyReview33,no.2(1November2010),pp201–24.55Ibid.,p125. 56Ibid.57Lefebvre,WritingonCities,,p101.

224

design(representationsofspace)andbysymbols(representationalspace)butalsoby

thethirdaspectofLefebvre’striad,spatialpractice,theWarzoneCollectivestandsasan

attempttointerveneinthesocialandspatialstructuresofthecity.“Butattheendofthe

daywewerespendingourtimejustdoingnothinghangingaboutthetowncentreand

therewasadireneed,therewasadireneed,”Petesyconcluded.58Astheinterviewcame

towardsanendwediscussedtheafterlifeoftheWarzoneCollective,whichmaintainsa

limitedpresence in thecity,althoughexclusivelyasanoccasionalvenue forpunkand

metalmusicratherthanasasocialcentre,caféorrehearsalspace.59

“There’saplacenowwhichisWarzoneinnamebutit’snotreally…it’snotreallylike

whatwedid.TheplaceinDonegallStPlacelastedforfiveyearsandthenwemovedupto

DonegallLane,farbiggerpremises,anditlastedfor12years.So17intotal.‘86itopened

and2003 it closed.Therewas a very temporarypremisesdownonLinenHall Street

there,”Petesyexplained.60

Ourswasmorelike,ourideawastohaveasocialcentre,aplacewhereyou

could utilise the building rather than just it being closed all week and

havinggigsattheweekend.Whichisbasicallywhatitis,it’savenuenow

like.Andavenuewasonlypartofwhatwewantedtodo,weneverhada

venueforyears,wehadthecaféandthepracticeroom[…]Itwasthedaily

thing,itwasthe…butthenhavingsaidthatwewereallonthedolethen

and even towards the end of theGiro’s that Iwas involvedwith itwas

becoming really difficult for people to volunteer, to find the time to

58PB,2016. 59ItisalsointerestingtorelatetheWarzoneCollectivetocommunityworkinNorthernIrelandinthe1970sand1980s,whichisdescribedinafragmentedbuteffectivewayinthepersonaltestimoniescollectedbytheNorthernVisionsOurGeneration archive.An anonymous introduction to the archive attests to the“experiments in building new community structures” that emerged during the conflict. “There wereunprecedented levels of participation by local people in tenants and housing action committees,community associations and advocacy groups,” it suggests. In this context, the Warzone is part of apatchwork quilt of organisations that emerged in the cracks left by the state’s failure to supportcommunitiesinBelfast–twoexamplesareattemptstoimprovepoorhousingconditionsinbothProtestantandCatholicenclaves,ortoprovidesupportforwomenaffectedbytheconflict.Petesy’sdescriptionoffluxanduncertaintyasoneaspectofbeinginabandinthisperiodismorewidelyapplicabletoallformsofcommunityorganisingandgrassrootsinitiatives.Seehttp://ourgeneration.northernvisions.org/,accessedonline19/5/18.60PB,2016.

225

volunteer,becausetheywerejustbeingpressuredintoschemesandinto

youknow,soImean,itmaynotbesustainabletohavethemodelwehad.61

The impossibility of maintaining the Warzone Collective under current economic

conditions–especiallythemorestringentrestrictionsonemploymentbenefitthatput

claimants under pressure to show that they are applying for jobs – means that the

possibilitiesofthespacearereduced.“Itreallyis,definitely,youknow,andpeople–we

just had very unique circumstances and grew up in a different culture.”62 What is

particularlystrikinghereisnotsimplytheevocationofthecultureof1970sand1980s

Belfastasadifferentculture–atropecommonlydeployedintemporalisingnarrativesof

NorthernIreland’srecenthistory–butasadifferentculturethatcanconnoteapositive

ratherthannegativesetofconnotations.63Ifthereisakindofnostalgiaatworkhereitis

acriticalnostalgia.

AndrewBurkedescribesthisformofpresent-critiquingnostalgiaas“amanifestationof

utopianlongingpoliticallynecessaryinanerawheresubstantivepoliticalchangeseems

moreorlessimpossible”.64ThisisnottosaythatPetesy’snarrativeexpressesadesire

forareturntothepast.TheWarzoneCollective’sroleasastabilisingforceinthefluxand

uncertaintythatcharacterisehisdescriptionofBelfastinthe1980ssuggestsanimplicit

critiqueof theprecarityofhisposition in thisperiod.Butas inSvetlanaBoym’s1994

account of utopian nostalgia in Russia as a longing for a common place that has

disappeared, there is a sense inwhich the radicalpossibilitiesof the1980saremore

difficulttograspincontemporaryNorthernIreland.65Inthisway,nostalgiagivesussome

access to “the residual traces of the past … a crucially important archive of dreams,

desiresandpoliticaldemandsthatwouldotherwisebelosttothepresent”.66Thissense

61PB,2016.62Ibid.,p10.63Dawson,Graham,‘Memory,‘Post-Conflict’TemporalitiesandtheAfterlifeofEmotioninConflictTransformationAftertheIrishTroubles’,pp257-297,inCorporaal,Marguérite,ChristopherCusackandRuudvandenBeuken(eds.),IrishStudiesandtheDynamicsofMemory:TransitionsandTransformations(Oxford:PeterLang,2017).64Burke,Andrew,‘Music,MemoryandModernLife:SaintEtienne’sLondon’,Screen51,no.2(1July2010),p105;seealsoBoym,Svetlana,CommonPlaces:MythologiesofEverydayLifeinRussia(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1994),especiallypp283-291andPyzik,Agata,PoorButSexy:CultureClashesinEurope,EastandWest(London:ZeroBooks,2014).65Boym,CommonPlaces,1991,p291.66Burke,‘Music,MemoryandModernLife’,2010,p106.Asintheprevioussection,theimpactofThatcherismonNorthernIrelandisalsoevidenthere,eveninthejoltinglymanageriallanguagethat

226

isreiteratedatthecloseoftheinterview,wherePetesydescribeshowhethinksbeinga

partofthepunksceneaffectedhislife.

Afteramomentofhesitationatthescaleofthequestion–atthedifficultyofassessingthe

impactamomentoraseriesofmomentscanhaveonesomethingasmobileandhardto

pindownasalife–Petesyconfidentlysaidthatpunkhadchangedhislife,acknowledged

thistobeacliché,butavoweditanyway.Itintroducedhimtopositionsandexperiences

hewouldneverhaveencounteredotherwise,headded,citingthegay-friendlynatureof

thesceneasunusualforBelfastatthattime.

Totally, totally[unusual],aswasmeetingaProtestant,aswasyouknow

lotsofthings,culturalthings,meetingpeoplewhohadsnootyaccentsfrom

theMaloneRoadorwherever,butyounever,youknow,maybeinschool,

but in yourdaily life peoplewho youwere engagedwith involvedwith

peoplewenton to getmarried across thedivide and things like that so

clichéthoughitisitwasatotallifechangingexperience.Yeah,andstill,I

wouldcarrythoseprinciples, tryandcarryyourlife inthatway.Getting

thatsortofgrounded…andsuchaninsightintosomanydifferentminds,

there’salotofsloganeeringinpunkaboutchangingthings,whenyouget

to the likesofCrassandbands like thatwho justwent into it youwere

readingthemandyoudidn’tunderstandhalfofitbutitwasreallygreat,it

was like an education, you were going this is taking that idea of

sloganeeringandgoingwellactuallylookatthefoundationofthis.67

This relates to the statement quoted earlierwherePetesyuses a spatialmetaphor to

describehowpunkchangedhissenseofmobilityandpossibility.Punk,hesays“tookme

outofa lifestyle that Iwouldhave, fornotknowinganybetter that Iwouldhave just

followedanddonewhateveryonearoundmewasdoing.Andfollowedthattrack.That

inflectsPetesy’sexplanation–“itjustwasn’tsustainabletohavethemodelwehad”.Writingin1990,GaffikinandMorrisseyexplain:“Operatingundertheconceptofabsoluteratherthanrelativepoverty,theconservativeshavesimultaneouslyreducedthemeasureofbenefitssupportforthemostdependentgroupswhileemphasisingjobcreationprogrammes.Withintheregion[NorthernIreland],thishasresultedinproportionatelygreaterhardshipbecauseofthehigherbenefitsdependencyration.”SeeGaffikinandMorrissey,NorthernIreland,p111.67PB,2016.

227

everyonewasfollowingyouknow.Itsortatookmeawayfromthatandshowedmeother

possibilities”.68Bothdescriptionsofferanunderstandingofthedispositionsgeneratedin

thepunksceneaslong-lasting,ashavingacontinuedresonanceinhowPetesylivesand

thinks.As inDamien’s interviewbelow, italsoconsiderstherelationshipbetweenthe

pastandthepresent.Thisimmersioninthepunksceneascreatingaspaceforcritique–

as well as creating a material place where differences of class, sexuality and ethno-

political identity could be negotiated in particular embodied, groundedways – is the

strandthattiestogetherPetesy’sinterviewwithDamienMcCorry’s.

DamienMcCorry

Damien’sinterviewbeganwithareflectionontheareawherehegrewup.

WestBelfast,placecalledStewartsdownPark, it’s inAndersonstown.So

that’swherewe,Iwasbroughtup.MumandDadstilllivetheretothisvery

dayand,ah,quiteafewofthefamilystill livearoundthere,youknow.I

wouldgoupandseethemacoupleoftimesaweekandthestreethasn’t

changed, the people haven’t changed, you know, but that’s the way it

goes.69

Fromtheoutset,then,thisaccountestablishesachronotropicconceptionofhistory,one

inwhichtimethickensandspacerespondstothecongealingofnarrativetime.70Akey

insight of the suggestive, if somewhat allusive, chronotopic analysis of narrative

proposed by Bakhtin is that “our historical imagination emerges through dialogical

interactions across multiple chronotopes”, or that different spaces are charged with

differenttemporalitieswhendescribedthroughstories.71AsinPetesy’snarrative,certain

sitesareidentifiedwithcontinuityandotherswithchange–inDamien’s,itisnotablethat

thedomesticsphereassociatedwiththehomeremainsrelativelystable,whilethepublic

68Ibid.69DM,2016.70Bakhtin,Mikhail,VNVolshinovandPNMedvedev,TheBakhtinReader:SelectedWritingsofBakhtin,MedvedevandVolshinov(London:EdwardArnold,1994),p184.71Wirtz,Kristina,‘TheLiving,theDead,andtheImmanent:DialogueacrossChronotopes’,HAU:JournalofEthnographicTheory6,no.1(1June2016),p344.

228

sphereofBelfastasacityisassociatedwithchangeandprogress,aswewillseebelow.

Hecontinuedhisdescriptionwiththeaccountquotedatthestartofthischapter–“You

gotoschool,yougooutandplaywithyourmates,youseethearmy,there’sriots,there’s

youknowtrouble”–andthesuggestionthatadaptationtothisdisruptionwasthenorm

foryoungpeopleinwestBelfast.72

ForDamien,thisadaptationwasaidedbyaninterestinmusic,whichquicklybecamean

interestinboththepoliticsandthecultureofthepunkscene.

Ithinkit’sjustit’saculturething,it’swhatwashappeningmusicallyatthe

timethatwasagood,itwasallpartoftheyouthcultureatthetime.Iwas

verymuchinterestedinthewholepoliticalsideofit.Whichwas,OK,you

knowtherewastheanarchistsideofitbutitwasmoreRockagainstRacism

[RAR],CampaignforNuclearDisarmament[CND], itwaspartofayouth

movement,asmuchasjustaboutthemusicandthebands[…]Butwewere

very much, there was a movement there which felt you could change

things,thisideathatyoudidn’thavetobesignedbyEMI,thatyoucoulddo

thingsyourself.73

MuchlikePetesy,DamienfindshimselfengaginginapoliticsofthecitythatconnectsDIY

punkculturetoLefebvre’sideaoftheoeuvre,oneinwhichthecityisnotunderstoodas

thematerialisationofexchangevalue,butasaspacethatis“createdandrecreatedevery

daybythequotidianpracticesofurbaninhabitants”.74And,inanotherechoofPetesy’s

account, Damien’s interest in RAR and the CND renders Belfast cosmopolitan, not an

atavisticremainderofinternecinereligiousconflictbutasitemarkedbytransnational

eddiesandcurrents.Hisfirstbandbegintoorganisetheirowngigsaroundthecity,after

asuccessfulfirstgigattheCosmosyouthclubinAndersonstown.Thisleadstoencounters

withdifferencethatreorientthechildhoodperspectiveexpressedatthebeginningofthe

interview.

72DM,2016.73Ibid.74Purcell,Mark,‘CitizenshipandtheRighttotheGlobalCity:ReimaginingtheCapitalistWorldOrder’,InternationalJournalofUrbanandRegionalResearch27,no.3(13October2003),p578.

229

Itwasgreat,becauseoneofthereallyinterestingthingsaboutitwasthat

certainlyeverybodyinmyband–Ionlycantellmyexperiences–Iwouldn’t

havemetaProtestantperson[strongemphasisonthelastwordhere]ever.

Right?Didn’thappen,therewerenonenearme,didn’tgotomyschool–

wewereinourghetto,youknow.Andyouknewwhattheywereandthey

weresupposedtobetheenemyandthatbutyouknowwhatever,younever

metarealone.UntilIstartedplayinginthebands,andyoucameintothe

centre of Belfast, and Iwasmeeting guys from theNewtownardsRoad,

meeting guys from other parts of Belfast. Who you know, different

tradition, et cetera, and then you realise these guys are just thinking,

they’re young people thinking the same as I do, they may be from a

different faithorwhatever.Andhowcouldwe support things likeRock

against Racism if you’re holding kind of, you know, if you’re having

sectarianthoughts.Youcan’tsaywellracism’swrongbutsectarianism’s

OK,youcan’tdothat.Soitwasreallyrefreshing.AndIknowalotofthe

otherguysfeltthesamebecausethecentreofBelfastandtheplaceswe

playedwerenon-sectarian.Theyweretheonlyplaces…ImeanIcouldn’t

havewalkedintoabarontheSandyRoworontheZetlandRoad,I’dhave

beenintrouble.Andequally,someonefromtherecouldn’thavegoneinto

abarinmyplaceorthey’dhavebeenintrouble.Butinthepunkscenenone

ofthatfeaturedatall.Itwasgreat,reallyrefreshing.Butthethingwasthat

wecouldn’treallybringbandsfromotherplacesintoourarea,youknow,

sowhenwewerehavinggigsinthatareaitwasbandsthatwerekindof…75

Thisisanuancedaccountthatissuggestiveofthepoliticallytransformativepossibilities

ofmakingnewspaceinthecity,oftheaffective,‘refreshing’,natureofthesepossibilities

incontrasttothestiflingenvironmentofsectarianism–butalsoofthestructurallimits

thatthisevocationoftherighttothecity invariablyencounteredinBelfast inthe late

1970s.Thepunkscene’scapacitytoreinventplacesisbothtemporaryandcontingent,

andisnotacapacitythatcanbemademanifestacrossthecityasawhole.Thisissimilar

75DM,2016.

230

to the dynamic apparent in Matt Cooke’s reading of squatters’ testimony, where he

thoughtfullyidentifies“theneedtosituate‘beinggay’morecarefullywithinanetworkof

identities,identifications,andassociations,whichintersectandmodulateeachotherin

differentwaysandatdifferenttimes”.76Damien’saffiliationwiththepunkscenedoesnot

makehimsafeorsubjectivelycomfortableonSandyRowortheZetlandRoad.Strikingly,

headdsthat“wecouldn’treallybringbandsfromotherplacesintoourarea”,trailingoff

ratherthandescribingthe“bandsthatwerekindof…”whowerewillingtoplayinthe

majority-nationalistcommunityofAndersonstownandsimilarCatholicenclavesinWest

Belfast – presumably, bands from or associated with nationalist communities. The

unspoken final clause here is partly just a typical apothegmatic strategy of polite

Northern Irish conversation. But it also shows the difficulty of incorporating this

structural problematic into the narrative, a narrative that broadly cleaves with the

collectivememoryamongNorthernIrishpunksofthesceneasnon-sectarianinaway

thattranscendedthesekindsofstructuraldivisions.Passerinisays:“Oralsourcesrefuse

to answer certain kinds of questions; seemingly loquacious, they finally prove to be

reticent or enigmatic, and like the sphinx they force us to reformulate problems and

challenge our current habits of thought.”77 In this example, the problem being

reformulatedisthatofthepunksceneasun-ornon-sectarian;evidently,itmakesmore

sensetounderstanditasconsistingofaconstellationofspatialpracticesthatcouldbe

non-sectarianunder therightconditionsbut thatdidnot transcendthe field inwhich

theywereperformed.

AfurtherreflectiononthespatialconstraintsinvolvedinlivinginWestBelfastfollowed.

Damiendescribestheringofsteel,beingsearchedcominginandoutofthecity,andthe

difficulty of transporting amps and guitars from home to gigswhen public transport

tendedtostoprunningquiteearly.

Welltherewasblacktaxis,therewas–youknowtheblacktaxisranlater–

althoughtobehonestifyouwerewalkinglateatnightthroughtownand

uptotheblacktaxirank,IthinkitusedtobeonCastleSt,withaguitarand

76Cooke,‘GayTimes’,2013,pp99-100.77Passerini,Luis,FascisminPopularMemory:TheCulturalExperienceoftheTurinWorkingClass,trans.RobertLumleyandJudeBloomfield(Cambridge,CambridgeUniversityPress,2010[1984]),p91;seealsoField,OralHistory,2012,p127,forathoughtfulreflectiononthisdynamic.

231

an amplifier – you’d better have about five or six friendswith you. Cos

otherwise[laughing]youweren’tgoingtogetasfarasthetaxi,certainly

notwithyourguitar!78

Aswith some ofmy other interviewees –HectorHeathwood’s interview is a notable

examplehere–casualviolenceiscasuallyintroducedasasortofenvironmentalfactorin

the everyday life of teenagers in Belfast.79 The following section will expand on the

relationshipbetweenviolenceandplaceinthesenarratives.

Violentspacesandvulnerability

Damien’srelativesuccessinbandsdidnotmakeanenormousimpressiononhisparents,

heexplained,echoingthesensegivenatthebeginningofhisinterviewofthedomestic

sphereasrelativelyfixedincomparisontothemulti-faceted,shiftingpublicsphere.

MydadwashappythatIwasplayingmusic,helikedmusicevenifitwasn’t

tohis…Idon’tthinktobehonesttheyreallyappreciatedthehalfofwhat

was going on. Imean theywere very busy, I come from a family of six

children.SoreallywhenIwasn’taroundyouwereofftheradarandthat

wasfine.80

Thisindifference,however,wasunsettledbyanincidentinhislateteens.

78DM,2016.;duringtheconflict,blacktaxiswereusedasanunofficialsubstituteforbuses,especiallyforresidentslivinginpartsofthecitywherethetransportnetworkwasoftendisruptedbyviolence.SeeWiedenhoft,MurphyWendyAnn,‘TouringtheTroublesinWestBelfast:BuildingPeaceorReproducingConflict?’Peace&Change35,no.4(8September2010),pp537–560.79Hectorsaid:“Itjustgottothestage,I’msurealotofpunksdid,itgottothestagewhereifsomebodycalledyousomethingonthestreetyoujustwentforthemcoshalfthetimetheywouldbackoff–ohhewaspissingaround,leaveit–andthenitwasgrand,butallofthat,ifyouweregonnagetakickingyouweregonnagetakickinganywayyoumightaswellgetthefirstsmackin.WhatcanItellyou,(jovially)whatdoesn’tkillyoumakesyoustronger.Yeah,yeahbutImeantheClashgigs,IalwayslikentheClashgigstoabitlike,haveyoueverbeenin,likeariot.(F:No,notreally)WellIwasinafairfewEastBelfastriotsatthetimetheywereusingbatonroundsbuttheClashgigswereabitlikeariotsettomusic.”InterviewwithHectorHeathwood,2016.80DM,2016.

232

But I remember one night, oh man, I was thinking I was maybe 17, I

definitelywasn’t18Iwasstillatschool,we’dplayedinBelfastandIthink

itwasupinArdoyne,theShamrockBar.Andoneoftheguyslivedacross

thestreetfromme.Andwewereallmeanttogetalifthomebutthisgirl

waslike,girl,Imean,tomeshewasawoman,shewas21or22,tookashine

tomeandtookmebacktoherapartmentonCliftonvilleRoad.AndIwas

happilyspendingthenight therethinkingthis isgreat, livingthedream,

rockandrollblahblahblah,andwhathadhappenedwaswhenmymate

gothomeandmumknewIwasout,wouldn’t settleuntilyougothome.

Thensherealisedthebigguyacrosstheroadwashomesoshesaystomy

dad,whereishe,sohehadtogoandgethimup,whothentookmydadand

showedhimwhereI’dgone,soI’mthinkingI’mlikerealpunkandliving

thedreamandallthiswiththiswoman,butmydadstartsbatteringonthe

door – about half two in the morning – to take me home. I was like

[performsasortofall-overadolescentcringe;laughter]hewasgonnakill

me,mymumwaslikewherewereyouatthistimeofnight,andtobefair

thatwasareallytoughtimeinBelfast.Late‘70s,peopleweregettinglifted

offthestreetsandtakenawayandtheywerefounduptheHightownRoad

orwhatever.SoImeanIgetitbutwhenyou’re17or18andyou’regetting

[with]agirlyoudon’t…thinkaboutit,notatall,andwe’dbeendrinking

andplayingandjustwhatever.AndasIsaythiswaspre-mobilessoyou

couldn’tcallortextorphone,hewasn’tahappybunny.81

ThisisananecdoteinDanielJames’ssense.Thatis,itisa“moralitytalewithbothasocial

and an individual register … about proper and improper behaviour, responsible and

irresponsibleactions,aboutthewaytheworldisandthewayitoughttobe”.82Spatial

performanceandplace-makingonlygoessofar.Anarchetypaladolescentnarrativeof

casualsex,performedintheconventionalregisterofslightlybashfulmasculinityfromthe

perspectiveofanolderandwiserperson,isinterruptedbythememoryofviolenceand

fear.“Late‘70s,peopleweregettingliftedoffthestreetsandtakenawayandtheywere

81Ibid.82James,Daniel,DoñaMaría’sStory:LifeHistory,MemoryandPoliticalIdentity(Durham:DukeUniversityPress,2001),p172.

233

founduptheHightownRoadorwhatever,”hesays.Theperformanceof“thinkingI’mlike

realpunkandlivingthedream”isinterruptedbyafirmreminderoftheperformance’s

staging,andoftherealthreatofabduction.

ItappearsthattheHightownRoad(whichpassesthroughthenorthofthecitytowards

thebackofCaveHill) isbeingusedhereasanoff-handexampleofanisolatedpartof

town.Itisworthnoting,though,thattheHightownRoadiswherethebodiesofPaddy

WilsonandIreneAndrewswerefoundaftertheyweremurderedbytheUlsterDefence

Association(UDA)in1973.JohnWhite,thecommanderoftheUDAfrontorganisationthe

UlsterFreedomFighters,wasconvictedofthemurdersin1978,aroundthetimethatthis

storyistakingplaceinDamien’snarrative.83LikethetranspositionofBloodyFridayinto

Gareth’snarrative inthepreviouschapter, this issuggestivebothof theway inwhich

culturalmemoriesoftheTroublesinformsthewayinwhichmyintervieweesremember

theperiod,andofthewayinwhichrememberedfearmarksthetextoftheinterviews

indelibly if sometimes near-imperceptibly. Peter Shirlow, describing Belfast after the

peaceprocess,arguesthat“thenarrativesandrealityofconstantlyprotectingplaceand

religioussegregationarestillinterlinkeddevicesinthewholeenactmentofdiscordand

conflict”–GarethandDamien’sevocationofsignalmomentsofviolencethatseepinto

theirnarrativesfromotherpartsofthepasthighlightthewayinwhichthesenarratives

permeatethestoriestoldaboutNorthernIreland’srecenthistory.84

The almost-conventionality of the story (teenage hijinks; stretching the bounds of

responsibility;parentalstrife;reflectionontheparentalrelationshipfromthepositionof

fulladulthood)istroubledbytherecognitionthatthelate1970swas“areallytoughtime

inBelfast”.As inAlison’s interview, then, thepotentialviolenceofparticularspaces is

presentintheintersticesofthenarrative,butnotfullyincorporatedintoit.

Directlyafterthisstory,stillreflectingonhowhisparentsfeltabouthisinvolvementin

thepunkscene,Damienmootedthattheydidatleastappreciatethatittookuphistime

83Rowan,Brian,‘LoyalistWhiteapoliceinformer:SpecialBranchrecruitedkiller’,BelfastTelegraph,February21st2006,accessedonlinehttps://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/loyalist-white-a-police-informer-28108844.html14/8/1884Shirlow,Peter,‘Ethno-SectarianismandtheReproductionofFearinBelfast’,Capital&Class27,no.2(1July2003),p93.

234

andpreventedhim frombecoming involved in sectarianorviolent elementsof youth

culture,orfromjoiningtheparamilitaries.

It givesyouanoutletandalso itkeptmeoutof trouble fromanyother

paramilitaryactivityoranythinglikethat,sowhereasquiteanumberof

my peers would’ve got involved in that kind of stuff – as happened to

teenagers inWestBelfast.Butall theguysthatplayedwithmeinbands

they never had any because [F: All your free time, I suppose] well, we

weren’t hanging around the street corners to be preyed on by these

people.85

The choice ofwords here – “preyed on” – is suggestive, and reflects the dual spatial

vulnerability that Damien’s description ofWest Belfast evokes. On the one hand, the

possibilityofbecomingavictimofsectarianviolence,asinthefirststory;ontheother,

the possibility of responding to this threat by joining a paramilitary group like the

ProvisionalIRA.

A final sense of the interaction between punk as a spatial practice and the forces of

sectarianismandclassthatstructuredspaceinBelfastcomesinDamien’sstoryabouthis

firstjob,inthelaboratoriesattheRoyalVictoriaHospital.

ThefirstdayIstartedtheguy,theyputmeintothislabwithaguywhowas

ahorriblepersonandhesaidtomehere,takeyourearringsout.Isaidno,

hesaidI’mtellingyoutotaketheseearringsout,IsaidIwasinterviewed

with these earrings in got the job with the earrings in and nobody

mentionedit,Isaidgirlsareinherewearingearrings–soiftheytaketheirs

out,cosweneedtoforhealthandsafetyreasons[F,redundantly:Hygiene!]

I’venoproblem,andhehatedmeforeverafterthat.86

85DM,2016.86Ibid.

235

Asintheaccountofhowsomebandscouldn’tplayinWestBelfast,wegetanideahereof

howpunknessasasignifierofdifferencefunctioneddifferentlydependingonplaceand

position.

PunkandplaceinDamien’snarrative

Like Petesy, Damien’s account of place is explicitly related to a broader structure of

feeling.ItissimilarlyrelatedtotheDIYethosofpunk,andalthoughitisnarrativisedina

differentwayhere,thereseemstobeasimilarsenseinwhichthepunkscenefunctions

asaresponsetoafeelingofbeingignoredormistreatedbysocialsystemsandstructures.

Youknowitenabledmeasapersontostepoutsidemysmallhorizonsand

boundariesanditenabledmeto…obviouslyyougetconfidencethrough

playing in bands, being on stage and that, and to express yourself,

artistically,coswewroteourownsongsandallofthat,itwasverygood,

verygood.Andthatcan-domentality.ImeanmostoftheguysthatIknow

fromwaybackthenwouldbeyouknowalotofthemwenton.ImeanI

startedabusinessalotofmyfriendsstartedbusinesses.87

The entrepreneurial verve expressed here takes a different form from the anarchist-

mindedethosexpressedinPetesy’sinterview,butthedesiresareroughlycoterminous–

to generate spaces and institutions that circumvent Belfast’s existing spaces and

institutions. This desire plays a role in composing the narrative and the subject both

PetesyandDamienarepresentingwithintheinterview.

And I’m not saying, that might have happened anyway, but it was this

cultureofwedon’tneedyoutogivemeajob,Icanstandonmyowntwo

feet.Idon’tneedyoutogivemearecordcontract,wecanmakeourown

music,doourownthing.AndIthinkthat’sdefinitelybeenathreadthrough

mylifeyouknow.88

87DM,2016.88Ibid.

236

Thisavowalofpunknessasa‘thread’thathascontinuedtounravelthroughthelifecourse

isacommonthemeinnearlyallofmyinterviews.89

Damienconcludedourdiscussionbyreturningtothelinkbetweenpoliticsandplacein

theBelfastpunkscene.

AndIthinkit,someoftheideasfromthepunkwerestillveryvalid.The

anti-nuclearthing,theanti-racismthing.ImeanwewereataRockagainst

RacismgiginDivisFlats,verynearDivisFlats,therewasabigchurchhall

there[F:IthinkI’veseenapicture]yeahandthatwasamazing,StCongall’s

HallIthinkitwas,andwedidRockforCambodia,wedidsomewherenear

thereaswellwhichwassponsoredbyBluePeter,somethinglikeBluePeter

was involved in that,wedidaRock forCambodia thing.Thatwasquite

novelyouknowandtherewereacoupleofmusicfestivalsinWestBelfast

weplayedattherewasabandcalledtheLidswerereallyreallygoodback

intheday…90

This account, again, links politics in Belfast to broader political currents – but it also

stresses the importanceof the local, theembodiedand thespecific.Toreturn toMatt

Cooke’sarticleonsquattinginBrixton,it“showshowthecontingenciesofeverydaylives

furthermodulated [political] involvement, and brings into sharper focus the array of

localisedeconomic,material,personal,andhistoricalfactors,whichcomplicatedpolitical

activism,counterculturalidentifications,andidentityandcommunityformations”.91Itis

reminiscentofEamonnMcCann’sproudassertion,whenreflectingonNorthernIreland’s

positioninthe’68protests,that‘wewerepartofthat’,internationally;itinsistsonseeing

89See,forinstance,JohnCallaghanonwatchingGoodVibrationsforthefirsttime:“Lookingaroundandyouseeallthesemiddle-agedmen,draggingtheirpartners…comingout,everysingleoneofusmisty-eyed,lumpinthethroat…Ifounditreallyemotionaltobehonest.Justrightattheendtheyshowedpictures.Iknewacoupleofpeopleinit,notgreatfriendsbutjustpartofthebigfraternity,acoupleofthemaredead,youknowwhatImean,JesusChristwasthatreally30-oddyearsago.”InterviewwithJohnCallaghan,2016.90DM,2016. 91Cook,‘GayTimes’,2013,p109.

237

theproblemsfacingnationalistcommunitiesinBelfastaspartofaconstellationofsocial

andpoliticalissueswithoutattemptingtoelidetheircomplexityorspecificity.92

Thiswasdrawnoutfurtherinourfinalexchange,inwhichDamiensetupadichotomy

betweencertainpunkbandsthathefeltweremore interested inthesceneasasetof

emptysignifiersthanasasetofpoliticalandspatialpractices.

Idon’twanttonamenamesaboutsomeofthebandsbutsomeofthebigger

bandsthatweregettingagoodbitofpublicrecognition–someof them

werefromgoodschoolsandverywell,youknow,parentswereverywell

sorted,fromanuppermiddleclassbackgroundshallwesay.AndI’mnot

sayingwhattheyweredoingwasinvalidorbeingcriticalofwhattheydid

atallbutitwasn’tquite,itdidn’thavetherealismofweareactuallyfrom

the streets of West Belfast, where it is really bad. And you’ve never

experiencedthatbecauseyougotoCampbellCollegeandyourparentstake

youfortwoweekstoSpaineverysummer.93

Thereisanimportantcorrectiveherebothtototalisingnarrativesofthepunkscenein

Belfast and to totalising narratives of punk in general as a form of working-class

resistance.

Ithinkwestartedtoviewsomeoftheconflictsinadifferentwaybecause

wewereprobablyveryleft-leaningthenwelookedatthesituationandwe

didn’t see it as a Catholic versusProtestantwekindof looked at it and

thoughtyouknowthepeopleontheShankillRoadwhohavenojobs,the

guysabovethemthepoliticiansandtheleadersandallthem,they’retelling

themthatthey’venojobscostheCatholicshavetakentheirjobs.Goover

the Falls Road you’re being told the Catholics have no jobs cos the

Protestants,andwethoughtwesawitasmaybemoreofaclassstruggle,

thatthatwaswhatwaswrong,andthatpunkmaybecould–anditmaybe

92EamonnMcCann,quotedinPrince,Simon,‘TheGlobalRevoltof1968andNorthernIreland’,TheHistoricalJournal49,no.3(2006),pp851–875.93DM,2016.

238

changedbutwecertainlywereanti-establishmentwewerecertainlyanti-

governmentbutyouknownotmuchchangedofthat.Iremembergoingto

Ballanahinch, Enoch Powellwith his famous rivers of blood speech,we

werethereprotesting.Weallwentthereandprotested.AndI’msureitwas

Ballanahinchwewenttowewentprotestingbackthen.Sothatwasallpart

ofwhatwedid,certainlyformeandmybandthatwasintegraltowhatwe

did.94

LikePetesythen,Damienexplicitlyconnectshisengagement inthepunkscenewitha

structureoffeelingthatmadeitpossibleto“creepintotheutopiangambleofsomething

else…toembracefuturefeelings”,inBenHighmore’smemorableformulation.95

Conclusion

ThischapterhasanalysedinterviewswithPetesyBurnsandDamienMcCorrytosuggest

thatforthem,engagementinthepunkscenemadeitpossibletotakepart informsof

urbanpoliticsthatattemptedtoreworkspaceinBelfast.DrawingontheworkofHenri

Lefebvre as well as on rearticulations of his work that emphasise themultiplicity of

possibleexperiencesofplace,itsuggestedthattherearetwotemporalitiesatworkhere;

PetesyandDamienbothfeltthatpunkallowedthemtochangethecitytheywereinin

the1970sand1980s,buttheyalsoexperiencethecontemporarycityindifferentways

becauseoftheirmemoriesofthepunkscene.Thisdoubletemporalitygeneratesakind

ofcriticalnostalgiaintheirnarratives,allowingforanuancedcritiqueofthepoliticsof

spaceinpost-peaceprocessBelfastaswellasanaccountofthesectarianisationofspace

theyrememberasafeatureoftheBelfastoftheiradolescenceandyoungadulthood.

94DM,2016.AsDamienalludesto,PowellismostlyrememberednowforaracistspeechhemadeinApril1968asamemberoftheConservativeParty’sshadowcabinet,expressingfearandalarmaboutimmigrationintoEngland–“AsIlookahead,Iamfilledwithforeboding.LiketheRoman,Iseemtosee‘theRiverTiberfoamingwithmuchblood.”SeeHillman,Nicholas,‘A“ChorusofExecration”?EnochPowell’s“RiversofBlood”FortyYearsOn’,PatternsofPrejudice42,no.1(1February2008),p83–104.However,inhislatercareerhewasalsotheUlsterUnionistMPforSouthDown,between1974and1987.ItisstrikingherethatDamienappearstoelideprotestsmadeagainstPowellatsomepointduringhissojourninNorthernIrelandwiththespeechitself,whichwasmadeinBirmingham,butthenatureoftheactionbeingdescribedisunclear.95Highmore,Ben,CulturalFeelings:Mood,MediationandCulturalPolitics(London:Routledge,2017),p133.

239

FollowingMattCookandStephenBrooke,thechapterproposedthatwecanunderstand

thisaccountofthespatialpoliticsofthepunksceneasrevealingaspatialisedstructure

offeeling,oneinwhich“emotionwasalsorootedinphysicalspace[and]politicalaction

revolved around changing the emotional culture of that physical space—making

everyday lifeemotionally,aswellasmaterially,morefunctional”.96Thinkingof this in

termsofwhatLefebvrecallstherighttothecity,wecanappreciatethedoublefunction

of this claim, one that operates to explain Petesy’s desire for a venue that was not

implicated in either capitalist or sectarian logics, but also the affective resonance he

attributes to the Crass gig at the Anarchy centre; and one that explains Damien’s

evocationofurbanpoliticalprotestbutalsothefeelingofmeetingpeoplefromProtestant

backgrounds and challenging your preconceptions or concerns: “You know, different

tradition,etcetera,andthenyourealisetheseguysarejustthinking,they’reyoungpeople

thinkingthesameasIdo,theymaybefromadifferentfaithorwhatever.”97

ReadingLefebvreviaPierceandMartin, then,andconsideringboth theproductionof

spaceandtheexperienceofplaceinPetesyandDamien’snarratives,theargumenthere

isthatathirdandfinalfacetofpunkasastructureoffeelingisvisibleintheiraccounts.

If Alison stresses the feeling of anxious mobility and exciting transgression her

engagementinpunkgenerated,andGareththefeelingofchangingoneselfinrelationto

spaceandtootherpeople,PetesyandDamienemphasisethehopefulfeelingofpossibility

generatedbytryingtochangethecityitself,alongwiththefrustrationandfeargenerated

bythedifficultyofexercisingthispossibility.Theconclusion,below,willbringthesethree

facets together to propose a finalway of thinking about the punk scene inBelfast as

rememberedbymyinterviewees.

96Brooke,‘Space,EmotionsandtheEveryday’,p142.97DM,2016.

240

241

CONCLUSION

IntroductionThe conclusionwill return to the two sets of questionsproposed in the introduction.

Firstly,inlightofboththeinterviewanalysisandthehistoricalaccountsofsectarianism

andspaceinBelfast intheprevioussixchapters,whatdidthepunkscenemeantoits

participants?Secondly,howisthismeaningexpressedthroughoralhistorynarratives,

andwhatcantheconstructionofmeaningthroughmemorythatischaracteristicoforal

historynarrativestellusaboutthepunksceneandaboutNorthernIrishmemoryculture?

Inthisfinalsection,thesequestionswillbereconsideredinlightoftheinstitutionaland

spatial histories of the first two chapters, themethodological discussion of the third

chapter,andtheoralhistoryanalysesofthefinal threechapters.Thisentailsbringing

eachofthechapterstogethertoconsiderthedifferentaspectsofpunkasastructureof

feelingthatisexpressedintheinterviews,andlinkingthistothequestionofpunkasa

memoryculture.Havingdonethis,Iwillconcludebyproposingthesignificanceofthese

findingstoworkonoralhistory,toworkonculturalmemoryinNorthernIreland,andto

workonthehistoryofthepunkscene.

Researchquestionsandpunkasstructureoffeeling

ThecruxofthefirsttwochaptersisthatsectarianisminNorthernIrelandneedstobe

understoodasahistorically-constitutedstructure.Inthefirstchapter,Iproposedthatwe

thinkofsectarianismasdoubly-articulated,thatis,asbeingaproductofinstitutionsthat

also permeates and shapes everyday life. In the second chapter, I proposed that the

production of sectarianised space is one of the centralmodalities throughwhich this

structuralsectarianismhasbeenexpressedinBelfast,particularlyfollowingthepartition

ofIrelandin1921.Takingbothoftheseargumentstogether, Iwouldsuggestthat it is

importanttobesomewhatcautiousinassigningthequalityofnon-sectarianismtothe

punkscenefortworeasons.Firstly,becausethisargumentwouldmistakesectarianism

forafundamentallyinterpersonaldynamicwhichpunkcouldunsettleorresistsimply

242

through the act of bringing young Catholics and Protestants into the same spaces.

Secondly,becauseitseparatesthepunkscenefromtheeverydaylifeofwhichitwasa

part; asmy intervieweessuggest,beingapunkwasnota totalising identificationand

punk-ness coexistedwith other factors such as class and gender in constituting their

subjectivities.

Wherethisleads,alongwiththeinterviewanalysisinthefinalthreechapters, istoan

understandingofthepunksceneasastructureoffeelingembeddedinitssocial,material

and cultural world that was experienced and understood differently by its various

participants.

ForAlison,thestructureoffeelingsheencounteredthroughherengagementwithpunk

wasonethatmadethetransgressionofcertainsocialnorms,expectationsanddiscourses

possible. Inhernarrative, thismademovementpossible–movementbothacrossand

withinthe linesofclass,sectarianismandgenderthatbisectedNorthernIrishsociety.

Moregenerally,thisisanaspectofthestructureoffeelingthathastwofaces.Ononeside,

itmakesAlisonabletoperceivemoreclearlythelineamentsoftheconflictinNorthern

Ireland and provides a set of inflections and formulations that make a critique of

NorthernIrishsocietypossible.Ontheother,itisanembodiedsenseofpossibilitywhich

manifestsitselfinhernarrativeasmobility,asthecapacitytoperformthiscritiqueby

havingbothProtestantandCatholicfriends,bydressingdifferently,bymovingthrough

spaceintrajectoriesthatdonotattempttofundamentallyalterthelinesofdivisionin

NorthernIrelandbutthatdodrawattentiontotheconstructednessandinequityofthese

lines.ThestructureoffeelingthatcomesthroughmostclearlyinAlison’saccountisone

ofpossibility,inwhichthingsthatdidnotusuallyhappeninDungannonorBelfastwere

madeabletohappenbyherinvolvementinthepunkscene.Thisisanemergentelement

ofthestructureoffeeling,oneofthe“indefiniteanddiffusesensualforms”thatcanbe

partofthepicturewithoutsolidifyinginto“anexplicitsociopoliticalformsuchasapathos

towardssuffering”,inBenHighmore’swords.1

1Highmore,Ben,‘FormationsofFeelings,ConstellationsofThings’,CulturalStudiesReview,Vol.22No.1,2016,p144-167.

243

InGareth’s account, the structureof feeling ismore internal andmore tangible inhis

senseofselfthanitisasamovementacrosstheexternalparametersofNorthernIrish

society, although still related to the idea of possibility. Subtly, he proposes two

interconnectedmoodswithinthepunkstructureoffeeling,thatofhedonismorsimply

fun,andthatofcreativity,productivityandchangingyourselfthroughanengagementin

creativepracticeslikeplayingmusicorwritingfanzines.Butassuggestedinchapterfive,

Gareth also resolves the discomposure that this split mood creates in his narrative,

contrastingthepassivityofhisyoungerselfwiththeroleofhisolderselfasacollector

andassomeonewithahistoricalperspectiveonthepunkscene.Thissuggestsanother

commonality with Alison’s account. The structure of feeling of punk as creating the

possibilityforchangingyourattitudeandbehaviour,oryourhabitus,stayswithGareth

eventhoughitseffecthavealag;theycatchupwithhim,asitwere,yearslater.Asheputs

it:

Andyouknowwhenyou'regoing,IwentawaytouniversityandlikeIdid

asciencedegree,notonebitcreativeatall,butwhenIwasthereItookthat

–itwasstillpartofmethere.AndwhenI'mgoingovertoseetheStranglers

inEngland…youcantaketheBelfastoutoftheboybutyou,or,youcan

taketheboyoutofBelfastbutyoucan'ttakeBelfastoutoftheboy.2

Thestructureof feeling thatcomes throughmostclearly inGareth’saccount isoneof

openness,opennesstochangeinhowyouperceivetheworldandareperceivedbyothers.

DamienandPetesyshareelementsofbothGarethandAlison’saccount.LikeAlison,they

both contrast the relatively fixed, immobile possibilities of their early lives with the

transgressive and mobile possibilities of the punk scene. And like Gareth, they both

emphasisethewayinwhichthecreativityofpunkinBelfastallowedthemtochangetheir

senseofself,whichforDamienentailsanengagementwithaleftistpoliticsthatreadsthe

conflict as resting on the exploitation of both Protestant and Catholic working-class

people, and for Petesy entails an engagement with an anarchist politics of self-

organisationandprefiguration.

2GM,2016.

244

Thisisalso,however,wheretheiraccountofthepunkstructureoffeelingdiffersfrom

that of Gareth and Alison – they both stress the directly political nature of their

engagementandtheirdesiretointerveneintheproductionofspaceinBelfast,anattitude

whichIhaveconnectedtoHenriLefebvre’sevocationoftherighttothecity.

Bringingtheaccountstogether

Bringingthethreeinterviewstogetherwiththepreviousthreechapterssuggeststhree

findings.Firstly,thatpunk’srelationshiptosectarianismwascomplex,andinparticular

that thepractices and attitudes generatedby an engagement in thepunk scenewere

variousandnotmonolithic.Thisispartlybecauseeachintervieweeisspeakingfroma

particular position and narrating a specific set of experiences; it is also because

encounters with punk, like encounters with sectarianism, were determined by class,

religion and gender. For Alison, as a young Protestant woman from a rural part of

Northern Ireland, punk allowed her to transgress the interconnected boundaries of

respectabilityandsectarianism;forGareth,asayoungandworking-classProtestantman

fromamajority-ProtestantpartofBelfast,punkallowedhimtoperformhisidentityina

particularway. ForDamien andPetesy, both youngworking-class Catholicmen from

majority-CatholicpartsofBelfast,punkenabledthemtoexpressapoliticalclaimonspace

thatdidnotdrawexplicitlyonnationalistdiscourses.

Conversely, what is also striking here is the sense in which each of the interviews

emphasiseRobbieMcVeigh’simportantclaimthatsectarianismneedstobeunderstood

as“morethanasetofideologiesoracategoryofpracticesoranamalgamofindividual

actions[andthat]sectarianismisthemodalityinwhichlifeislivedbyeverybodyinthe

SixCounties.”3Focusingonindividualaccountsofthestructuringpowerofsectarianism

in the formationof their identities allowsus to see clearly thatMcVeigh is correct to

emphasise that sectarianismpercolated into theeveryday lifeofNorthern Irelandvia

stateandnon-stateinstitutionsintheperioddescribedbymyinterviewees,andshould

3McVeigh,Robbie,‘TheUndertheorisationofSectarianism’,TheCanadianJournalofIrishStudies16,no.2(December1990).

245

not therefore be understood as the aberrant production of a group of aberrant

‘sectarians’.4

Secondly, that the production of space was critical to the maintenance of sectarian

structuresinNorthernIreland,andthat–whiletherearesomeissueswiththinkingof

thepunk sceneasnon-sectarianwithoutproblematizing thatnotion, asdiscussed– a

centralcomponentofthestructureoffeelingofthepunkscenewasitscontestationof

thisspatialproduction.ThisismostexplicitinDamienandPetesy’saccount;forAlison

andGareththeemphasisisonplaceratherthanspace,inthatthepunkscenegavethem

awaytofeeldifferentlyaboutthespacestheyinhabited.

Thirdly, that granular, detailed analysis of individualmemory narratives can provide

specificinsightsintothedifferentialexperienceofsectarianism,intohowpeoplemake

senseoftheiridentitiesthroughspatialengagements,intothepracticesanddispositions

that characterised the punk scene, and into the relationship between cultural and

individualmemoryinNorthernIreland.Inthatmyanalysishasincorporatedaccountsby

men and women, and two Catholics and two Protestants, some attempt at

representativenesshasbeenmade.Butthequestionofrepresentativenessissomewhat

besidethepointhere.InhisbeautifulanalysisofanoralhistoryinterviewwithValtèro

Peppolini, an Umbrian worker, Portelli highlights the “collective and shared” motifs

Peppolini’s individual narrative draws on – lifelong confrontationswith authority, an

emphasis on a form of work ethic that is understood through socialism rather than

through individual social mobility, a rebellious attitude as a youngman that is later

channelled into a particular form of political action through membership in the

Communistparty.5Whatisparticularlyproductiveinfocusingsocloselyonindividual

narrativesofthepunksceneandofadolescenceinNorthernIrelandinthe1970sisthat

it allows us, firstly, to see how individual memories are formed in relation to social

discoursesand,secondly,toconsiderwhatusepeoplemakeofthosesocialdiscoursesin

composingandnarratingtheirmemories.Thecrucialfindinghere,then,isrelatedtothe

questionoforalhistory’sroleinwritinghistoriesofNorthernIrelandduringtheconflict.

4Ibid.5Portelli,Alessandro,TheBattleofValleGuilia:OralHistoryandtheArtofDialogue(Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1997),p137.

246

Paying attention to the form and style of oral history accounts, as well as to their

intersubjectivedimensions,isimportantinunderstandingthepervasivenessofcultural

memories of conflict and theways inwhichpeoplemake senseout of thesememory

discoursesandoftheirownexperiences.

Memoryculture,lifecourseandoralhistory

Thefinalpointstobemadeinbringingtheinterviewstogetherentailaconsiderationof

howtheyspeaktothememorycultureofpunkdiscussedinchaptertwo,andhowthis

relates to the life-course and experience of my interviewees. To recapitulate on the

secondchapterbriefly,thepunksceneinBelfasthadascatteredandlargelycommunity-

drivenmemorycultureassociatedwithitfromthe1990sonwards,onethatisperhaps

mostvisibleinthelaunchofItMakesYouWanttoSpitin2004.6Thisshiftedsomewhat

in2012and2013with thereleaseof theTerriHooleybiopicGoodVibrationsandthe

resultantpublicinterventionaroundthisevent,includingtheunveilingofablueplaque

commemoratingHooleyandthepunksceneonHillStreet,nearthesiteoftheoldHarp

BarandnowsituatedsquarelyinBelfast’sredevelopedCathedralQuarter.7Thecontext

formyinterviewsin2016,then,wasasomewhatrenewedpublicvisibilityforthepunk

scene and for memories of the punk scene, and the film did form a part of my

conversationswithmanyoftheinterviewees,totheextentthatitwasoftenreferredto

intranscriptsas‘thefilm’ratherthanbyitsname.

Thisdidnotlead,however,toasituationinwhichtheyrecountedeventsfromthefilmas

iftheyhadhappenedtothem,asinAlistairThomson’sclassicworkonWorldWarOne

memory inAustralia.8 Rather, they engaged critically and thoughtfullywith the film’s

interventionbothinpunkmemorycultureandinNorthernIrelandassuch.ForAlison,as

discussed in her chapter, the film provided an opportunity to make the punk scene

tangible for one of her daughters, but also tomake the difference between past and

presentinNorthernIrelandtangible;ourdiscussionofGoodVibrations,then,focusedon

6O’Neill,SeanandGuyTrelford(eds),ItMakesYouWanttoSpit:TheDefinitiveGuidetoPunkinNorthernIreland(Dublin:ReekusMusic2003).7D’sa,LisaBarrosandGlenLeyburn,GoodVibrations(London:UniversalPicturesUK,2012).8Thomson,Alistair,AnzacMemories:LivingwiththeLegend(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994).

247

the way in which Alison composed her past and present selves in relation to

contemporaryNorthernIrelandandtoherfamily.Garethgaveaslightlydifferentaccount

ofthisrelation,morefocusedonthenarrativeofthefilm.Thisseemedtometorelateto

hisownpositionwithinpunkmemorycultureasanactiveparticipantinitsmaintenance

andshaping.Hesaid:“There'salotoftruthinitbutthere'salsoalotofthelegend,the

rose-tinted glasses, the story fluffed out a wee bit to make it sound – that's my

impression.”9

Petesyhadathirdandslightlydifferentpositonassomeonewhowasactivelyinvolved

intheproductionofthefilmandindeedhasasmallactingroleinit.Hesaid:

IlovedtheprocessandIlovedwhattheyweredoingintermsofshininga

light on that time which was a really important part of, as far as I’m

concerned, my history […] Now on the back of that there’s a lot of

revisionismandalotofinfightingaboutyouknowwhatactuallyhappened

then…It’s likefucking‘I’mSpartacus’,youknow, ‘I’mBrianandso’smy

wife’.It’sridiculouswhatithasstirredupaswell.I’malsonotcomfortable

with...youknowit’sthemediabeingthemediayouknow,theGodfather

ofpunkandallthisbollix.[…]Itwasagreatthinganditwasgreatthatit

wascelebratedinsomeway.AndwhenIlookatthatIjustlookatitlikeit’s

aworkoffiction,it’sembellished,andOK–sowhat–they’renotmakinga

documentarythey’remakingafilm.Theydon’twantittoplayjusttolocal

people.Butyouknowhavingsaidthatthere’sanawfullotofrevisionism

that’ssorta…totryandmakethataniceweemediapackagedstoryTerri

Hooleydidthisandyouknow…anditreallywasn’t likethat.Thescene

wasn’t dependent on anyonepersonor any set of people, it reallywas

peopleandbandskeepingthingsmoving.10

Petesy,then,recognisesthevalueofthefilmasarepresentationofaperiodofhistory

thathetookpartin;butembeddedinthisrecognitionisacritiqueofthetendencyofthese

kindsofculturalrepresentationtoimposeaparticularnarrativeonthepast,onethatin

9InterviewwithGM,2016.10InterviewwithPB,2017.

248

thisinstanceheseesasemphasisingindividualagencyratherthancollectiveandsocial

struggle.AswithGareth’saccount,though,thisisn’tasimpledismissalofthefilmas‘not

what really happened’, but a more complex understanding of its status as a

representationandaninterventioninapre-existingmemoryculture.

Todrawamoregeneralpointfromtheseresponses,then,itisclearthatoralhistorians

interestedinhowmemoryculturesshapeoralhistorytestimoniesneedtobeattentiveto

thefactthattheirintervieweesareoftenjustasconsciousoftheseculturesastheyare,

andalsocapableofcritiquingtheirlacunaandtheirnarratives.Whilethenatureofthe

datagatheredheredoesnotallowforacomprehensiveclaimabouthowthefilmandthe

eventsaroundthefilmaffectedtheiraccounts(becauseallofmyinterviewstookplace

after these had happened), it does suggest that my interviewees were interestingly

criticalofaspectsofthepunkscene’sreimaginingaspartofBelfast’snewpublicheritage

initiatives,whileremaininginvestedinandmovedbythepossibilityoftheirpastbeing

representedinthisway.

The memory culture that coalesced around Good Vibrationswas also a way for my

intervieweestotalkaboutwhatitmeanttotheminthepresenttohavebeeninvolvedin

thepunkscene in thepast.Thisdynamic isof theunusual thingsaboutresearchinga

youthsubculturehistoricallythroughthemethodoforalhistory,inthatitentailsasking

middle-aged people about their memories of something that is quintessentially

associated with adolescence, at least in terms of the dominant cultural signifiers

surrounding it.11 With Petesy, Brian and John T Davis, this dynamic was somewhat

differentinsofarasPetesyandBriancontinuetobeinbandsandJohncontinuestomake

films–forthem,whiletheiridentificationwithpunkisnotthesameasitwas40years

ago, their lives remain indelibly and visibly marked by the scene. For my other

interviewees,whatwasstrikingwastheextenttowhichtheyunderstoodpunk-nessas

something that had continued to play a part in their lives even as theymoved on to

different things– jobs, familiesandsoon.For someof them,notablyAlisonand John

11Onthis,seeforexampleTurrini,JosephM,‘“WellIDon’tCareAboutHistory”:OralHistoryandtheMakingofCollectiveMemoryinPunkRock’,Notes70,no.1(2013),pp59–77;Bennett,Andy,‘Punk’sNotDead:TheContinuingSignificanceofPunkRockforanOlderGenerationofFans’,Sociology40,no.2(1April2006),pp219–35.

249

Callaghan, the filmprovideda structure throughwhich theycouldmakesenseof this

dynamicbetweenpastandpresentandexplaintheirinvolvementinthepunkscenein

the context of contemporary Northern Ireland, even if – as Alison pointed out – this

structure can only ever be partial given the continued connections betweenpast and

present.However, allofmy intervieweesavowed that thehabitus, theattitudeor the

structureoffeelingofthepunkscenehadcontinuedtoplayapartintheirliveslongafter

theiractiveparticipation in ithadended,oftensuggesting that ithadmade them less

quicktojudgeothers,moreopentodifferentexperiencesormorecriticalofthepolitical

situationinNorthernIrelandandelsewhere.

Contributionstoknowledge

These findings suggest four contributions to existing knowledge. Firstly, in terms of

developing the history of the punk scene inNorthern Ireland, the thesis has brought

togetheraseriesoforalhistoryaccountsthatshedlightonthequotidianpractices,sites

andrelationshipsthatconstitutedthesceneasastructureoffeeling.Thisaddsbothto

theexistingcommunityhistoryofthesubject,epitomisedbytheItMakesYouWantto

Spitanthologyandtherelatedwebsite,andtothesmallbodyofacademicworkonthe

topic,almostnoneofwhichhasdrawnuponanoralhistorymethodology.12Inrelationto

the former, it adds to the history by incorporating the voices and the narratives of

participantsinthescenetoagreaterdegreethanhasbeenhithertoattempted,andby

considering the relationship of the scene to its social conditions more rigorously. In

relationtothelatter,itcomplicatestherelationshipbetweenpunkandsectarianism,and

placesmoreemphasisonpunkasbeingsituatedwithineverydaylifeinNorthernIreland.

Ultimately, it suggests that despite the culturalmemory of punk as non-sectarian – a

culturalmemorythatmy intervieweesrecognise,drawonandsometimesaccept–an

analysisoftheirmemorynarrativessuggeststhatpunkwasinsteadanegotiationwith

sectarianism,incorporatingpracticesofpoliteavoidanceandcircumlocutionaswellas

12Therecentexceptionshere,asmentionedintheintroduction,areStewart,Francis,‘“AlternativeUlster”:PunkRockasaMeansofOvercomingtheReligiousDivideinNorthernIreland’,pp76-90,inIrishReligiousConflictinComparativePerspective:Catholics,ProtestantsandMuslims(Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2014)andHeron,Timothy,‘AlternativeUlster’:lepunkenIrlandedeNord(1976-1983),(unpublishedPhdthesis,EcoledoctoraleSciencesdel'hommeetdelasociété,2017).

250

practicesoftransgressionandplace-making.Sectarianismwasformativeoftheculture

withinwhichthepunksceneanditsparticipantsmovedandthepunkscenecouldnot

functionasastepoutsideofthatculture,evenasitgeneratedastructureoffeelingthat

challengedaspectsofthesectarianlogicof1970sand1980sNorthernIreland.

Secondly, inadditionto focusingonaregionalmanifestationof thepunkscenethat is

relativelyunderstudiedinrelationtoitsmetropolitancounterparts,theargumenthere

for thinking about punk as a structure of feeling has extended the usefulness of this

concept for analysing andhistoricising thepunk scene as initially proposedbyDavid

WilkinsonandMattWorley.13HistoricisingthespecificmanifestationofpunkinBelfast

responds to their call for historical research that locates punk “within its (shifting)

cultural,socio-economicandpoliticalcontext”,byarguingthatthepunksceneinBelfast

tookonaparticularmeaningforparticipantsbecauseofthespecificconditionsoflifein

thecity,especially in termsofsegregation,sectarianismandviolence.14Thismeaning,

oddly enough, does not appear to have drawn very often on the “post-democratic

imagining” that Northern Ireland inspired in punk bands from England inwhich the

provincebecamesynedochalwiththebreakdownofBritishsociety,particularlyunder

Thatcher.15Rather,itwasoneinwhichpunkbecameameansofalternativeidentification

thatallowedpeoplemakesenseoftheirpositionswithintheprovinceindifferentways,

withouttranscendingthemcompletely. Itwasalsooneinwhichpunk–at least inthe

narratives ofmy interviewees – seemed to signify optimism, innocence and hope, in

contrast to thedystopian imaginariesrecentlychartedbyMattWorley inhisworkon

punkandpost-punkinBritain.16

Theresearchherehasadditionallysuggestedthatanoralhistorymethodallowsustoask

differentquestionsaboutthenatureofthefeltexperienceofthepunksceneasstructure

offeeling,andmakesitpossibletoreachaspectsofthestructureoffeelingthatleavelittle

ornotraceonthedocumentaryrecord.ThinkingaboutWilliams’workoncultureand

13Wilkinson,David,MatthewWorley,andJohnStreet.2017,‘“IWannaSeeSomeHistory”:RecentWritingonBritishPunk’,ContemporaryEuropeanHistory26,no.2.14Ibid.,p410.15Worley,Matt,NoFuture:Punk,PoliticsandBritishYouthCulture,1976-1984(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2017),p238.16Ibid.

251

themethodologicaldevelopmentsofinterpretativeoralhistorytogetherisaproductive

wayofanalysinghowsubjectivity,experience,discourseandsocialworldsareconnected.

Thirdly, in bringing an interpretative oral historymethod together with the work of

Lefebvre, Bourdieu and Cresswell, the thesis has shown howmemory narratives can

informworkon the socialproductionof spaceandofplace. In termsofLefebvre, the

argument is thatwe can see how people respond to the historical process of spatial

production,which inBelfastentails theproductionof sectarianisedspace. In termsof

Cresswellwecanseehowdiscoursesofrightandwrongplaces,andoftransgressiveor

unruly mobility, can be challenged, and how that challenge can impact memory and

subjectivity.IntermsofBourdieu,wecanseehowaslightlymodifiedunderstandingof

historyandofthecapacityofindividualstoengageinhistoricalpracticescaninformhis

useful account of how social conditions form subjectivities and dispositions. More

generally, situating narratives of the punk scene in Belfast through their spatial

componentsallowsforareadingofspaceinthecitythathighlightsboththehistorical

constructednessofsegregationandoneofthepointsatwhichthatconstructionhasbeen

challenged.

Finally,inanalysingpunkasastructureoffeelingthatcanbeaccessedthroughmemories

ofthescene,thethesishassuggestedthatoralhistorycanilluminatethewaysinwhicha

groupofyoungpeoplenegotiatedsectarianstructures,violenceandthefearofviolence

within their everyday lives in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s. This is

importantfortworeasons.Itallowsustoseehowquotidianlives,spacesandbehaviours

wereframedbythepervasivenessofsectarianismandfearinBelfastinthisperiod;but

italsoallowsustoseehowthisdidnotdeterminehowpeoplebehaved,ormakemoments

ofsocialityandactsoftransgressionormobilityimpossible.JenniferCurtis,inherwork

onthestructureoffeelingattachedtohousingactivismin1970sBelfast,says:

When applied to the housing protests in 1970s Belfast, Williams’ idea

demonstratesthatpoliticalactionindividedsocieties,violentorotherwise,

is not reducible to sectarian geography.Rather, applying the concept of

‘structuresoffeeling’toparticularhistoricalmomentsrevealsthecontours

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of nuanced emotional allegiances and spatial associations thatmotivate

andlimitpoliticalaction.

ThefinalcontributionofthethesisistoshowhowthesectariandivisionsofNorthern

Irishculture,andNorthernIrishmemoryculture,donotmakeimpossiblethearticulation

ofcomplicatednarrativesofaffiliation,negotiationandfriendshipwithinthosedivisions

andcultures.

Furtherresearch

Firstly,whileaneffort ismadeheretodrawoutsomeofthegenderedtensionsofthe

punksceneinAlison’snarrative,itisunfortunatethatthepreponderanceofmalevoices

intheinterviewsreproducesatendencyto‘masculinise’thepunksceneinhistoryand

memory.Furtherresearchshouldattempttoredressthisthroughtheinclusionofmore

narrativesfromwomenparticipants.Whiletimeconstraintshavemadeitimpossiblefor

metoincludemyinterviewswithTabithaLewisandClaireShannonintheanalysis,any

furtherdevelopmentofthisworkwoulddoso.

Other than rectifying this absence, there are several additional avenues that couldbe

followedfromthispoint.Onewouldbetomovebothbackwardsandforwards;thatis,to

connectthestructureoffeelingofthepunkscenebothtothecounter-cultureof1960s

Belfastandtotheravesceneoftheearly1990s.Thereareprominentfiguresinwhom

thisconnectionsisembodied(soTerriHooley,mostobviously,fortheformer,andtheDJ

andproducerDavidHolmesforthelatter);butofmoreinterestthansimplytracingthese

individualconnectionswouldbeaprojectthatconsideredthedifferentspatialpractices

andaffectsofthesethreescenesasrememberedbytheirparticipants.Thiswouldallow

for a comparative analysis of the memories of three different periods in Northern

Ireland’shistory,andperhapsamorenuancedaccountofthewayinwhichsectarianism,

segregationandviolencefunctioninthepre-conflictperiod,duringtheconflict,andin

the period directly preceding the Provisional IRA ceasefire of 1994 and the later

ceasefiresof1996.

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Another would entail a spatial rather than a temporal expansion, and develop the

proposition made in chapter four that ‘the punk scene in Belfast’ is something of a

misnomer. Ina sense, the focusonBelfastevident in thisproject isa reproduction in

microcosmofthemuch-malignedfocusonLondonorNewYorkinotherhistoriesofthe

punkscene;itwouldbeusefultowidenthenettoconsiderregionalmanifestationsof

punkinNorthernIrelandinthe1970sand1980s,insmallertownsandinDerry.This

would,again,allowforamorenuancedaccountofthefunctioningofsectarianismand

thecultureofdivisioninthisperiod,buildingonMarkMcGovern’simportantpointthat

thenetworkofsectarianrelationsanditsimpactoneverydaylifeispartofruralaswell

asurbansocietyinthenorthofIreland.17Thisefforttoillustrateandhistoriciseregional

linkscouldalsobedevelopedthroughananalysisoftheinterconnectionsbetweenpunk

andpost-punkscenesinBelfastandDublin.

Finally, inmy initial conceptionof theproject thepossibilityof relating itback to the

conditionsofcontemporaryNorthernIrelandviaanexhibitionorasimilarpublic-facing

eventwasproposed.Giventhat,ashasbeenamplydocumented,issuesofsectarianism

andsegregationremainafundamentalpartofeverydaylifeinBelfastandelsewherein

theprovince, therelevanceofacommunity-drivenuseof thenarrativeshereremains

apparent.18

Conclusion

The2017GoodRelationsIndicatorfromtheNorthernIrishExecutivewasoptimistic,at

least within its own conditions of possibility. 52 per cent of young people felt that

relationshipsbetweenProtestantsandCatholicswerebetternowthantheyhadbeenfive

yearsago;76percentofpeoplebelievedthatthecultureandtraditionoftheCatholic

communityaddsto“therichnessanddiversityofNorthernIrelandsociety”,andthesame

amountbelievedthesamethingfortheProtestantcommunity.19Inthiscontext,thepunk

scenecouldbereadasaprecursortothehappilynon-sectarianculturenowemergingin

17McGovern,Mark,‘“SeeNoEvil”:CollusioninNorthernIreland’.Race&Class58,no.3(1January2017).18See,forinstance,Leonard,Madeleine,TeensandTerritoryin‘Post-Conflict’Belfast:IfWallsCouldTalk(Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,2017).19NorthernIrelandGoodRelationsIndicators:AnnualUpdate(Belfast:TheExecutiveOffice,2017),p4.

254

theprovince,orinRaymondWilliams’terms,asanemergentstructureoffeelingthathas

nowbecomedominant.

Hopefully, it is clear that this is not how I want to read it. What my interviewees’

memoriessuggestareamorecomplexsetofrelations,emotionsandfeelings,onethatis

antithetical to the ‘good relations’model that is now hegemonic in Northern Ireland

despitethepoliticalstalemateinevidenceatthetimeofwriting.Firstly,thisisbecause

theirmemoriesarerevealingofthemateriallimitsofeverydaylifebothinthe‘70sand

‘80s and now, limits that aremade invisible by the non-sectarian rubric of the Good

Relations Indicator; soGarethpoints out thathewas awareofwhetherornot fellow

punkswereCatholic,evenifthatdidn’tchangehisattitudetowardsthem;Damienpoints

outthathewouldn’thavegoneintocertainbarsinEastBelfastevenifhefeltsafeasa

punk in thecitycentre;violenceand the fearofviolencemarkallof thenarratives in

differentways.

Secondly,itisbecausetheirmemoriesofpunkasastructureoffeelingpoint,withtheir

stressonthepossibilitiesandexcitementofpunk,totheideaofsomethingdifferent;a

different formofconnectionbetweenpeoplethat isperhaps inchoatebutnonetheless

presentwithintheirnarratives.Thiscannotbereducedtotheetiolatedlanguageof‘good

relations’betweenProtestantsandCatholicsthatcharacterisesmuchpublicdiscourseon

sectarianismnow.Itisthispossibilitythatanimatestheirnarrativesandmyanalysis.

Finally,itisworthreturningtothequestionofthepunksceneitselfandhowitshouldbe

understood. Ithasverymuchnotbeenmy intentionhere to classify theBelfastpunk

sceneinataxonomicway;instead,Ihaveattemptedtostresstheinsufficiencyofthese

kindsofclassificationsviathecomplexandmultifacetedmemoriesofmyinterviewees.

Butafewthoughtsareofferedhereonhowthepunkscenerelatestootheryouthcultures

inNorthernIreland,andonhowthepunkscenerelatedtosimilarscenesinothercities,

especiallythoseinBritain.Intermsoftheformer,theresearchheresuggeststhatpunk

wasindeedlessdividedbysectarianlogicsthantheotherleisureactivitiesdescribedin

chapter one, particularly in terms of working-class leisure activities, and that its

participantsfeltittobeaspaceinwhichtheycouldmakesenseoftheiridentitiesinnew

ways.However,italsosuggeststhattherewerelimitstoitscapacitytotranscendthese

255

sectarian logics, and that to some extent this capacity has been overstated, perhaps

because of theway inwhichpunk as a transnational cultural formhasbeen to some

extent integrated into hegemonic understandings of ineffective but charming youth

rebellion. An instructive comparison could bemadewith the rave scene in Northern

Irelandinthe1990s,whichhasbeenunderstudiedinacademicwork;asBrianHollywood

hasshown,therelativelybenignreadingofthepunkscenevisibleinNorthernIrishpublic

cultureinthe1970s,andnowvisibleinitspublicmemorycultureinthiscentury,differs

sharply fromthemoralpanicthatemergedaroundtheravescene,ecstasyuseandso

on.20

IntermsofhowthepunksceneinBelfastrelatedtosimilarscenesinothercities,Matt

Worley’s recent work is interesting in indicating that punk in Northern Irelandwas,

becauseofthesectariandivisioninNorthernIrelandandthematerialcircumstancesof

the scene, particularly drawn to anarchist and self-organising tendencies; this claim

would seem to be drawn out through the accounts ofmy interviewees, especially in

chaptersix.21ThisalsochimeswiththesentimentexpressedbyBrianYoungandothers

thattheDIYethoswasheavilyengrainedinBelfastpunk,meaningitavoidedthevagaries

of fashion more than its equivalent in London. It is worth noting, as well, that the

apparentpaucityoffemale-frontedbandsintheBelfastscenesuggestthatpunkhadless

ofarole inchallengingortransgressingtraditionalnormsofgenderthanitdid in, for

instance,Manchester,althoughasAlisonandPetesypointedoutitsproximitytothesmall

gaysceneinBelfastdidinculcatesomeprogressiveattitudestowardssexualityinatleast

someofitsparticipants.22Butultimately,thespecificparametersofthesceneareofless

interestherethanthewayinwhichindividuals graspandexpressitasastructureof

feeling in relation to their subjectivities and identities, as the preceding analysis has

shown.

20Hollywood,Brian,‘DancingintheDark:Ecstasy,theDanceCulture,andMoralPanicinPostCeasefireNorthernIreland’,CriticalCriminology8,no.1(1March1997),pp62–77.SeealsoBell,Desmond,‘DancingonNarrowGround:Youth&DanceinUlster’,1995,accessedonlinehere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM5TktcXdnk23/2/19.21Worley,Matthew,NoFuture:Punk,PoliticsandYouthCulture,1976-1984(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2017),p236.22SeeWilkinson,David,Post-Punk,PoliticsandPleasureinBritain(NewYork:Springer,2016);onthespecificgenderpoliticsofanarchistandfeministgroupsliketheRaincoatsseeO’Meara,Caroline,‘TheRaincoats:BreakingdownPunkRock’sMasculinities’,PopularMusic22,no.3(2003),pp299–313.

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Thompson,Howard,2018,"BusterKeatonInBeckett'sFirstFilm",Nytimes.Com,accessedonline:http://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/21/buster-keaton-in-becketts-first-film.html,20/6/18UnpublishedPhDThesesJentry,Corey.2017.ThetroublewithstudyingtheTroubles:howandwhyanepistemiccommunityemerges(unpublishedPhDthesis,TheLondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience).Tuck,Sarah.2015.AftertheAgreement:ContemporaryPhotographyinNorthernIreland(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofBrighton).Leaney,Sarah.2016.LocatedLives:AnEthnographicRepresentationofPeopleandPlaceonaBritishCouncilEstate(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofSussex).Lane,Karen.2017.Not-TheTroubles”:AnAnthropologicalAnalysisofStoriesofQuotidianLifeinBelfast(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofStAndrews).Newby,LucyKate,TroubledGenerations?AnOralHistoryofYouthExperienceoftheConflictinBelfast,1969-1998(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofBrighton,forthcoming).HansardHCDeb31July1912vol.41cc2088-149,accessedonline:https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1912/jul/31/belfast-riots,25/8/18.HCDeb09November1978vol957cc1160-86,accessedonline:https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1978/nov/09/oral-answers-to-questions,25/8/18.Interviews,intheordertheywereconductedJohnTDavis–Belfast,October2015

AlisonFarrell–Belfast,November2015

GarethMullan–Belfast,November2015

PaulKerr–Belfast,November2015

JohnCallaghan–Belfast,December2015

SheenaBleakney–Belfast,January2015(notrecordedonherrequest)

HectorHeathwood–Dublin,February2016

PetesyBurns–Belfast,February2016

DamienMcCorry–Belfast,February2016

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BrianYoung–Belfast,March2016

TabithaLewis–Brighton,September2017

ClaireShannon–Brighton,October2017

Variousinformalconversationswithotherindividualsinvolvedinthepunkscenehave

informed this thesis and contributed tomy overall analysis of punk as a structure of

feeling;giventheinformalityoftheseconversationstheiranonymityisrespectedhere.

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APPENDIXA

SampleInformationSheetMemoriesofpunkinBelfastYouarebeinginvitedtotakepartinaresearchproject,undertakenaspartofaPhDattheUniversityofBrighton.Beforeyoudecidewhetherornotyouwishtotakepart,it’simportantyouunderstandthedetailsoftheprojectandhowyourcontributionwillbeused,sopleasetakethetimetoreadthefollowingform.Whatisthepurposeoftheproject?ThisprojectaimstogathermemoriesofbetweeneightandtwelvepeopleinvolvedintheBelfastpunksceneofthelate1970sandearly1980sinordertocompilestoriesaboutthecitythathaveneverpreviouslybeenrecorded.Theprojectwilltouchonelementsofbeingayoungadultatthattimeandinthatplace,andconsiderissuesrelatedtopoliticalandculturalexperience.WhyhaveIreceivedaninformationsheet?AllprospectiveintervieweeswereinvolvedtosomeextentintheBelfastpunksceneofthelate1970sandearly1980s.You’vereceivedthisinformationsheetbecauseyou’veexpressedsomeinterestintakingpartintheproject.Takingpartisvoluntary,andhavingexpressedaninterestdoesn’tentailanycommitment.It’suptoyoutomakeadecisionbasedontheinformationonthissheetandourconversationpriortotheinterview.Ifyoudodecidetotakepart,you’llbegivenacopyofthissheetandaconsentformtosign.Followingthat,you’restillentirelyfreetowithdrawfromtheprojectatanyjunctureandwithoutgivingareason.Ifthisdecisioncomesafteryou’vetakenpartinaninterview,yourarchivedinterviewwillbedeletedimmediately.Whatdoestakingpartentail?Ifyouagreetotakepart,Iwillgetintouchwithyoutoarrangeaninterview.Ingeneral,it’spreferablythatthistakeplaceatyourhouse,butyoucanchooseanalternativevenueifyou’dlike.Theinterviewwilllastforaroundtwohours,andinvolveasetseriesofquestionsthatIcanemailyoubeforehandifyoulike.Withyourpermission,theinterviewwillberecorded–I’llalsotakesomenotes.Ifthere’sanythingyouwishtoaddfollowingthisinitialinterviewwecanarrangetomeetupagain.AfterthisI’lltranscribetheinterviews.Thistranscriptcanbesharedwithyouifyou’dliketocheckitover.

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Whatarethepossiblebenefitsoftakingpart?Asmentionedearlier,theprojecthopestogatherstoriesaboutBelfastthathaveneverpreviouslybeenrecorded.Iwouldliketheprocesstobearewardingandinterestingonefortheinterviewee.Theinterviewswillgiveyouachancetodiscussyourexperiencesandhelpwithdevelopinganunderstandingofhowyoungpeopleengagedwiththecityinthe1970sand1980s,andhowthismightbeofinteresttoyoungpeoplenegotiatingthecontemporarycity.Whatarethepossiblerisksordisadvantagesoftakingpart?Whendiscussingpastexperiences,it’spossiblethatunhappyordifficultmemoriescancometothefore.Anyonewhofeelstheywishtodiscussthesememoriesinmoredetailwillhavetheopportunitytoseekoutfurtherguidancefollowingourinterview.Whatwillhappentomyinterviewsaftertheyhavebeentranscribed?Alldata(transcriptionsandrecordings)canbeanonymised,andthefileswillbeencryptedtoensurethattheycouldn’tbeaccessedif,forinstance,theUSBkeystoringthemwasmisplaced.Asexplainedontheconsentform,therearethreetiersofpossibleusetowhichyoucanagree.Firstly,toquotesfromthetranscriptbeingusedaspartofmydissertationandpublishedattheendofmydoctoraltraining.Secondly,toquotesandaudiorecordingsbeingsharedontheinternetaspartofawebsiteIhopetodevelopaspartofmyresearch.Thirdly,toquotesandaudiobeingusedatalaterdateaspartofaninstallationorexhibitionrelatedtomyresearch.Dependingonwhatyouwishtoshareandtowhatextentyouwishtoshareit,thefilesrelatedtotheinterviewwillbekeptforalongerorshorterperiod.Ifyouonlywishtobequotedinthedissertation,yourinformationwillbedeletedoncompletionoftheproject–ifyouarehappytotakepartinthesecondorthirdtiersofuse,thenthey’llbekeptforlonger,andpotentiallyarchived.Ifatanypointyouwishforyourinformationtoberemovedfromapublicforumsuchasawebsite,contactmeandIwilldeleteitatonce.Again,youdon’tneedtogiveanyreasonforthis.Willmyinformationbeconfidential?Youcanbeanonymisedinthepublicationofanyresearch,althoughit’simportanttobearinmindthat(giventherelativelysmallnumberofpeopleinvolvedinthesceneinquestion)itmaybepossiblethatotherpeopleinvolvedinthescenecouldrecogniseyouthroughyourvoiceorthroughtheinformationyourecount.Youwillhavetheopportunitytodecideifyouwantanyothernamesyouusethroughoutyourtranscripttobeanonymisedorusedverbatim.FollowingonfromtheBostonCollegecasein2012,wheretheAmericanuniversitywascompelledtoreleasetranscriptsofitsinterviewswithformernationalistandunionist

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participantsinanoralhistoryproject,participantsinanyoralhistoryprojectinNIneedtobeawareofthepotentiallegalimplicationsoftheirparticipation.TheSupremeCourthasgrantedoralhistoryinterviewsthesamestatusasjournalist’snotes–thismeanstheydonotneedtobehandedtoacourtunlesstheinformationcontainedisdirectlyrelevanttoanongoingcriminalinvestigationandnotavailablethroughlesssensitivesources.Thisistheonlycaseinwhichyourinformationwillbesharedwiththepolice.WhatshouldIdoifIwanttotakepart?Ifyouwanttotakepart,pleasecontactmeusingthedetailsatthebottomofthesheettoindicatethatyouareinterested.Youshouldalsohavebeengivenaconsentformalongwiththeinformationsheet;pleasereadbothoftheseandifyouarehappytogiveyourconsent,sendthisontomewithyoursignature.Whoisorganisingandfundingthisresearch?IamconductingthisstudyasastudentattheUniversityofBrighton.ItisbeingfundedbytheArtsandHumanitiesResearchCouncil(ARHC).ContactforfurtherinformationResearcher:FearghusRoulston(fr70@brighton.ac.uk)Supervisor:GrahamDawson(g.dawson@brighton.ac.uk)

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SampleConsentFormConsentformforprojectparticipantsMemoriesofpunkinBelfastFullname:Dateofbirth:Datesigned:IagreetotakepartinthisresearchprojectwithFearghusRoulstonandtheUniversityofBrighton.Iunderstandwhattheprojectentailsandhaveread,andunderstood,theattachedinformationsheet.Iamwillingto:Beinterviewedbytheresearcher.Allowtheinterviewtoberecordedandtranscribed.Additionally,Iamwillingfor:Mytranscribedinterviewtobeusedtoinformthewrittendissertationelementoftheresearcher’sdoctoralproject,suitablyanonymised.(YES/NO)Mytranscribedandrecordedinterviewtobeusedonapublicly-accessiblewebsiteandstoredonawebdatabase(YES/NO)Mytranscribedandrecordedinterviewtobeusedaspartofanexhibitionorinstallationinthefuture(YES/NO)Thisconsentisconditionalandcanbewithdrawnatanypointbycontactingtheresearcherdirectly.Inreturn,theresearcheragreesto:Keepallinformationsecureandencrypted,apartfromtheportionsthatareusedinthecontextsmentionedabove.Onlybreachtheconditionsofanonymityiftheinformationdisclosedisrelevanttoaliveandongoingpoliceinvestigationandrequestedbythepolice,whoareonlyabletoaccessthisinformationifitcannotbegatheredthroughtheuseoflesssensitivesources.Iconsenttotheuseofmypersonalinformationforthepurposesofthisresearchstudy.IunderstandthatsuchinformationwillbetreatedasstrictlyconfidentialandhandledinaccordancewiththeDataProtectionAct1998Signature:_____________________________________________________

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APPENDIXB

TheinformationhereonNorthernIrishbandsislargelysourcedfromItMakesYouWantto Spit, and fromSeanO’Neill’s unparalleledSpit Recordswebsite,whichhas been aninvaluableresourcethroughoutthewritingofthethesisasawhole.Anyerrorsaremyown.Thebandsherearenotalphabetisedbutratherorganisedinthesequenceoftheirappearanceinthethesis.TheOutcasts–FormedinJanuaryof1977,andpickedtheirnameaftergettingturnedawayfromfivenightclubsintwoweeks.Theirdebutalbum,SelfConsciousOverYou,wasreleasedonGoodVibrationsin1979;theywentontorecordseveralmorealbumsandretainacultfollowinginFrance.TheClash–Englishpunkband,foundedinLondonin1976andalongwiththeSexPistolsprobablythebest-knownexemplarsofthiswaveofpunk.Occasionedthe‘riotofBedfordStreet’inBelfastin1977afteraplannedgigattheUlsterHallwascancelled.TerriHooley–Better-knownforhisrecordshopandrecordlabel,Terrialsorecordedasinglein1979,LaughatMe–acoverofthe1966Sonny&Chersong–onFreshRecords.Stalag17–Stalag17,featuringPetesyBurnsonbass,werethemainstaysoftheNorthernIrishanarcho-punkscenealongsideNewtownardsbandToxicWaste.Formedin1979,theywerecentralintheformationoftheWarzoneCollective,bringingbandsfromacrossEuropetoplayinBelfast.Protex–Protexwereformedin1978,recordedonGoodVibrations,andlatermovedtoLondontoworkwithPolydorRecords.TheywererecordedplayinginNewYorkinanunreleasedshortfilmbyJohnTDavis,ShamRock.Rudi–ProbablythefirstpunkbandinBelfast,Rudi–formedin1975byBrianYoung,RonnieMatthews, Graham ‘Grimmy’Marshall, Leigh Carson andDrewBrown –wereinfluencedbyglamrockandoldrock’n’rollasmuchasbythenascentpunkscene.Their1978singleBigTimewasthefirstandthebestrecordreleasedbyGoodVibrations.Victim–Formedinmid-1977andgiggingby1978,VictimmovedtoManchesterin1979andbecamesomethingofafeatureofthepunksceneinthenorthofEngland,playingatthe Factory and rehearsing in the same space as Magazine, Joy Division and theBuzzcocks.MikeJoyce,lateroftheSmiths,wasbrieflytheirdrummer.TheUndertones–TheDerrybandarethemostrecognisablesoundofNorthernIrishpunk, alongwith Stiff Little Fingers, and released a string of excellent singles –mostnotablyTeenageKicks,Radio1DJJohnPeel’sfavouritesong.TheSexPistols–Veryfamous,sworeontelevision,managedbyMalcomMcClaren.Onlyreleasedonestudioalbumandfoursingles;formedin1975andsplitupin1978.

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StiffLittleFingers–TheStiffsarebest-rememberedfortheirdebutalbumInflammableMaterial,co-writtenwiththeEnglishjournalistGordonOglivie.Theircareeriscoveredexhaustively inRolandLink’s 2009book,Kicking up aRacket: The Story of Stiff LittleFingers,1977-1983.TheRamones–Americanpunkbandknownfor theirshort,catchysongsandsimplelyrics.VeryinfluentialontheNorthernIrishpunksceneandplayedseveralgigsintheUlsterHallinthe1970s.TheXdreamysts–SignedtoGoodVibrations,theXdreamysts–fromthenorthcoastofIreland–weremoreofarockthanapunkband,andwentontosupport,amongothers,ThinLizzy.TheIdiots–TheIdiots,formedin1977,featuredBarryYoung,DeeWilsonandGordyOwen.DeeWilsonisworkingonahistoryofthepunksceneandaspartoftheAlternativeUlsterHistoricalSocietyrecentlyplacedaplaqueontheoriginalsiteoftheTridentBarinBangor,wheremanyoftheearlyNorthernIrishpunkbandsplayed.Spider–Belfastband,signedtoGoodVibrationsandreleasedasingleonthe1978BattleoftheBandsEP.Crass – An English anarcho-punk band and art collective formed in 1977, widelyconsideredtheapotheosisoftheDIYtendencyinpunk.Knownfortheirengagementinarangeofpoliticalissues,includingtheroleoftheBritishstateinNorthernIreland,theyplayedattheACentrein1982inwhatwasaformativegigformyintervieweePetesyBurns.Poison Girls –An anarcho-punk band from Brighton fronted by Viv Subversive andknownfortheirfeminist,anarchistpolitics.TheyplayedinBelfastseveraltimes.Conflict–FromsouthLondon,ananarcho-punkbandcloselyassociatedwithCrassandwithIanBone’sBritishanarchistnetworkClassWar.Ruefrex–Ruefrex,fromtheShankillandtheArdoyneinnorthBelfast,werealongwithStiffLittleFingersoneof the fewbands fromthe firstwaveofNorthernIrishpunktoaddresspolitics directly in their songs. Influencedby theClash, their first albumwasreleasedin1985;thebandplayedabenefitgigforLaganCollege,NorthernIreland’sfirstintegratedschool,inthemid-80s.TheStranglers–TheStranglersemerged from thepub rock sceneof themid-70s tobecomeafixtureofthepunksceneandbeyond,changingtheirstyleandsoundseveraltimes.AnimportantbandforGarethMullan,interviewedinchapterfive.SiouxsieandtheBanshees–SiouxsieandtheBanshees,fromLondon,wereapost-punkandgothbandknownfortheirexperimentalinstrumentation.PlayedinBelfastseveraltimes.

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Echo&theBunnymen–ThecentralbandinAlisonFarrell’saccount,asdiscussedinchapterfour,Echo&theBunnymenwereformedinLiverpoolin1978.Knownfortheircharismaticfrontman,IanMcCulloch.TheAu Pairs –British post-punk band fromBirmingham,whose 1981 debut albumPlayingwithaDifferentSexisnotableforitscausticlyricsonsex,genderand(onArmagh),theBritishgovernment’suseof‘interrogationtechniques’inNorthernIreland.TheSlits–All-womanpunkbandformedinEnglandin1977,featuringAriUp,Palmolive,VivAlbertineandTessaPollit.Theirfirstalbum,Cut,wasreleasedin1979.Asdiscussedin chapter three,VivAlbertinehasplayedan important role inhistoricising thepunksceneviaherrecentmemoir,Clothes,Music,Boys.PattiSmith–AmericanwriterandsingerwhofirstcametoprominenceintheNewYorkpunksceneoftheearlytomid-‘70s.Releasedherfirstalbum,Horses,withthePattiSmithGroupin1975.Toyah-ToyahwereapunkandnewwavebandformedbyToyahWilcoxin1977.Theirfirst album, Sheep Farming in Barnet, was released in 1979. Alison expresses heridentificationwithToyahinchapterfour.Bucks Fizz – An English pop group from the 1980s, best-known for winning theEurovisionSongContestin1981withMakingYourMindUp.TheMiamiShowband–TheMiamiShowbandwereoneofthemostsuccessfuloftheIrishshowbandgroups,cabaretbandswhoplayedpopandcountrysongsandwereamajorliveattractioninIrelandinthe1960sand‘70s.BandmembersFranO'Toole,TonyGeraghty,andBrianMcCoywerekilledbytheUlsterVolunteerForcein1975,inanattackallegedtobeplannedwiththecollusionoftheRoyalUlsterConstabulary.SeeTheMiamiShowbandMassacre:ASurvivor’sSearchfortheTruthforanaccountofformermemberStephenTravers’attemptstorelatethekillingtoBritishstatecollusion.Bacteria–ThepunkbandformedbyGarethMullanandhisschoolmates,asdiscussedinchapterfive.Sabrejets–FormerRudisingerBrianYoung’scurrentband, influencedbyrockabilly,rock’n’rollandtheNewYorkDolls.TheDamned–OneoftheearliestEnglishbandsassociatedwiththepunksceneafterthereleaseoftheirsingle,NewRose,in1976.PlayedinBelfastinthe1970s.TheSweet–Britishglamrockband,formedinLondonin1968andbest-knownfortheir1973singleTheBallroomBlitz.DescribedasaprecursortopunkbyGarethinchapterfive.TheBeatles–Liverpudlianpopbandwhobecameoneofthemostfamousgroupsintheworldinthe1960sand‘70s.PlayedattheKing’sHallinBelfastin1964.

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TheAnimals–EnglishrockbandformedinNewcastleinthe1960s.Especiallyfamousfortheirmuch-coveredsingleHouseoftheRisingSun.Stimulators–TheStimulatorswereapunkbandfromNewYorkwhoplayedatthePunkandNewWaveFestivalintheUlsterHallin1980.The Saints – From Brisbane in Australia, the Saints were formed in 1973 andwerearguablyoneofthefirstpunkbandsintheworld.TheyalsoplayedatthePunkandNewWaveFestivalin1980.StageB–ANorthernIrishpunkbandwhomadetheirfirstappearanceattheHarpin1979.TheywerebookedtosupportSiouxsie&theBansheesin1979butthegigdidn’thappenbecausetheBanshees’equipmentwasleftinEngland;thisisthegigthatGarethattended and left alone, later being chased down the Lisburn Road, as discussed inchapterfive.KillingJoke–KillingJokewereformedinLondonin1978;theireponymousdebutalbumwas released in 1980. Part of thepost-punk scene at the time, they later became animportantinfluencewithinindustrialmusic.Pulp–Pulp,fromSheffield,wereformedin1978butrosetoprominenceinthe1990sasslightlyatypicalmembersof theBritpopscene.SeeOwenHatherley’swonderfulbookUncommonforaconsiderationoftheircareerthatrelatesittothepost-industrialheritageofSheffieldandtoworking-classpoliticsmoregenerally.ToxicWaste–ToxicWaste,fromArds,formedin1983andbecamethefulcrumoftheNorthern Ireland anarcho-punk scene along with Stalag 17. Founding member RoyWallace isnowa filmmaker andhistorianwhohasmadedocumentarieson thepunkscene (The Day the Country Died) and on the Rathcoole Self-Help Group (GoodbyeBallyhightown). Spotifylinkhere;orsearchfor‘JustaNotherTeenageRebel’inSpotify.

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AppendixCSomebiographicaldataonmyintervieweesisincludedhere.Thisshouldnotbetakenas

comprehensiveand inplaces isdeliberatelyvague,partialor impressionistic; this isa

functionof the formof the interviews,whichdidnot entail a lineardiscussionof the

interviewees’livesortheirpersonalhistories,butinsteadfocusedontheirmemoriesof

the punk scene specifically and on their thought about the punk scene from the

perspectiveof thepresent.Thebiographicaldetailsofferedhere, then,are largely the

onesthatmyintervieweesconsideredrelevanttothememoriestheyexpressedaboutthe

punk scene. They should be read in that context rather than as offering a detailed

sociologicalinsightintotheirlives.Formorediscussionofthisstyleofinterviewingand

the advantages and disadvantages it entails in terms of producing oral histories, see

chapterthree.

JohnTDavis–Belfast,October2015

John is a filmmaker andmusician fromHolywood, a small townbetweenBelfast and

BangorinCountyDown,fromaProtestantbackground.Hewasinhisearly30swhenhe

was first taken to a punk gig by a friend, and immediately struck by the energy and

excitementofthescene.HisdocumentaryShellshockRockwasreleasedin1979;itwas

supposedtopremiereattheCorkFilmFestivalbutwasremovedfromthecompetitionat

the lastminute,supposedlyon technicalgrounds. John latermadeseveralothershort

filmsaboutthepunkscene(ProtexHurrah,SelfConsciousOverYou),aswellasanumber

of other acclaimeddocumentaries –Route 66,Dust on theBible, Power in theBlood–

exploringhistwinfascinationswithevangelicalChristianityandAmericana.

AlisonFarrell–Belfast,November2015

Alison was born and grew up in Dungannon in the 1970s, and studied at Queen’s

UniversityBelfastinthe1980s.SheisfromaProtestantbackgroundandismarriedwith

twodaughters,andstilllivesinDungannon,wheresheworksinthethirdsector.

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GarethMullan–Belfast,November2015

GarethwasborninsouthBelfastnearFinaghy,andstilllivesnearthehousewherehe

grewup,althoughashenotedinourinterviewtheareahaschangedagreatdealsince

then.Heisfromaworking-classProtestantbackgroundbutwaseducatedatMethody,a

prestigiousgrammarschoolinthecentreofthecity.Hestudiedscienceatuniversityand

nowworksinanadministrativeroleforBelfastCityCouncil.

PaulKerr–Belfast,November2015

PaulisaformerpunkfromDungannon,CountyTyrone,fromaProtestantbackground

andisinhismid-50s.Hewasinanumberofbands,includingtheNimnules.Henowlives

andworksintheNetherlandsasapersonaltrainer.

JohnCallaghan–Belfast,December2015

John was born in south Belfast but moved with his family as a very young child to

LenahooninAndersonstown.Hewasaround12whenthepunkscenestartedinBritain,

andgotinvolvedinthepunkscenewhilehewasstilltooyoungtogetintogigsorpubs.

He is fromaCatholic backgroundandnowworks in an IT-based role forBelfastCity

Council.

SheenaBleakney–Belfast,January2015(notrecordedonherrequest)

Sheena is from a working-class community in East Belfast and from a Protestant

background.Shewasslightlytooyoungtobeinvolvedinthefirstwaveofthepunkscene

butwasmostlyinvolvedintheslightlylateranarcho-punkscene,particularlyinGiro’s

andinJustBooks.Shecontinuestobeinvolvedinactivismanddirectaction,particularly

aroundenvironmentalissuesandvegetarianism.

HectorHeathwood–Dublin,February2016

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Hectorisafreelancephotographer,andpreviouslytaughtphotographyinanartschool

aswellashavingnumerousoddjobsinhistwenties.HeisfromaProtestantbackground

andgrewupinaworking-classcommunityinEastBelfast.AlongwithTerriHooleyand

someothershewasinvolvedinthecommitteethatsetuppunkgigsattheHarpBar,and

heplayedforsometimeinabandcalledVoltage.HenowlivesandworksinDublin.

PetesyBurns–Belfast,February2016

Petesyisbest-knowninthepunksceneforbeingafoundingmemberoftheanarcho-punk

band Stalag 17 and for being involved in the formation of Giro’s and the Warzone

Collective.HeisfromaCatholic,working-classbackgroundandgrewupintheNewLodge

area of Belfast, leaving school at 16 towork as a bouncer and in other odd jobs. He

continuestoplaywithbands,mostrecentlyintheNorthernIrishpunksupergroupARSE,

andisinhis50s.

DamienMcCorry–Belfast,February2016

DamienisfromaCatholicbackgroundandgrewupintheworking-classcommunityof

Andersonstown.Hewasinvolvedwithanumberofbandsinthepunksceneinthe1970s

and1980sandisnowinhislate50s.Heisself-employedandrunsasmallbusinessin

Belfast,andstilllivesnearwherehegrewup.

BrianYoung–Belfast,March2016

Brianisfromaworking-classProtestantbackgroundinEastBelfast.Hewasafounding

memberoftheBelfastpunkbandRudiandhasfrontedmanyotherbandsincludingthe

Tigersharks,theRoughnecksandSabrejet.Henowworksinanadministrativerolefor

BelfastCityCouncil.

TabithaLewis–Brighton,September2017

TabithawasborninLondonbutmovedtoBelfastwhenshewasababy,withanEnglish

motherandaNorthernIrishfatherwhowaslargelyabsentfromherchildhood.Shegrew

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upinEastBelfastinamiddle-classCatholichouseholdandstudiedatMethody,where

shemetanumberofpeoplewhowouldlaterbecomeinvolvedinthepunksceneinthe

late1970sandearly1980s.ShenowlivesinLondonandhasworkedinhealthcareand

educationaswellasworkingasavisualartist.

ClaireShannon–Brighton,October2017

ClairewasborninRathcoolebutmovedfromtherewhenshewasrelativelyyoungand

grewuponRavenhillAvenue.AlthoughshewenttoaProtestantschool,shenotedthat

herfriendshipgroupswerealwaysmixedandthatherparentswereformermembersof

theCommunistPartywithbroadlyrepublicanpolitics.Shewasmostly involvedinthe

punksceneintheearly1980sandnowlivesinEastSussex.