Episode 1 - Belts And Boots To Bombs And Bullets

Welcome to the first episode of Hidden Histories of the Northern Ireland Troubles. This is a new podcast which aims to explore the lesser-known and unique stories of events which occurred during the conflict in Northern Ireland from the 1960s up to the 1990s. I am a Belfast based researcher and author (in my spare time). In 2016 my book 'Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries' was published to wide acclaim by Liverpool University Press. One of the people I interviewed for the book was Robert 'Beano' Niblock. Beano was a member of the loyalist youth gang the Woodstock Tartan in 1971. In July 1972 he joined the Red Hand Commando. The Red Hand was a loyalist paramilitary organisation which had been established in the Oldpark area of Belfast in June 1970. In recent years Beano has written a critically acclaimed play, 'Tartan', about his experience of these early years of the Troubles. Even more recently Beano has written a series of poems from the perspective of a young loyalist growing up during the turbulent and violent maelstrom of Belfast from 1969 until 1972. In this podcast episode I talk to Beano about these poems and the influences and events which inspired them. On 8th November 2018 myself and Beano will be co-hosting a special evening entitled 'Belts and Boots to Bombs and Bullets' which we hope will be the first in a series of events relating to people's experiences of the conflict. ___ Gareth Mulvenna