Stray Bullets
Having served over thirty years in the RUC / PSNI I was medically retired with CPTSD. Dissociative Identity Disorder also evolved in me as a residue of CPTSD. I wrote a novel, 'The Bitter End of Dreams', through which I hoped to reflect the experiences of working class folk caught in the grip of a sectarian conflict. I set my story in Belfast, but replaced the Judeo-Christian god with that of Mithras. I also gave Northern Ireland an extra county. Such counterfactual alterations opened up for me the opportunity to place my story deep within the NI Troubles without being shackled to specific timelines, events and real people - thus avoiding the risk of libelling anyone, while being able to write a story, familiar to many, and retaining a sense of place and the tragedy of the Troubles. I'm going to talk openly about elements of policing the Troubles, religion, politics, sectarianism and our toxic ideologies. I've explored these topics in my novel, as well as the placing of actual events and atrocities; albeit heavily disguised or deeply submerged in subtext.To better frame my thoughts I will, firstly, discuss each chapter in sequence before reading that chapter. In this way I should be able to complete a spoken word version of my novel while using the opportunity it provides to elaborate on its creation process in the context of the NI Troubles.Thank you.
Stray Bullets
Stakeknife and the Ripple of Terror. Part III: Court Martials and a pause for now.
Pausing my consideration of Stakeknife and asset handling for now. I sure I can pick up this thread again once the Op Kenova report is finally published, but for now I want to concentrate on future episodes examining other topics in the context of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Troubles.
I close this episode with a few anecdotal reflections on the PIRA ceasefires as well as a 'class' system of sorts within the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.