'Northern' tells the story of two communities living side by side in an uneasy truce after many years of conflict. Over the past months director Trevor Curran has been meeting with ex-combatants from both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland – a conflict that over decades claimed many lives and led to deep divisions between communities. These men come from extreme ends of the political and social system, directly from the centre of the conflict - from the Republican, Nationalist, Loyalist and Unionist outlooks. We will hear the stories of ex-paramilitaries and former paramilitary prisoners from the UVF, UFF, INLA and IRA.

Through collaboration with the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre, we will meet a number of men who have directly been involved in the conflict because of their beliefs - the years of conflict clearly evident in their eyes and on their troubled faces – hardened by experience. The only visible difference is the colour of their tattoos. We will hear in-depth and candid insights into what it was to live through and fight in what was one of the world’s longest fought and bitterest urban conflicts. We will also discover what it’s like for them now, in peacetime, where a ‘New Ireland’ is emerging, a multi-cultural society within a globalised economy. How does this shift in perception of Ireland resonate with them? And how does this impacton the potential to resolve deep-rooted bitter feelings and memories of murdered family and friends? How can they create a new identity for themselves when the sectarian structure of their world is gone?