Engendering Peace: Representations of Women in Gary Mitchell’s Post-Good Friday Agreement Drama

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Notes

¹ Within Northern Ireland as a whole, identity is a contentious issue, and even within the two communities certain labels indicate a particular shade of one community or the other: religious affiliation is signified by “Protestant” or “Catholic” (although the person being described may not be a frequent practitioner of that religion), while political affiliation is most often signified by “unionist” or “nationalist.” Terms such as “loyalist” and “republican” designate a more hard-line political stance, and often imply the use of violent means to achieve each respective group’s political ends as well as being from a working-class background. The myriad of signifiers for each community demonstrates the divisiveness present within the communities themselves, but for convenience and simplicity’s sake I will primarily use the blanket terms “unionist” and “nationalist” when describing these communities—the basic definition of a “unionist” being one who wishes for Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom, and the basic definition of a “nationalist” being one who wishes for a reunification of the island of Ireland. When appropriate, however, more specific terms will be used. I will strive to be as concise and correct as possible in my usage of these terms, but cannot always promise simplicity: one woman exemplifies my dilemma when she states, “I would be a working-class Protestant but not a religious Protestant” (Ward 59).

² The Marie Stopes Clinic is a private clinic that provides abortions (among several other services) within the legal framework of Northern Irish law concerning abortion. The clinic met with severe backlash and protest when it opened, despite providing no service or procedure that was not already available at hospitals in Northern Ireland (BBC News “Marie Stopes”).

³ This is not to say that Sinn Féin is a pro-choice party. The issue remains a contentious one among members, with Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald stating “that abortion was a ‘fiercely difficult’ issue” (O’Halloran).

⁴ This belief was recently reflected on stage in Ron Hutchinson’s play Paisley & Me, where the Virgin Mary was described by (the character) Ian Paisley as a “flagrant witch”; it is clear Paisley resents how Mary is sometimes revered in the same respect as Jesus Christ (Hutchinson n. pag.).

⁵ A recent dramatic attempt to subvert this notion was somewhat unsuccessful in doing so. Jonathan Burgess’s play The Billie Girl, which toured to schools in the northeast of Northern Ireland in the spring of 2013, had as its main character an adolescent girl interested in the Orange Order and her grandfather’s role as Grandmaster within the organization. Billie, however, was undeniably a tomboy, dressed in various sports apparel with a baseball cap over her short, cropped hair, with Liverpool FC sheets on her bed. Thus, to even be interested in the Orange Order, it seems a woman must deny her femininity. In addition, Billie’s grandmother spoke of her own involvement in the women’s Orange lodge, but was now reduced to making sandwiches for her husband’s lodge meetings.

⁶ Women’s Orange Lodges, as well as other ancillary organizations, do march in many parades throughout the marching season, but their overall numbers are significantly lower.

⁷ On the contrary, Freddie, perhaps giving the game away to the audience, is explicit in his non-gendering of his accomplice: he never mentions a “he,” “him,” or “guy,” just “the other person,” “they,” and “my mate” (89, 90).

⁸ There are two ways to read this ending. In the stage play, Sandra walks out alone; Joe is currently at her mother’s house, but she makes no mention of going to get him, a possible indication that she will be joining Freddie in their own armed struggle. In the television adaptation (BBC Northern Ireland, 2002), however, Sandra takes Joe with her when she leaves Kyle, and thus likely renounces all involvement with the UDA.

⁹ The same issue affected the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act of 2002, which “included the requirement that the committee responsible for judicial appointments be ‘representative of the community.’ This statement […] indicates representation of the two main communities and not of other groups,” such as women or ethnic minorities (Fearon and Rebouche 286).

¹⁰ Aretxaga writes how, if women transgressed expectations of sexual fidelity to their own, whether they be Protestant or Catholic, they could be “shamed publicly by tarring and feathering or by shaving off all hair” (152). While more common in the earlier years of the Troubles, this punishment technique is still in effect today: in March 2012 a young mother’s grave was tarred and feathered (Belfast Telegraph).