If you’re like me, the five words “based on a true story” at the beginning of a movie or TV show hook me every time. While I will never deny the power of a writer’s imagination, reality is still stranger than any fiction and the best stories do still come from real life. And, most horrifying, the worse a tale is, the more likely it’s based on something that really happened.
When it comes to stories about The Troubles, I’m always riveted. That dark period in Northern Ireland, which lasted from the late 1960s to 1998 which pitted Catholics versus Protestants, English versus Irish and nationalists versus unionists, was a violent and destructive time during which thousands lost their lives and millions of lives were affected, the repercussions of 
which are still being felt today. Now, nearly thirty years after the peace treaty that ended the active violence, we are in a fascinating time to be looking back. There is enough distance to allow proper historical perspective and yet it is recent enough to still trigger emotional responses, largely due to the fact that there are still so many victims, participants, witnesses, aggressors and accused still alive who can tell their stories, some whom have never spoken before.