Séamas O’Reilly: ‘As I’ve grown older I’ve realised how formative the Troubles were’

Séamas O’Reilly's debut novel, 'Prestige Drama,' plunges readers into modern-day Derry, where the production of a high-budget television series about the Troubles becomes the central narrative. The novel employs a polyphonic structure, weaving together multiple first-person perspectives to capture the complex emotions, humor, anger, and sadness, of the region.

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I felt like the best way to channel the humour, anger and sadness of an entire place was by putting the reader directly in their heads.

O’Reilly expresses a critical view of how Northern Ireland and the Troubles have been portrayed in film and television. While acknowledging some worthy treatments of specific events and enjoyable films that use the region as a backdrop, he dismisses many depictions as featuring simplistic, stereotypical characters. He specifically calls out films like 'Patriot Games' and 'The Jackal' for their one-dimensional portrayals of paramilitary figures.

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I’d say pretty badly, overall.

Reflecting on his own experience, O’Reilly notes that while he was only 12 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, the Troubles profoundly shaped his life and the lives of those around him. He recounts witnessing a bombing, experiencing regular bomb scares, and passing through checkpoints daily until the age of 11. More significantly, he emphasizes that every relationship and institution he encountered was irrevocably formed by that period, a sentiment he believes still resonates for those born decades later.

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It’s only as I’ve grown older that I’ve realised just how impactful and formative it was for me.

Discussing Northern wit, O’Reilly attributes the characteristic mordant, gallows humor to the region's dark past. However, he also points to more prosaic influences, suggesting that nationalists in Derry absorbed comedic tropes from Scotland and northern England, while unionists were exposed to Irish influences. He also touches upon the possibility of returning to Northern Ireland, a place he considers returning to each time he visits, and the challenging yet meaningful process of writing his memoir, 'Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?', which explored grief with humor.

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I would say the type of mordant, gallows humour people associate with the North has predictable origins in the darkness of our recent past, but I’d argue it also has some slightly more prosaic roots.