This film chronicles the lead-up to the Our Lives, Our Legacy event in September 2023, held at the Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast. The young people who participated in the program share insights about the project and the event, as well as their thoughts and learnings gained from it.
Our Lives, Our Legacy was a Springboard initiative that aimed to bring together young people from diverse communities to reflect on the legacy of conflict for those born after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The program, which ran for twelve months between 2022 and 2023, involved the young people engaging with various community perspectives.
The program culminated in an immersive exhibition at the Crumlin Road Gaol, where three rooms were dedicated to different aspects of The Troubles. Each room utilised archive from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. The first room served as a visceral reminder of the violence that profoundly affected the people of Northern Ireland. The second room focused on the Peace Process and the events leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. The final room transformed into a voting booth, where visitors could cast their votes on the Agreement.
To conclude the exhibition, the young people hosted reception featuring screening of the Our Lives, Our Legacy film, a joint performance of Willie McBride/The Green Fields of France and speeches from program participants.
The project was a resounding success, with the young people who participated expressing their strong opinions that the promise of the landmark agreement had not been fully realised. They highlighted the persistence of segregation, prejudice, and social and economic division in Northern Ireland.