0:00:04 > 0:00:08I think the world views East Belfast the way it views Belfast.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11I mean, we're kind of semi-twinned with Beirut,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13or we used to be anyway.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22The people outside Belfast see a troubled area.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26People inside Belfast, I think they see a bit of a mess,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29that they are just struggling through from day to day.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32SIREN WAILS
0:00:34 > 0:00:38There are a lot of people disenfranchised, distanced,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40fractured, and people are confused.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48I think this has got to be the dead centre of my life.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50The junction of the Newtonards and the Hollywood Road.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52We lived in Sydenham
0:00:52 > 0:00:56and then we moved up to the Hollywood Road.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58My mum now lives in Belmont.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00My granny lived in Foxglove Street.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Ravenscroft Avenue was our doctor's.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06And the barber's was over there.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08The shops were here and Radio Rentals
0:01:08 > 0:01:12where we hired the TV and the video from was down there.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16And this was just the middle of my life, this point here.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20That's why I'm back, that's why... I mean, I never left.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22In my head, certainly, I never left.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25I may live on the other side of the Lough, longer than I've ever lived here,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28but this is where I live, this is where I live in my head.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30And my connection's here.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I suppose it's like anybody who grows up in a place.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36It's part of you. You can't escape it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And when somebody's pissing around with it as well
0:01:39 > 0:01:44and giving it a bad name, you want to try and do something about that.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45So I suppose that's why I'm here.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06The commemoration of the First World War is a large part
0:02:06 > 0:02:08of East Belfast over these next four years
0:02:08 > 0:02:13and I thought that tying something in with that would allow me access.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22I approached three bands.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25I thought that was the best way to do it because I felt
0:02:25 > 0:02:28that they were people who'd been pushed back to.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31There is a camaraderie, there is a sense of identity
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and belonging within the band fraternity.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39INDISTINCT SHOUTS
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Although there's been inroads made into East Belfast and the Protestant,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Unionist, loyalist community, as it's been labelled, it is limited.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55I'm not trying to solve the problem. I'm just nibbling at it
0:02:55 > 0:02:57with a little project with some people
0:02:57 > 0:03:00who have not been approached before in this way
0:03:00 > 0:03:03to do a commemorative thing about World War I,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06examine themselves, who they are and where they are from.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22- TOGETHER:- ..Go into action, rule Britannia...
0:03:22 > 0:03:27I really do care that the people have not been properly represented.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30I mean, there is a line I hear bandied about occasionally,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32"Nobody likes us, we don't care."
0:03:32 > 0:03:36But you have to care because you have to coexist with other people.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Also, the fact that, in 51 years of the Belfast Festival at Queen's,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44this is the first time an Orange Order Hall has been a venue.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I love doing stuff that's breaking new ground.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I found that my great-great-grandfather had
0:03:52 > 0:03:54went on to serve in the First World War.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00And he made it to 27 October in 1914.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02He made it to the fields of Flanders. That's as far as he got.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07"Do not repeat tactics that have gained you one victory..."
0:04:07 > 0:04:10What you are doing is trying to show the history of the past,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12our heritage, our great-grandfathers'.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13But also it's going to be our history,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17we're making history doing this and it's going to be history
0:04:17 > 0:04:19that could highlight us in a different way.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25You never really get a chance to show people what a bandsman is,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27they just see a front.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31So, every chance you get to change, take it.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45You associate a little bit with the band.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Bands are bad, so they say.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53But they're not bad when you get to know them.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Whenever you see people talking on the TV about a flag or something,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05the word loyalist is immediately associated with it.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08So you're branded from that.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Being the flag, it's probably not the most important thing to me.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17People died for it, respect it.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It's not an awful lot to ask for.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25The flag isn't going to offend me.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28If you're Irish and want to fly an Irish flag, fly it.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Am I a loyalist?
0:05:32 > 0:05:33No.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41They don't know me, they just see the uniform.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I'm just a normal guy.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49And you put that uniform on and they think you're bad. Which...
0:05:51 > 0:05:52..isn't right.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11- Is your mind made up?- Do you watch the news?- Do you wish me to stop?
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- What do you see?- Do you see a uniform?- Do you see a drum?
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- Do you see a flute?- Do you see me?
0:06:17 > 0:06:21- I joined for honour.- To protect heritage.- To defend culture.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25- To save traditions.- To feel proud. - To show off.- To get girls.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26Yeah!
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I hope that the play will show us as a union.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34We are bandsmen.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39We are Protestants and we can show people that we can do other things
0:06:39 > 0:06:42and not just play our instruments on the road.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47And that's what's interesting. That's what's keeping me in this play.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50It's inspirational.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00My family weren't linked with a band.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03We just done what every other Protestant done.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06We just went out and celebrated the parades.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09And that first sparked me off to join a band.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13I was expecting the unexpected, basically.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15And whenever I walked in, I was just gobsmacked,
0:07:15 > 0:07:21I'd just seen UDR pictures, memorials, plaques everywhere.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25And I went..."This is where I need to be".
0:07:27 > 0:07:30My grandfather was in the UDR.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33He was a soldier within their ranks.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35And I felt that I was in his shoes
0:07:35 > 0:07:38whenever I walked through those doors.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40And I'd seen all the UDR Memorial.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45And I went, "Yeah, this is my stop, I'm not moving."
0:07:45 > 0:07:50If I didn't put my foot through them doors, I wouldn't be the man who I am today.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53That was the best decision I ever made.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56And I am in a band that is known,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59that's been walking these streets for 40-odd years now.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And I'm proud to call myself a Raven man.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30I'm doing this because I want to change people's minds.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Culture and identity is very important to me.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34It's important to everyone, to be honest,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36to every bandsman here who's taking part in this.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39This has to challenge people's perceptions
0:08:39 > 0:08:41of who we are and what we are.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46But I'm just a normal guy of 26 years of age,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51who's just got a keen interest and a love for a flute band.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55And the poetry and the songs that we're singing
0:08:55 > 0:08:58relate to our culture, to our identity,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02to the lost generation of 1914 to 1918,
0:09:02 > 0:09:07that we are so proud of the men that gave up their lives for us.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18WHISTLING
0:09:21 > 0:09:23I was always destined to be in the band, to be honest.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28From a young age, I grew up banging pots and pans in my granda's house,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31listening to the bands, watching the bands,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36the songs and the colour, the music and the splendour of it all.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43So, coming up here on the 12th night -
0:09:43 > 0:09:44brilliant, magic,
0:09:44 > 0:09:49the road is lined six to eight deep on each side of the road,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51the crowds cheering you on.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55You think about it, it actually brings a smile to my face...
0:09:58 > 0:10:00..a sense of pride...
0:10:00 > 0:10:02honour...
0:10:05 > 0:10:08..and people shouting for your band, shouting your name
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and seeing the smiles of people's faces
0:10:11 > 0:10:12when you're marching past them.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Nowhere like it.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21And to be honest, there's no other place I'd like to be on 12 July
0:10:21 > 0:10:24than walking with my flute band.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29This is the band's mural, this is home.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31It says everything about our band.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Two flags, our crest, it tells us who we are.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37It makes me smile because every time I know
0:10:37 > 0:10:40when I see that mural that I'm in the Protestant Boys.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53I've seen you when you parade. I've seen you out there.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I've seen it when the blood's up, I've seen you drumming, you know,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00you engage in a different way, this is the same engagement.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I heard the phrase, "The band comes first and always." That's why
0:11:03 > 0:11:07I scheduled the Monday night, because that's when they normally practise.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Several of them didn't turn up because they said,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"No, we have the band that night."
0:11:11 > 0:11:14So the challenge was getting them all in the one place at one time,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18as well as figuring out, lads, we need to be together to do this.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24# For a moment I grant at the end of my day... #
0:11:24 > 0:11:29I've never had all of them in the one place at the one time. They all work.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I mean, that in itself - and I'm ashamed to say it - was a shock.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36I thought it would be a bit like Benefits Street or something
0:11:36 > 0:11:38with some of them, at least.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41No, all of them have got jobs or are students.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45And they are very dedicated to the work that they do.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50We're still trying to bring it together, it's terrifying.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53I want to see your war faces. One, two, three...
0:11:53 > 0:11:54THEY ALL YELL
0:12:04 > 0:12:08SOUNDTRACK DROWNS SPEECH
0:12:18 > 0:12:20We had the full house decorated.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24We had the tree decorated and we had the whole house decorated.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28We tried to decorate out the back, but we didn't see any point
0:12:28 > 0:12:30because no-one would see it.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34We had bunting coming from the top windows down to the fences.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37But, yeah, we've kept this up,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41because I think we've kind of forgot about it. But I like it up.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44I says, "Mum, just leave it up, don't take it down."
0:12:44 > 0:12:46I did ask her to keep the bunting up
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and the flags all up around the fences and everything else,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53but she took it all down because she says
0:12:53 > 0:12:57that the marching season is finished, which is true.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01But I really wanted to keep the stuff up
0:13:01 > 0:13:05because it symbolises us as a community,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07that we are Protestants up here.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Since I was born, I was always around the Union flag.
0:13:17 > 0:13:23It's a symbol of strength, courage, determination and spirit.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Union flag is there and it's there for a reason.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31And so is the tricolour and the rest of the flags that you see.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Thankfully, the Union flag is flying high.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40And I am pleased that it's flying high.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48MARCHING BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:48 > 0:13:50HE WHISTLES ALONG
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Does this Protestant not know I don't like hill starts?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01THEY LAUGH
0:14:05 > 0:14:09I don't know how anyone can sit in their house on the 12th day
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and not even go and watch the bands
0:14:12 > 0:14:15or go and do something else,
0:14:15 > 0:14:17cos it would rack me.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20My mum and dad went to America, 2004,
0:14:20 > 0:14:25er...with my brother and sister and they wanted me to go and I said,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"No, I'm not going, I'm not missing the 12th."
0:14:28 > 0:14:30And I wasn't even in the band then.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32I told my missus too, I said,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36if we ever have a child due on the 12th day, I'm happy if her waters broke.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38LAUGHTER
0:14:44 > 0:14:47It's our life, it's a way of life. Nothing else comes into it.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49See growing up, see England, Scotland and Wales,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51they grew up when they were younger
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and football is their night for a fella.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57For us, it's bands is our night.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58And we love it.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02The 12th day is the best day.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07He mightn't agree but I agree. The 12th day is the best day.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09I like the 1st of July better.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11The 1st of July means more.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17We're walking that night for Protestants and Catholics who fought
0:15:17 > 0:15:19in the First World War.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22The 10th, the 16th and the 36th Ulster Division.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24The 36th Ulster Division.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26We're remembering every single person who
0:15:26 > 0:15:29fought in the First World War on the 1st of July.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45These were the men that obviously signed the Ulster Covenant.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Some wrote it in their own blood
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and then obviously joined the Ulster Volunteer Force
0:15:51 > 0:15:57on the 13th of January 1913 and then obviously war broke out
0:15:57 > 0:16:01and then these men ended up joining the 36th Ulster Division.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03The 8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
0:16:03 > 0:16:06especially was the East Belfast Battalion, so it was.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07Off to France they went.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14Fought for King and country. Some obviously never returned.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18There are obviously thousands still in France, buried there.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Many an Orangeman and many a Roman Catholic fought side-by-side
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and died side-by-side.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27You have to feel proud.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30What is there not to feel proud about that men went and fought
0:16:30 > 0:16:31and died for you?
0:16:44 > 0:16:48It's been a real adventure, I suppose. It's been tough,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52it's been frustrating, it's been difficult,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and it's been exhilarating, too,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00just bringing these guys along and finding something in them
0:17:00 > 0:17:02that they didn't know they had.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I think that there's a defence mechanism that has to operate
0:17:05 > 0:17:10if you're in a marching band, because the world seems to be against you.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12But these guys are letting the world in.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19I have to let them do it on their own,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22I have to let them stand on their own two feet,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27and I think the heart of it is they are doing it for the best of reasons,
0:17:27 > 0:17:28the best of intentions,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32and if their skills are not up to professional standard, so what?
0:17:34 > 0:17:35I'm nervous for them.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39They'll get out there, it'll happen, I'll give them all the support I can.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43The music, the sound, the lights, it'll all be there.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45But it's up to them, in the end.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Whenever we're standing ready to go and the lights dim,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55you want people to see that you're enjoying it.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59What are you going to say when he says there's a war going on?
0:17:59 > 0:18:02'You want to put everything, your heart and soul,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05'blood, sweat and tears into this performance'
0:18:05 > 0:18:09so people will have hairs stand up on the back of their necks
0:18:09 > 0:18:13and go, "Right, OK, I didn't expect that from these ones."
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Hunter, S.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18Engineer.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Royal Navy HM Transports.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Harper Street, East Belfast.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24Died of wounds.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Robert.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Rifleman. Royal Irish Rifles.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32122 Castlereagh Street, East Belfast.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Killed in action.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39If we didn't have wood, corrugated metal,
0:18:39 > 0:18:40sandbags would do,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and we built up the parapet and kept our heads down.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48My mum's coming, my sister, probably my girlfriend,
0:18:48 > 0:18:49there's ones out of the band coming.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52I think the guys from the band will be pretty pleased.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Anybody I speak to and tell them what we're doing, they're just like,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58"Aye, dead on. You're not going to be able to do that."
0:18:58 > 0:19:02I think whenever they see it, they'll be pleasantly surprised.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06- Done much yourself?- Sorry?
0:19:06 > 0:19:10And have you done much killing in the Inniskilling Fusiliers,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Robert Anderson?
0:19:12 > 0:19:15'For people to come here and to see us singing on stage,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18'doing a bit of dance, doing a bit of drama, our culture is really
0:19:18 > 0:19:23'important to us but this is another culture that we're taking part in.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27'And hopefully their opinions are changed of us.'
0:19:27 > 0:19:30You're just raging you can't kiss me.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32'It actually has been great to take part in something
0:19:32 > 0:19:35'and to feel proud of something else'
0:19:35 > 0:19:38cos when you walk out on the streets with your band,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43you feel immensely proud, especially the 12th of July, but...
0:19:44 > 0:19:46..here's something to give me something else
0:19:46 > 0:19:47to be immensely proud of.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56APPLAUSE
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Thank you, good night.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07CHEERING
0:20:09 > 0:20:15"Dear Cheryl, how life has changed from just a few weeks ago,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19"from me, you and the girls sitting around the table, having our evening
0:20:19 > 0:20:23"dinner, to me being out here in this war-stricken hellhole of a country.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26"It's a far cry from home.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29"I do hope this letter reaches you and I hope to see you
0:20:29 > 0:20:31"in the not-so-distant future.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33"All my love, Thomas."
0:20:36 > 0:20:38'Today I'm heading to France
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'to visit my great-great-grandfather's war grave.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48'I decided to write a letter to try and sort of feel like he did,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50'even though you're never going to.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55'It's the closest you're going to get to it, is to write your thoughts out.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58'Hopefully they can resemble something that maybe he did write.'
0:21:00 > 0:21:02As far as I know,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05this is the only picture that is still in the family of Thomas.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11He had great respect for his country and what he did
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and me going is the only way I can give him the respect that he needs.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Whenever you're talking to somebody that's in a band,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32they have two faces.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34One face is a socialising face.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36They go out, they go out with their friends,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39they go out with their mates, they go out with their girlfriends
0:21:39 > 0:21:42or their wives or their fiancees, whatever it may be.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46They put a uniform on, they're a completely different person.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48And it's a huge responsibility.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55It feels as though I'm putting duty on my shoulders.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08I put my trousers on and my T-shirt on first
0:22:08 > 0:22:12and I just walk about the house with it on until I have to go.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16I get my boots on, my tunic on, my hat and belt on, put my flute
0:22:16 > 0:22:19in my pocket and I step out that front door and I am a bandsman.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26It's not that I'm really proud of myself, I'm just proud of the
0:22:26 > 0:22:31decisions that I made for myself that make me the person I am today.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I got a poppy cross to take to France with me.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45That's the way that you remember the fallen, is through poppies.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53It's just a mark of respect for what he had done 100 years ago.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54It's the way you can...
0:22:54 > 0:22:57It's the closest connection that you're possibly going to have
0:22:57 > 0:23:03to him, because he doesn't have a real grave where his body's resting
0:23:03 > 0:23:08and there's a headstone for him. It's the only possible way...
0:23:08 > 0:23:10that he's going to be remembered.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Over here is like a replica of France. You get the same feeling.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Just standing looking at all the waves. It's...
0:23:32 > 0:23:34It's inspirational.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Whenever them boats hit the beaches
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and they walked onto land they've never felt before,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41they've fought people they've never seen before,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44they were in surroundings they're not comfortable with,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47they didn't know, they didn't know where they were.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Realistically, I don't think that was in their head at the time.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55I think they were thinking, "The sooner we get this war done
0:23:55 > 0:23:58"and finished, the sooner we can go back home."
0:24:02 > 0:24:05You see bands on the road and they're in ranks.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Them boys would be in the same ranks.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Only they would have weapons.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15But our weapons is drums and flutes.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20If another world war were to happen and I was asked to join,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22I wouldn't hesitate.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I would go for the same reasons them boys left their homes -
0:24:26 > 0:24:28to fight for Queen and country.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50It's been a lot stronger feeling than I expected.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54You sort of come thinking it's just going to be a memorial,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57gravestones, and you actually come out and you see...
0:24:57 > 0:25:02so many names and so many people that were probably from Belfast as well.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06It makes it a lot more real.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11In the future, whenever you're
0:25:11 > 0:25:15praying at memorial services or going to Remembrance Sunday,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19you'll definitely be able to look back and be thinking of here.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23When you've visited it and seen it, it'll always be in your head
0:25:23 > 0:25:26whenever you're at them types of services.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35There.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40To be the first family member that I know of to come out here
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and visit Thomas's grave,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44it's nice to be able to lay the cross
0:25:44 > 0:25:46beneath his name in memory of him.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51It's 100 years from the battle so... it couldn't happen at a better time.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07War's not a good thing.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09You might win but...
0:26:12 > 0:26:15..it's a great sacrifice for that win.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18It's the ultimate sacrifice.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36We've killed people, we've shot people, murdered people,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40bombed people, families on both sides left brokenhearted.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45We need respect and we need tolerance.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49And we have to find a common ground in that.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And when you look out over the city centre and over the city
0:26:59 > 0:27:04and Belfast Lough, the shipyard, the houses so close together,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07yes, we know that there's a Protestant area, a Catholic area,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10but them times are changing now as well.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Have to look forward, have to build a shared future
0:27:14 > 0:27:16where the Orange tradition,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Protestant tradition, cultural heritage is accepted.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25And we have to accept the Irish tradition, too.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32Hopefully we have a future for my kids, my grandkids,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34hopefully, if I live long to see them.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41Hopefully they can enjoy the culture and the tradition
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and heritage that I have, too.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48And hopefully they'll still be able to walk
0:27:48 > 0:27:50the 12th of July route every year.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59We all realise that we are just the same people.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03We do worship the same God.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09When you pass on, you either go up above to the good Lord
0:28:09 > 0:28:11or you go down below.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13And if I get to Heaven,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16hopefully I'll be playing my drum for the good Lord.