Episode 5 Real Lives Reunited

-Ordinary people...

-After 35 years,

I drove a DeLorean again.

..with extraordinary stories.

She just takes off her wig and throws it into the punch bowl.

Everybody was, sort of...

-BELFAST ACCENT:

-"Welcome to the Belly of the Pope."

Bonds forged amid triumphs...

Tears, laughter, everything - the whole lot.

LOUD EXPLOSION ..and tragedies.

I had just walked into...hell.

They shared a past, then faced a future apart.

God bless you for what you've done.

Brought together by fate,

separated by time.

Long time, boy!

CHOIR SING: # Sleep in heavenly peace... #

In today's programme...

Bill Clinton became the first United States President

to visit Northern Ireland.

20 years on, the people he met

remember how the Clinton connection changed their lives.

I didn't realise it was going to be the most astonishing day in my life.

-The President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I knew that this was a special moment

and this was something good that was finally happening for us.

And the car made here that made movie history.

I couldn't believe it.

So proud that I was, I said, "We have built a car."

DeLorean workers reunite for a last lap.

How do you feel when you look at these cars?

I mean, it still gets you, doesn't it?

MUSIC: Waterfalls by TLC

# Don't go chasing waterfalls

# Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to

# I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all

# But I think you're moving too fast... #

AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM

As the first baby boomer President,

Bill Clinton was very different to those immediately before him.

Let's put this country back on the right footing.

Not since JFK had there been such a charismatic,

effortlessly-cool politician in the White House...

..or on the stage.

So, when a stalled Northern Ireland Peace Process needed

a serious shot in the arm,

he seemed just the man to fly over and give it.

MUSIC: Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac

On the 30th November, 1995, the President and First Lady arrived.

# Yesterday's gone Yesterday's gone... #

Belfast was put into lockdown by the Secret Service,

so when the President's motorcade made an impromptu stop

on the Falls Road, many were caught totally unawares...

..except local travel agent Gerry Hagan.

His camcorder was rolling

when he captured what would become a worldwide exclusive...

When the limousine did come around

and the President got out,

I was running the camcorder.

Gerry Adams came out and then walked over to the President

and they shook hands.

That handshake became global news

and Gerry Hagan's footage was soon broadcast all over the world.

I was glad I was there. I'm glad I took it.

If I hadn't been there, the question always would have been asked...

"Did he shake hands or did he not?"

MUSIC: Ray Of Light by Madonna

# And I feel... #

As the President widened his social circle, so did Mrs Clinton.

Hillary dropped in on a local women's group for a cuppa.

A small and intimate gathering,

if you didn't count all the photographers.

When she arrived it was just "Click, click, click, click, click,"

because there were invited press there.

We stood up, probably rather noisily and clumsily,

and she just came in, a wave of calm,

and told us all to sit down and just said, "I'm dying for a cup of tea."

And that sort of calmed us all down, because we could sit down

and sort of compose ourselves.

For Laura, the tea-time chat had a truly historic significance.

After the tea was served,

then the First Lady started to ask some questions,

to engage in discussion around their experiences,

their aspirations for the future,

their aspirations for the peace process, but very, very particularly

she was interested in their thoughts as mothers,

and hopes and dreams for the youth of Belfast

and Northern Ireland, as a whole.

I know that, for every one of you who sits here at the table with me,

there are hundreds and thousands of other women

who could be here, as well,

and I want to convey my personal appreciation to all of them.

MUSIC: Man On The Moon by REM

# If you believe They put a man on the moon... #

Tea and biscuits finished,

there was work to be done and speeches to be made.

When the President visited Mackie's Factory, it fell to shop steward

Ronnie Lewis to introduce him on stage.

I felt, first of all, "Am I capable of doing this?"

Everything goes through your head, so it does,

but then the positive side of it kicks in.

"Right, this is something worthwhile doing. I'm going to do it."

APPLAUSE

I'd like to say, good morning, Mr President,

and all distinguished guests.

This is truly a great occasion for our company, West Belfast

and Northern Ireland, in general.

I hope, today, that this will usher in a new era.

APPLAUSE

The world's most powerful man rose to his feet to thank Ronnie,

but he was just glad his 15 minutes of fame were over.

After the speech, the first person I met was one of my workmates

and he said, "That was a terrible speech."

I looked at him...

HE LAUGHS

I was sort of congratulating myself, I'd done all right, like, you know?

And he said, "I'm only joking you, it was dead on."

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me by U2

# You don't know how you took it

# You just know what you got

# Oh, Lordy you've been stealing... #

The first leg of the tour over.

Next stop, Londonderry.

# In the headlights

# Of a stretch car

# You're a star... #

Here the reception was, if anything, even bigger.

And among those waiting, Mayoress Carita Kerr.

I didn't realise that it was going to be the most astonishing

day in my life, the most amazing thing to happen in any small town.

The Clintons were to give a speech in the Guildhall Square,

where they were greeted like rock stars.

The crowd just erupted and all you could hear was,

"We want Bill, we want Bill".

CROWD: We want Bill! We want Bill! We want Bill!

And then, when he started speaking to us,

it really went straight to the heart.

Have the patience to work for a just and lasting peace.

Reach for it. The furthest shore of that peace is within your reach.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They were enraptured. They were just...

They just believed every word he said

and it was the most wonderful moment in my life.

It was absolutely terrific.

Nearly 20 years on, four people with special memories of the visit

are meeting in Belfast City Centre.

The venue - the Europa Hotel, where the Clintons stayed in 1995.

-Hello.

-Hello, how are you?

You're Gerry, is that right?

-I am, indeed. And you are?

-I'm Carita.

-I've heard all the names, but we've never met one another.

-Exactly.

-We're all pieces of the same jigsaw.

-Exactly.

Carita has brought along a photograph of the memorable day.

We had the great pleasure of being at the airport that morning

to meet Clinton arriving.

What was it like? What were the emotions going through your mind?

The doors opened and I looked at these two people standing

and I just grabbed my husband's arm and said,

"John, this is the most powerful man in the world.

-"What are we going to do now?"

-GERRY LAUGHS

For Ronnie, introducing the President on stage turned him

into something of a global celebrity.

It was amazing the letters I got from around the world

and the media interest.

I've done interviews for the Los Angeles Times

and the New York Times.

He even made it on to the Clintons' Christmas list.

I didn't expect to receive any more word from them, but I got

a beautiful letter, personal letter from the President,

-and I also got this from the White House at Christmas.

-HE LAUGHS

It's just a wee...

Aw, that's gorgeous.

The thing that I can say on that day is just that the whole mood

of the people, you could see that they were filled with hope

and they were anticipating what was going to happen.

I got a sense that day that there would be a legacy

and, of course, the Clintons continued to support, obviously, the peace process

but the wider community, and the rest is history.

-To the Clintons!

-Cheers.

-The Clintons!

-God bless them.

Coming up...

how four young lives were impacted

when they played starring roles

in the Presidential visits.

God! I... You see me?

I get emotional. I'm welling up!

Great meeting you...

We find out what happened next

for some of the children who got

up close with the Clinton charisma.

MUSIC: Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty

It's time to go back to the future

with the story of a car that became a Hollywood superstar.

But this icon of the screen wasn't born in California.

It's origins lay on a former wasteland,

5,000 miles away in Belfast.

In 1978, the economy was in deep trouble,

so when a wealthy and flamboyant Detroit car man expressed interested

in opening a vehicle plant in Northern Ireland,

Labour ministers sat up and listened.

John DeLorean promised jobs.

The UK promised him money.

-NEWSREEL:

-After lengthy discussions, he secured grants,

loans and mortgages from government agencies worth more than £70 million.

We'll have the tree-planting ceremony here

and we'll have some talks right after this portion of the programme.

Can we turn to this sheet first, please?

When jobs in the DeLorean car factory were advertised,

David Winnington was first in line.

I was young...

Ambitious at the time...

and I could see maybe prospects of having a better future.

And when Dick Mulholland arrived for his first day,

he was surprised to find there wasn't actually a factory to work in.

All I could see was mountains of mud, JCBs, and I said, "My goodness,

"how is this ever going to be done for production start-up?"

But within just 16 months, the factory and assembly line were built.

Three contractors built it in record time.

It was amazing the way that it was done.

By 1981, the building of the plant was over

and the construction of the car well underway.

The design broke with all convention.

There was a rear-mounted engine,

revolutionary gull-wings

and the car was made of steel.

Unpainted, stainless steel.

MUSIC: Fanfare For The Common Man

I couldn't believe it, so proud that I was.

I said, "We have built a car."

It just felt like your baby. You didn't want to let it go.

It was over six feet wide, the car.

One of the widest on Earth.

You couldn't help but be excited by it.

The factory produced thousands of sports models,

primarily for the American market.

The price? 25,000 each.

And it created more than 2,000 jobs,

employing workers from both sides of the religious divide.

We got both sides in there. They worked together.

I had people working for me

who were both Protestant and Catholic.

We had Orangemen sitting having their lunch with Hibernians,

getting on together, playing cards together.

It was a wonderful place to work.

But sadly, it wasn't to last.

By Christmas 1981, the US economy was sliding into recession

and orders had plummeted.

John DeLorean said he needed further public subsidy,

but the new Conservative government refused.

The optimism of the previous year quickly disappeared.

Half the workforce went.

Then, we went on to a three-day week.

Then, went on to a one day week.

We thought we were going to be there till we retired,

but unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

The company went bust in 1982, with the entire workforce made redundant.

But they had built a car to be proud of.

They didn't know it, then, but it was destined to become a cult classic.

1985. And a box-office smash,

Back To The Future, would ensure this car's place in movie history.

Whenever I saw it in Back To The Future,

the first thing I thought was you couldn't have had a better choice,

cos of the gull wings and things like that.

Turned everything on its head, so it did, you know. Brilliant!

The movie became a trilogy,

one of the most successful film franchises of all time.

And the car became its symbol.

Needless to say, I have seen Back To the Future

I, II & III several times -

one of which was only a week ago!

So yeah, I still... I still get a kick out of seeing

the car on the screen.

Three decades since the original film and even longer

since they worked at the plant, the DeLorean workers are reuniting.

Alan can't wait to catch up with his old friends

at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

I just hope I recognise them,

because we're liable to have changed a little.

I know my hair was a lot longer in my past than it is

at the moment and the glare of my head will probably blind him.

-My goodness, what about you?

-Haven't seen you for ages.

My gosh, long time, no see.

-Is that who I think it is?

-What is going on? It's been so long.

-Joe!

-David!

Joe has brought a newspaper announcing

the opening of the factory.

There was lots and lots of press publicity.

The TV crews were always there, and whenever we were clocking in,

Jimmy Deary said to me, "There's that many cameras here,

"We'll have to wear make-up coming to work every morning."

The jobs may have gone, but love for the cars lives on.

The factory veterans are about to get behind the wheels of four

vehicles they produced during that golden era.

Ah, look at that. Beautiful.

Works a treat.

-ENGINE STARTS

-Purring along, just like a kitten.

How do you feel when you look at these cars?

I mean, it still gets you, doesn't it?

But looking is only half the fun.

Driving is even better.

It's time to hit the track.

MUSIC: The Chain by Fleetwood Mac

Exhilarating. I'm really enjoying this. You've no idea.

Brings back memories.

This here definitely does bring back memories, you know.

I built this car with my friends.

I'll be able to tell my grandchildren,

35 years, I drove a DeLorean again.

Wow!

-HE LAUGHS

-That was fun.

35 years of age, this car is, and it's a treat to drive.

Never thought I'd see the day. Never, ever, ever.

Four colleagues together again with the iconic cars they built.

That calls for a celebration.

MUSIC: Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra

-Well done.

-Fantastic. What a way to finish a wonderful day.

That was a great place to work, you know.

And they were great boys to work with.

It was all over 35 years ago, and it's come to life again today,

and to relive it is just so satisfying, it's unreal, you know?

-ALL: DeLorean, hand-built in Northern Ireland...

-..by us.

-..by us.

CAMERAMAN LAUGHS

# Let's fly away... #

MUSIC: MMMBop by Hanson

The Clinton message for Northern Ireland

was peace needed to work for the sake of future generations.

I have received thousands of letters from schoolchildren

all over your remarkable land, telling me what peace means to them.

And each time they visited, children were given central roles to play.

12-year-old Cathy Harte became a star during the first visit

in 1995 after winning a letter-writing competition.

The prize?

Switching on the Christmas tree lights with the President

in front of a massive crowd.

It was something magical, you know?

There were thousands of people, they were all standing there

with the same hope for peace for the future.

Cathy's winning letter with her hopes for peace

would be read to the 50,000-strong crowd.

"..that one day Catholics and Protestants...

"..will be able to walk hand in hand

"and will be able to live in the same areas."

Thank you, Cathy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

There was just an absolute uproar from the crowd

and Hillary turned and smiled at me.

And I remember as well sitting there thinking, "I can't believe that the

"First Lady of the United States is reading out words that I've written."

-Three, two, one, go!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Nine-year-old choir boy Timothy Murphy was

waiting in the wings that night for his moment.

We were ushered into a big marquee

and we were there for quite a long time,

fully robed, ready to go and you know, we were young so there's...

A lot of us were getting a bit impatient as well,

because we just really wanted to go and perform.

# My momma told me there'd be days like this... #

But Timothy and the other boys from St George's Choir had to wait until

the "warm up" acts, Van Morrison and Brian Kennedy, had finished.

We were behind the scenes and involved in it, you know.

It was just really exciting. It felt like we were really contributing to something.

And then their big moment arrived.

The crowd hushed by their version of Silent Night.

# Silent night

# Holy night... #

It was amazing...um... Singing and looking out

and seeing a huge crowd ahead of you, it's like being a rock star.

In 1998, Washington's power couple were back,

renewing their friendship with Northern Ireland.

And again, young people were at the centre of their plans.

The President travelled to Armagh and it was over to 17-year-old

Sharon Haughey, a local schoolgirl, to introduce him on stage.

Tonight, both sides of the community have come together...

My legs were shaking, it was just adrenaline and happiness,

and just being filled with that much hope, that I knew this was a special

moment and this was something good that was finally happening for us.

..the President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That was a very special moment for me.

Thank you for the wonderful welcome.

After, the Clintons kept in contact with the teenager

and in 2003, Hillary invited her to be one of her interns in Washington.

To see how she...you know...was so dedicated to her constituents

in New York, and to see how hard working she was,

it certainly cemented my desire and my dedication

to entering into public life myself.

Sharon had been bitten by the political bug

and in 2012 she was appointed Armagh City's Lord Mayor.

Back again in 1999, Hillary came to open a cross-community play park in Belfast.

Tomas McInerney was just five

and his role on the day didn't go to plan.

Me and my brother were standing side by side and we had...

We were holding letters up. We were holding the word WELCOME.

-HILLARY:

-We have a shy W here!

I was holding the W but I was holding it down to the ground.

Hillary then came over to me and said something like,

"Oh, I think we have a shy W here."

Who could think that that could go wrong?

Just...such a simple job just...

-HE LAUGHS

-..just failed.

Tomas is studying politics at Queens University

and has political ambitions himself.

He wishes he could remember more about the visit.

I was just sort of blinded by everything that was going on

and couldn't really understand.

But today Tomas is going to put that right.

He's travelling to meet others who met the Clintons during their historic visits.

The meeting is taking place at Belfast City Hall.

Cathy, now a primary school teacher, is joined by Tomas.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-Hiya, nice to meet you.

-And yourself. I'm Tomas.

-Cathy.

Hello, how are you?

The three met the Clintons on different occasions, and they're keen to hear the others' experience.

I was only really five at the time, did youse have a better grasp

on what was going on, since youse were a wee bit older?

I probably knew the importance of it.

If a President of the United States can feel safe in Belfast,

-then why can't other people?

-Yeah.

They were the images that were projected round the world, and

-I think it really gave Belfast and Northern Ireland new hope.

-Yeah.

-Hi, there!

-Hello.

Former choir boy Timothy is last to arrive.

Do you remember what the atmosphere was like?

I just remember everyone, certainly all of us,

being really excited, you know.

Clearly in the city and in the country it was huge news.

I mean, it was a global event, really,

happening in our little country at sort of fairly turbulent times

and even as a nine-year-old, I could appreciate that.

Timothy has gone on to pursue a professional music career.

I've been on the soundtracks for movies

and gigged with Annie Lennox, Laura Mulvula

at the Proms recently and just really crazy stuff.

Those are the sort of fun things, I do more sort of art.

You started big, Tim. That was a big first appearance.

You were destined for great things after that.

Well, you know, it was a really good experience

-and I haven't looked back since.

-HE LAUGHS

All four have achieved so much

in the time since their brush with the Clinton charisma.

President Clinton gave young people a platform, told people to

listen to the younger generation, "Listen to what they want.

"They don't want the past that they've been given.

"They want a new chance at a future."

To mark today's occasion, Tim has arranged an encore

of Silent Night by the present St George's Choir.

# Silent night

# Holy night

# All... #

Hearing that song now, times have changed obviously,

but the meaning's still there, the meaning of hope

and aspirations for the future and for our young generation,

those young boys,

that they have a peaceful Belfast and a peaceful Northern Ireland.

# ..Sleep in heavenly peace. #

APPLAUSE

Before they go their separate ways, a final treat -

highlights of their starring roles in the Presidential visits

on the City Hall big screen.

-Oh, there you are! You look so cute.

-THEY LAUGH

Aw, that's lovely.

-Oh, God! See me, I get emotional!

-THEY LAUGH

I'm proud of myself, actually.

I didn't realise it was such a big thing that I did

and it took such courage to do it.

And it was just...

It's been really, truly, magical today, absolutely.

'Welcome, the President of the United States, Bill Clinton!'

-You had genuine excitement in your voice there.

-I know, yeah.

I got that so many times afterwards.

-People were going, "Where's the President of the United States!?

-THEY LAUGH

President Clinton coming here to Northern Ireland has inspired

each of us to go and to do and play our part in building a better future here.

THEY LAUGH

Today was brilliant. It was brilliant.

Just to hear other people's story and to know, obviously the influence

it had, it was clear through speaking to them the influence it had on them.

And you know, really, it's inspiring to hear where they are now.

-Great meeting youse!

-Yes, and yourself...

Reliving our moments was... It was quite fun

and really interesting and to realise how much Bill and Hillary Clinton

had influenced their lives was really special to find out.

-Good luck.

-Yes...and yourself.

It's strange how your childhood memories, they fade,

but hopefully this one won't fade so quickly.

Yeah, I would most definitely remember this day for the rest of my life.