Episode 1 The Estate

This programme contains strong language.

Ireland's North Coast. A World Heritage landscape.

Five minutes away, as the crow flies,

another world, altogether.

Fuckin' shit!

Ballysally estate on the edge of Coleraine.

The toughest of places to be in the teeth of an economic storm.

Just at breaking point, more or less.

It has twice the national average of people on unemployment benefit.

Because it wouldn't pay you to go out and work.

Some who want to work, can't find a job.

Because there's so much unemployment,

there's many people in for every job.

It's not just our housing estate. All housing estates is the same.

Those who do work, can still feel blocked at every turn.

It all adds up. You just can't live

on what they're saying you should be able to live on.

But despite the poverty, the hardship, and the Ballyscally nickname,

this estate is far from broken.

-Try and see me cock, too!

-No, no, we don't want to see it.

We've followed the ups...

# For the times they are a changin'. #

Pleased to inform you that you've been shortlisted...

-Oh my God!

-..for an interview.

..the downs...

Them people would be stupid if they let you go.

..and the ups...

This is my play area.

..of people in what could be the hardest year of their lives.

This is the story

of a year on the estate.

DOGS BARKING

CHILDREN'S VOICES CLAMOUR

I'll get you a cup of coffee, anyway.

Single mum, Louise, is Ballysally, born and bred.

Only has about two, I only let him have about two.

Don't you?

What are you putting in, now? Milk!

-Milk.

-Milk.

Three-year-old Ryan is the youngest of her five kids.

They just get up, and if they're up, fair enough,

if not, I get them up.

Get them their breakfast, dressed, and all

they go on up to school theirself.

Everyone except Jordan is at school.

This is my play area.

This is where I play, up here, because I don't really like people

touching my stuff, you know.

Whoa!

It is his 11th birthday today and he didn't fancy it.

Jordan, he had hid

below his pillows, in his bedroom.

And wouldn't go, wouldn't get ready for school, he wouldn't go.

But because of this birthday and that, I give in to him today.

That right?

I tell him, "You have to go to school to get your education

"and to get a good job and earn money."

On the dole, you don't get nothing, it's hard enough, look at me,

trying to struggle on the dole with five of them, keeping them,

feeding them, clothing them and whatever. It is hard.

No, son, it'd be harder.

You need a good education to get a job, son.

You can't stay on the dole.

Then again there is no jobs out there for anybody, really.

Drink's a bastard, Philip.

Martin's a chronic alcoholic.

He drinks up to six litres of cider a day, every day.

Sometimes I think about going away on a wee holiday,

you know, just for a couple of days.

No, I mean, fuckin' Rathlin Island, Blackpool or Portrush

or anything, just anything, to get away for a couple of days. A bit of space.

You don't really see people out drinking in their gardens, or,

they keep to themselves a wee bit more.

I think it's a lot to do with probably pride and that,

and maybe they don't want to come out and just be known,

like in any estate, I suppose.

Emma is an alcohol support worker

and she's on her way to see Martin.

I am not just specifically looking to reduce their alcohol.

Yes, if reduce their alcohol, that's good.

Yes, if we help with their living conditions, that's good.

You've so many options you can cover, you know,

and it's about supporting people that haven't had that support before.

That's a great thing and that's why it works,

because they don't feel they're doing everything on their own.

He's got a friend up here that he thinks, maybe,

could do with some help, so that'll, potentially, be a new client.

Hello! I'm Emma. Nice to meet you, Philip.

-Emma, I'm getting a mountain bike.

-Where you getting that from?

-Have a look at it, first.

-I says, "Is it hot?"

-Uh-huh.

DOORBELL RINGS

-Who's that? The boy about the bike. I met him up the street.

-OK.

Martin's alcoholism makes him unfit for work.

He gets nearly £200 a week benefits.

That includes his rent,

and a disability living allowance to help with his alcoholism.

I love it. That'll keep me fit.

Oh!

It's suits. It's your colours.

-Jeepers, it is brand-new looking.

-It does look new, hey.

Job done.

Just stay sober, that's what I tell you.

Need to make sure he isn't done for being drunk in charge of a bicycle.

Hopefully that bike that he got'll help him, to kind of,

take his mind off, because if he's going about on it

he'll not be wanting to drink as much, it'll clear his head.

He can get on the bike and go away, instead of going down and getting, you know, a drink.

I'm going to get a padlock. I'm not stupid.

Would you give my head peace? You've been on my case all fuckin' morning.

You see, you're dotin'. You're not any smarter than me.

You're 20 years older than me and you're dotin'.

Look at you. You're not even organised.

I have only been here under a year

and I came in here with just a candle in the middle of that floor.

Ach, shut up!

Nearly 3,000 people live on the estate,

but the amenities are poor.

To go with two community centres there's just one shop and a cafe.

Upstairs from the cafe, Louise is learning how to decorate.

-It's a rare break from the kids.

-Open up till we get you filled!

You bitch!

It's the only laugh I get, coming here, meeting Anna and all.

Having a laugh, just.

Louise has never had a job. She had the first of her five kids when she was 17,

and has lived on benefits ever since.

You just get Income Support for yourself and you get

Child Tax Credit for the wains and Child Benefit for the kids.

So it's about 300 a week,

but by the time you get your groceries it's over £100

and then trying to clothe them, you just...

struggle.

Louise feels she's stuck in the benefits trap.

It wouldn't pay me to work.

By the time you pay out for daycare,

ones to keep your wains and all for you,

it wouldn't be worth it.

RADIO PLAYS

Stand up.

Back home, Louise's 17-year-old daughter Sarah is holding the fort.

-Ryan, who's your mummy?

-Louise.

-Louise?

-And who am I?

-Sarah.

-Sarah.

Am I your brother or your sister?

-Brother.

-Eh?

-Brother.

-I'm not your brother.

15-year-old sister, Kellie-Ann, is showing off her first tattoo.

I've wanted one for ages and then thought I'll just go get it.

I was going to get it on my face but that means that

if you get it on your face you have to wait two weeks

before it heals so you can wear make-up again,

so I don't think I'm going to get a tattoo on my face.

In the mornings, it's just having to get up

and I just don't like it.

It's all right whenever I'm there

but it's just getting up in the mornings.

By the time I get ready and stuff, it's too late. So it is.

Kelly-Anne's constant refusal to go to school has brought

an ultimatum from the education authorities.

If she doesn't go, her mum could go to jail.

Just at breaking point, more or less.

Ready for the mad house.

God knows where I'll end up.

Six feet under

or in fucking jail.

Or I'll hit her.

This is the start. I started at half eight this morning.

PHONE RINGS

I'm not answering it.

I'm never going to get out of Ballysally!

Emma's on her way to meet Martin to help him sort out his benefits.

I'm the only professional worker they're involved with,

you have to kinda deal with all those other social issues

before you can even get to the alcohol.

It's a bit like peeling back an onion, you know,

their alcohol issues are in the centre of that, it's an addiction,

but there are so many other issues surrounding it that are affecting that main issue.

Martin's just had a back payment of £260,

and isn't sure how to manage it.

Right. OK, shh.

He received a payment today, just to double-check

when he'll next be getting paid?

I can pay my fine off easy.

Right, so it'll go in his bank account the 25th, that's great.

Is yer man on the ball?

OK, that's grand, thanks very much. Bye.

How much have you got at the minute, till we work this out?

£260.

What about £60 on the fine?

That leaves you with £200? Right?

Take £40 out and that leaves £160. Right, so we pay £60 for the fine.

But I still need groceries. That's 20 quid.

There's the 60, that's for the fine.

-I'll get a wee envelope for you.

-What about the dog?

Do you want to pay a fiver for the dog, too? Or a tenner, or something?

I'll tell you what I want to do. I want to give you £20.

That's very, very thoughtful

-but I can't take that off you.

-No, no! Oh, you can!

-And this here thing...

-You can go and buy girly stuff.

That will get you most things paid off.

Have a good weekend and I'll see you Monday then. OK?

'Patience, that's one thing you need in this job.'

A lot of patience.

You really do, it can be quite taxing at times.

I'll always give somebody a chance and not...

Cos you never know, if you're not in a situation you can never say,

"Oh, well, I would do it like this or I wouldn't do that,"

because you really don't. Until you are in a situation you can never

condemn somebody or talk about the way somebody else is dealing

with something because you don't know what you would do.

You know? So...

One final attempt.

The estate is mostly made up of council houses.

Jimmy and Denise are among the minority who own their own home.

Sometimes he'll say to me, if he's in a hurry,

any chance of the good fairy coming to make us lunch?

and sometimes I make it,

but most times he makes it himself.

Mummy, where are these going to go?

I've learned to do it myself.

Before, Mammy always used to do it for me.

They both work full-time. Denise is a classroom assistant,

Jimmy works nights in a warehouse so they don't see much of each other.

I'd rather he worked through the day and stayed home at night

-because I've nobody to talk to.

-Mummy. Mummy. Mummy.

-I'm lonely!

-You must put one...

-So I'd rather he had a day job.

-Mummy, mummy, mummy.

It's work, isn't it?

He's always went to work at night.

He's always went to work at night.

At 6:00pm.

At the end of the day, it gets me money to pay the mortgage,

hot food in the house, and buy the wains treats.

A day job would mean Jimmy could spend more time with his family.

I suppose there are times we'd like to have some quality time

on our own but...

You just bounce back at the end of the day.

-She's OK, Lauren is.

-Yeah.

Their nine-year-old daughter, Lauren, has Spina Bifida,

so family life revolves around her needs.

Both Lauren and younger brother, Dylan, miss their dad

-when he's out at night.

-Bye, Dad.

-When will you be finished?

I don't know. Hopefully half one or so. Hopefully anyway.

-All right.

-Give me big hug.

-What about a kiss?

-No!

-What do boys do?

-Shake hands.

Are you getting too big for kisses?

-Me!

-Ah!

-High five!

-OK?

I'll see you later, then.

Mummy, I think we're missing one.

-OK?

-All right?

Martin slept rough on the streets for nine years

and became an alcoholic in the process.

This flat is a fresh start for him.

This is our wee house, now.

Get up there, son, get up.

That's your seat. That's your seat.

I worked hard to get the house

because I was getting sick of getting sick.

On the street. I'm trying to set up a better environment.

Everything's good, it's all great because I'm on DLA now.

The money doesn't matter, it's just the principle of the thing.

That Disability Living Allowance and a roof over his head

have made Martin determined to give up the drink.

I'm going to get rid of the poison.

If I kept drinking the way I'm drinking, it'd be very hard to pay to live.

That's why I'm getting ready, I'm getting everything

I need to keep myself busy before I do it.

You need something to take your mind off it.

Just going to be like everybody else, be a person.

I hope I've got plenty of time in my life to sort out everything.

Louise is back home.

You wee bastard!

And her boys are in fighting form.

It really does my head in!

You think they're going to come through the fucking ceiling!

I do go up and shout and roar at them but it doesn't work!

They don't listen to her but they listen to me, don't they?

Aye, they do.

Get the fuck off the bed!

Oh!

Kelly-Ann is still refusing to go to school.

This is just what I do all day long, I just sit and text.

There's nothing else to do.

Apart from go to school, but that's not my thing. So it's not.

She knows her truancy could land her mum in jail

but it's not enough to make her go.

Right.

That's him eating away there.

Ah, if I didn't have him I don't know.

He was the best thing.

You know, he's good company.

And he doesn't talk back!

After some time bracing himself, Martin has given up the drink.

Bobby, look, look! Bobby.

Sit! Sit.

Look.

Look, Bob.

I'm very observant. I just like meditating.

I just sit and meditate.

Seen that boy up there washing the car yesterday

and he was washing it for about an hour.

I thought he was going to take the paint off it.

These boys here they park their cars exactly the same place every day.

And them people over there, they never pull their curtains.

They just keep them the way they are.

And then their sticker's stuck to the bottom window. With nets on it.

I'm dead paranoid whenever I'm coming off it.

I would worry a lot about everything. I would even worry about

when was the right time to come off the drink because there's always

appointments and it takes about three or four days before you're OK.

Know what I mean?

Don't get me wrong but the temptation's there.

Mmm-hmm.

All right?

It's been cold in there all night, so it has.

It was better than the other night.

Jimmy can clock up to 12 hours a night at the frozen food factory.

He earns just over the minimum wage.

After tax I have only about £262 just for a 40 hour week, you know?

It's better off having a job than nothing, you know,

cos at the moment there's nothing out there.

I wasted over ten years of my life on the dole. Never any money.

King for a day, broke for a fortnight. It was no good.

My mother came up and got me a kick up the backside, told me

I was going to be a waster and all.

If it wasn't for my ma, I could still be lying on the dole,

wasting my life doing nothing that way.

Come on.

DYLAN WHINES Don't.

-Mum, Mum, Mum, Mum.

-Don't. Bed.

HE HOWLS

MUM LAUGHS

Bed now. Do you want me to tell Daddy in the morning?

How naughty you are.

You are going to be really for it.

Right, missus, in you go.

'He really does hate going out at night.'

He loves being home here in the evenings

and it's nice for them too. They love having him home in the evenings.

I miss him in the evenings, I really do.

He's been doing this night work now, must be four or five years?

I still don't like it. I don't like him not being here at night.

-Strawberry, wasn't it?

-Aye.

'What can we do? He's got a job. He's lucky in that respect.'

Luckier than a lot.

That he has a job, that we've both got jobs.

Kiss. Hug.

Five fingers skin shake. A kiss and hug.

-Night, night.

-Love you.

Love you.

Come into my bedroom and give a hug!

Here are some more, right.

He's a real diamond. He really is, he works hard.

He's so considerate, he says, "You need your sleep, you work."

So he lies on the sofa every night.

I put down a pillow and a duvet.

It's so wrong! It really is.

Thirty-four, that's everything.

Just have to keep doing this until something else come up.

Next time on the estate...

I want a new house today!

She's saying there's nothing at all.

Now the two wains are gone,

you feel like your whole life's over.

There's no point in me going to school and getting an education

if I'm going to come out and have nothing.

Fucking fags is over-rated,

at least when you get drunk,

you can be a bit foolish.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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