0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language
0:00:04 > 0:00:07Ballysally, on the outskirts of Coleraine,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09houses close on 3,000 people.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Twice the national average are on the dole,
0:00:15 > 0:00:16making it a hard place
0:00:16 > 0:00:19to see out the biggest economic storm in a generation.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27This is the story of a year on the estate.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Jimmy's just received news about a job he'd applied for.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Right, caretakers, Ballysally, wait till we see if I'm successful.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Right. "Thank you for your recent application.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58"I'm pleased to inform you
0:00:58 > 0:01:01"that you've been shortlisted for an interview!"
0:01:01 > 0:01:03- Oh, my goodness!- Bloody hell!
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I was sure you hadn't even got it.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09- I know.- Or wouldn't even get an interview.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Boys in my work were talking about it, says they never bothered to apply.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15There was probably hundreds in for that.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17There you go!
0:01:17 > 0:01:21I didn't expect that there coming through the letterbox.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Jimmy's desperate for a new job.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27He works nights at a local factory and Denise works during the day,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29so their time together is precious.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31I always used to take Lauren to bed
0:01:31 > 0:01:34and read her stories and all before I got the night job
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and tucked her in, and I suppose I haven't done that in...
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Even Dylan, I think I've never really tucked Dylan into bed.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Since he was only a baby when I got that job.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50A day job would ease the strain on family life.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53So what about that? If I do get a day job,
0:01:53 > 0:01:54- that'd be good, wouldn't it?- Yeah!
0:01:54 > 0:01:58- It means I'd be able to read you stories at night!- Yeah!- Yes!
0:01:58 > 0:02:03That's so good. It's really good that you even got an interview.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05I was in the middle and I got squashed.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Did you get squashed, did you?
0:02:07 > 0:02:09That would be good, if I did get it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12It would be perfect if you did get it.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Hopefully there is a job there.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15It's not one of these where
0:02:15 > 0:02:18they interview and the job's already bloody gone.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Jordan!
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Jordan, don't jump!
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Looking after five kids is a full-time job for single mum Louise.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49She's unearthed an old school report
0:02:49 > 0:02:53from when her 15-year-old daughter, Kelly-Ann, was a model student.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57P1, 100% attendance.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03"My favourite book is S Club 7!"
0:03:03 > 0:03:05SHE LAUGHS
0:03:07 > 0:03:09"My favourite colour is purple."
0:03:11 > 0:03:14"What I am good at..."
0:03:14 > 0:03:17- My writing's quite good, actually. - "My favourite things to eat."
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Oh fuck, is it any wonder I was a fat wee 'un? Food - Chinese.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27So tatty. That's hairspray for you.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30I'm just far happier with myself, now.
0:03:35 > 0:03:41This year, Kelly-Ann has found it tough getting motivated for school.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46But she did manage to make it in for an English exam.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51You had your brochure and you had to read that, so it wasn't too hard.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53I knew what to do. It was easy enough.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Next year I'd rather go into school,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59do what I have to and get it over with. At least I'd be finished.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02I really don't want to, but I'm going to have to
0:04:02 > 0:04:05so my ma doesn't get in shit.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Like, really much bother, like,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12cos she was this close to getting into so much bother,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15just cos I won't go to school.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16Mummy!
0:04:16 > 0:04:18What, Ryan?
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Oh, look at you, you're bloody soaking! Get down.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Stand there and get them off.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28- Mummy...- God!
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Pants.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31I'll get you pants.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Pants is over here.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37My ma's not old but she's not young.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I wouldn't want to be her age and sitting in the house, on the dole
0:04:40 > 0:04:42like, a crowd of wee 'uns round me.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44I don't want to be that type of woman.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I just want to be, like, out with a job
0:04:47 > 0:04:49and doing something with my life.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Maybe I've just got the brains.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Sometimes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14This is...
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Wait till you see this.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18My God, they're flying all over the place.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Look, do you see them? They're staying together.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26I call the two of them Bonnie and Clyde, cos they're two gangsters.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28You let them out and they run all over the place.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Look, they're starting to move now.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Martin's life is a daily battle with drink.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Two weeks sober, and he's fallen off the wagon once again.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42I'm not a depressed kind of person.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I just like laughing.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Cos I was sad for a lot of years in my life. You know?
0:05:51 > 0:05:54And that's the way I look at it, you know?
0:05:54 > 0:05:58I'd rather just be... happy-go-lucky.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00I take each day at a time.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Aw, good boy.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07I moved this sofa over here for a change.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Cos I was just sitting, staring out the window up at one tree.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14And I was getting bored, so I changed my direction.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15BUDGIES CHIRP
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Look, there they go. There they go!
0:06:18 > 0:06:23Aye, it's better scenery, anyway.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I've got four trees to look at now!
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I have to just try and get the bare essentials, just,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51try and not get too much crap.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Kyle's been unemployed for three years.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55With his dole cheque in,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58he's off to do the weekly shop.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I hate budgeting money,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03I really do. It's crap.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06If I've money, I spend it.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Kyle's just moved out of his mum and dad's.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Managing his money for the first time is a steep learning curve.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Normally, my ma kept my bank card
0:07:16 > 0:07:21and she gave me it every time I was going shopping, just.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Cos she knows I would just go and lift money and buy drink,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27or do something stupid with it.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30You kind of have to grow up when you get your own place.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33You have to sort of start managing your bills.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37You have to learn somehow.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Mum Josie keeps him right.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45- These here, I like.- Brazilian?
0:07:45 > 0:07:47I'll get a couple of these.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Euch!
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Kyle has a baby daughter from a previous relationship.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Even in tight times, he puts something into the trolley for her.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Do you need baby wipes?
0:08:03 > 0:08:07No. I've got half a packet.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12I know, here, I've a list in my pocket you can go through
0:08:12 > 0:08:13to see if we got everything.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Half an hour later, he's giving me the list(!)
0:08:16 > 0:08:20I try to remember everything off my head, but...I need black bags.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22They're at the very bottom of the aisle.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- I'll have the bare essentials, just. - Pizzas, ice lollies.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29Razor blades.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36But there's still one aisle Kyle just can't resist.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Say no. Say no!
0:08:49 > 0:08:51You may get that.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- Hmm?- YOU may get that.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54No, I'm not.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- You may.- I'm not.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01What are you getting that for? £16?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Here, you take that and get it, cos I'll not get it without ID.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06When are you drinking that?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Between me and Eddie this weekend, maybe. Here.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11That's not bad, for a bottle that size.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I was going to say, "Holy shit, it's down to £13-something," but it's not.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39The estate is badly in need of a place for young people to go.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41With funds for amenities scarce,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44some parents have taken matters into their own hands.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Push you a bit. Push.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Like that there?
0:09:50 > 0:09:55I don't even know why I'm looking, I can't even read.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57I can't even read, like.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Noel is one of the people
0:10:02 > 0:10:07transforming this disused council house into a drop-in centre.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12WOOD CRACKS
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Between the ages, I think, of 14
0:10:15 > 0:10:17and probably...
0:10:17 > 0:10:20we'll even go to 20, like.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23There's nothing for them, like,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27so, we're going to try and get somewhere for them.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33- Them oul mirrors might be dumped. - Aye.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Because there's nothing really to do around here.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46This is my desk.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Ah!
0:10:48 > 0:10:50This is the main hub.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Isn't that right? This is the main hub.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I don't even know myself why I have a desk.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Emma's alcohol support work is government-funded.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17She just heard her job could go.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20In a month's time, she, too, could be on the dole.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23You kind of can't plan things at the minute
0:11:23 > 0:11:25so you just have to take one day as it comes
0:11:25 > 0:11:29and see what people need to do and that kind of thing, but...
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Ah, well. It'll be over to the other side of town in a wee while.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Emma now has to break the news to Martin.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48There might not be enough money to extend it, you see?
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Them people would be stupid if they let you go.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55They don't understand. All these alcoholics, they trust you.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58You look after them, you know what I mean?
0:11:58 > 0:12:02And if they let you go, them alcoholics are going to get let down
0:12:02 > 0:12:04and they're going to fall apart.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06They'll all end up in hospitals
0:12:06 > 0:12:09and then all them 'uns' work won't mean nothing.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14Without Emma, there'll be no alcohol support worker on the estate.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It's not just me that's losing a job.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19They're losing support, which is hard.
0:12:19 > 0:12:20You give me hope.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24I'll feel lonely. I'll feel lost, you know?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Cos I know Emma. I can talk to her about anything.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32The Government are wrong. Emma is doing a job to help alcoholics.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Aw, thanks, Martin!
0:12:50 > 0:12:51FLUTE PLAYS
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Noel has now been out of work for ten years.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58His wife Mandy is happy
0:12:58 > 0:13:01the drop-in centre has given him a new lease of life.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07There's wee bits of skirting board hanging off I have to get nailed.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10But at home, some jobs still remain half-done.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15See, his idea was, he was going to do an en-suite
0:13:15 > 0:13:20and then we decided, no, we'll just use this as a cupboard.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26So, Noel starts the jobs and then doesn't get them finished.
0:13:28 > 0:13:29I'll just let him be,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33cos he only gets more frustrated,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35you know, so...
0:13:35 > 0:13:38FLUTE GETS LOUDER
0:13:38 > 0:13:44- Aren't you happy fluting away, Noel? - Aye, I'll just sit and beat on!
0:13:44 > 0:13:50That's a tune. I'm waiting for a snake to come up out of a bucket!
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Noel, his talents is wasted. He's a good joiner.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58A very good joiner.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03You looking for a job, Mandy?
0:14:03 > 0:14:07I have one. You need to look for a job.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09I haven't time to work.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11You do.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Ah, I'm by the jobs.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17There's no jobs in the News Letter. There's more deaths.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Jimmy's hopes of a community centre job interview
0:14:31 > 0:14:33have been dealt a blow.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Hello. I got a letter there on Friday
0:14:37 > 0:14:42to say I'd been shortlisted for the caretaker job in Ballysally.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Yesterday, I got another letter
0:14:45 > 0:14:49to say that the criteria of it had been changed.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51The goal posts have indeed been moved.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55He's now being told he needs GCSE Maths and English to be eligible.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58- 'OK?'- That'll do. OK, that'll do.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Right, bye.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07She said she was sorry. She says, "Don't let it put you off.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10"You never know, another job like that might come up."
0:15:10 > 0:15:14She says they had to go like that because there was hundreds in for it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17That's why they went for it. For the GSEs.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21She says I'd have had to have took something the equivalent of that,
0:15:21 > 0:15:22which I haven't got.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24I'm just a wee bit gutted.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Like, getting on the shortlist and then turning around and changing,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32telling you you had to bring GSEs, maths and English, with you...
0:15:32 > 0:15:36There's more to life than jobs, so there is.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41Back to the drawing board now, so. Just keep looking, you know?
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Just keep looking and see if any other jobs comes up, so...
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Kyle's finding it hard to fill his day
0:15:57 > 0:16:00now that he's living on his own and on the dole.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07My life consists of...
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Not much to do.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Ah, sometimes you worry about it.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Sometimes you think you have no life.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Half the shit happens through drink,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34so it's maybe about time I got off drink.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44That would settle me down.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54It was my daughter that sorted me a couple of years ago.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Whenever I'd depression and stuff,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58I sorted myself out for her.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Aye, I used to self-harm years ago.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16I've got tattoos to cover them all.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Chucky the doll.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Because I used to self-harm with a knife and stuff,
0:17:24 > 0:17:29I thought it would be funny to put Chucky on it with a knife.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33I let him tear away. And I kind of like evil clowns and stuff too.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38It's stuck with me for life,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40so you have to get used to it!
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Since Kyle moved out,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Rab's been worrying his son won't cope on his own,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04that he might fall back into his old ways.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Two and a half years fighting with him,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11working with him cos of drugs.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The way that fella has went from working from Monday to Saturday
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and then to end up putting a rope round his neck.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22And the rope had burned actually an inch into his neck.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26It was a nylon rope he'd hung from the rafters in my garage.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28It wasn't a very nice thing to see,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30your own son hanging by the neck.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36He's tried to commit suicide nine times after that.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Cutting his arm, the main artery out of his arms.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Nine slashes on his arms. And now, I say, the big, big one on his leg.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46One minute he'll be OK, the next minute,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50he'd just go in, lift the knife out of the drawer and just cut himself.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52And when you see that there,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55it's hard to take in. I wouldn't like to go through it again.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57At the minute, he seems to be coping all right.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01But it's always in the back of your mind, worrying about him.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04You don't know what he's going to do or what he's at at night.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06You don't know what tomorrow brings.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Emma's fears have been confirmed.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Hello.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35With no sign of new funding, she's just received a month's notice.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Oh, look. There's the rain on. It must be just a wee shower.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Her clients rely on her as much as ever.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47I haven't even been out the door in about a week and a half. Not really, just in taxis.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Your money should be in today, should it not?
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Aye, it should be in. I'm not sure.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55I keep on forgetting when it's coming or what.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Can you check it in the Post Office or do you have to go to the bank?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Aye. But I don't like going out the door until I'm ready.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05You just have to get back in the way of it.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08The past week and a half, I've just been sitting.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11- I don't know what the hell is wrong with me.- Martin...
0:20:11 > 0:20:14This is desperate. I don't know what to do about it.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16There's nothing that can stop me.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21- Rehab's no good.- Even, as I say, just cut down gradually, Martin.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22Even a glass less.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28Oh, Emma. All I'm doing's smoking my brains out and drinking my guts out.
0:20:36 > 0:20:37Say bye-bye!
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I suppose if you didn't have wee 'uns,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54if you didn't have all this here to do, you'd be sitting bored
0:20:54 > 0:20:56or probably out drinking or something
0:20:56 > 0:20:59if you didn't have the wee 'uns to keep you going in the house.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01It's approaching the end of the school year
0:21:01 > 0:21:03and Kelly-Ann is taking stock.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Having missed most of last term, she has come to a decision.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11I've missed out on most of this year
0:21:11 > 0:21:14so they'll probably keep me back a year.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Which I hope they don't, because
0:21:18 > 0:21:20fuck, I'll go out of my head.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23But Jesus Christ, I hope they don't.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28That's why next year, I'm just going to go and get it over and done with
0:21:28 > 0:21:32instead of going through all the crap that I went through this year.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34You know? Like, with meetings
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and, you know, all that there.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41So next year, I'm just going to start and
0:21:41 > 0:21:44go and try to do better at my GCSEs.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Well, try, like.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I was saying to my ma that whenever I leave school,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52to go to tech and do, like, catering or whatever,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and then leave tech
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and then go for a job
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and save up money and then buy my own restaurant or something.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04That's what I want to do, but I know it won't happen.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06But that's what I want to do.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22It's Emma. I'm just ringing up to check about this funding,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26just if yous have any notion at all about whether it'll be continued?
0:22:27 > 0:22:29You can't say? Yep, I know.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32It's just, I received my months' notice.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36You know, that kind of thing? So...
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Yeah. OK, thank you, now. Bye, bye.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45They still don't know, really.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Just have to stay positive, I think.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49No news is good news.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05The drop-in centre is coming together.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Noel's joinery skills are a godsend.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I hate this. When everything is wrong.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16That's what I did for a living.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20I don't do it now, really. I just do it for...
0:23:20 > 0:23:24An odd man, I would do bits and pieces for, you know?
0:23:24 > 0:23:26I haven't the qualifications that,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29half the building sites, you need, you know?
0:23:29 > 0:23:33All the oul health and safety crap, like. I'm oul school.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42I served my time when there was none of that oul health and safety stuff.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47I left school and I had no qualifications. None at all.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52You don't need to read or write to hang a door, like.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55You just need to know how to hang it.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Aye, it's harder now.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59You have to do your education now.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I'm going to close you out a minute.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14HE LAUGHS
0:24:14 > 0:24:15One down!
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Emma's coming to the end of her month's notice.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30They're going to work as hard as they can to find a way to bring me back.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34She's preparing Martin for the worst.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37- Does everybody know that you're leaving?- Yeah, most, yeah.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39- What'd they say?- I have to ring round
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and make sure everyone knows tomorrow for definite.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45- What did they say?- They're just wondering what will happen now.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49- Probably not very happy at the minute.- No, not really.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- That's crazy. - I have that all for you...
0:24:52 > 0:24:55I don't understand why they're doing that.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59I don't think it's a good idea.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01I think the government are all...
0:25:03 > 0:25:05She's doing a job for alcoholics
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and alcohol is the thing that's killing people.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11So, I think that there's wrong.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13HE WHISTLES
0:25:15 > 0:25:17- What do you call her?- Bonnie.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19- Say hello to Bonnie.- Bonnie?- Here.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Bobby! Come on!
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I give him a wee piece of chocolate every so often, just.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28- Just a wee treat.- Here, son. - Bobby, come on.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- Bobby, here!- Bobby Lee.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37- Where are you from?- I was born in Ballycastle, grew up in Ballymena,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- then I was homeless nine years. - I was a policeman in Ballycastle.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42I've been all over the country.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46- I slept rough down south and everything.- Did you?
0:25:46 > 0:25:48- You don't look too bad. - Aye, I'm doing alright.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Well, I'm doing so-so, you know?
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I'm still an alcoholic.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Are you not getting any help for the alcoholism?
0:25:56 > 0:26:00I'm trying, I've got an alcoholic councillor, but she's finished.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- They're sacking her. - Everything's all being cut.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Aye, the government are cutting...
0:26:04 > 0:26:08They're sacking her and she's doing a good job, dealing with alcoholics.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13What's all them alcoholics going to do without her? They depend on her.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17There was a time when I was dependent on the likes of diazepam
0:26:17 > 0:26:18and things like that.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22So I can understand where the alcohol's just another drug.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26- Alcoholism's a disease.- Aye, it is. - Which happens to some people.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29- Thank you for saying that. - Aye, but it is. I do know it.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I'm not ready yet to get off it.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35I tried there, I was off it for a while.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I think you're trying to escape a little.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- That's what it is. You don't want to face reality.- No.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44As long as you don't do anybody else any harm...
0:26:44 > 0:26:49But I'm not sad or anything, cos I'm doing well for myself now.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I've got my wee flat all tidied up and all that.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56My dog is the best-looking one on the beach.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Here, look at that boy, there. He's out jogging.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01He must be mad.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05No, he'll not touch you! You're all right.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Look at my dog, he's not even on drink and he's happy.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11I want to know what's going on with him.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14I'm going to start eating dog food instead of ordinary food.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Aw, no, don't do that!
0:27:18 > 0:27:19No! Jesus.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26But I'm not going to die, don't worry.
0:27:28 > 0:27:29I know what I'm doing.
0:27:32 > 0:27:33I think.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Next time on The Estate...
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It's not the first time I've lost someone I was working with
0:27:50 > 0:27:52but it's the first time in this job I've lost someone.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03If I took someone their dinner and they said it was wrong,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I'd be like, "Fucking eat it, you bastard."
0:28:05 > 0:28:07SHE LAUGHS
0:28:07 > 0:28:10And what's that big word there say?
0:28:10 > 0:28:14- "The members of the band cordially invite you..."- Accordingly?
0:28:14 > 0:28:18These little days are our memories, when they're growing up.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21That was awesome!
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:39 > 0:28:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk