'West Belfast' by Danny Morrison praised by 'Top Boy' screenwriter Ronan Bennett for authenticity

RONAN BENNETT, the internationally-acclaimed author and screenwriter of The Hamburg Cell and Top Boy, says that Danny Morrison's 25th anniversary edition of his novel West Belfast and its 1989 original challenges the stereotypical version of life in conflict-torn west Belfast.

Bennett, a native of north Belfast, was speaking at the launch in St Mary's Teacher Training College of the updated West Belfast which charts the story of the area's nationalist population from the 1963 pogroms, the Civil Rights campaign, and the outbreak of the conflict which saw the Falls Curfew, internment and the rise of support for the IRA despite the opposition of the Catholic Church.

Bennett screenplays include the feature films The Hamburg Cell and Public Enemies, and Rebel Heart and Top Boy (Channel 4) for television.

He said Morrison's portrayal of events in West Belfast contains a more authentic narrative than that of most writers who, despite their denials, were driven by their political opposition to republicans and republicanism and whose prejudices depicted IRA Volunteers as unthinking, one-dimensional figures.

With the media recently covering the news that the Irish Government is to mount a renewed legal challenge against the British Government over the 'Hooded Men' internment torture case, Danny Morrison read the extract in his book that tells the story of one man who was subject to torture after the internment raids of 1971.

Based on the man's testimony, his story reinforces the authenticity of the novel and brings the horror of prisoners' experiences to life.