Stray Bullets Podcast Por E.S. Haggan arte de portada

Stray Bullets

Stray Bullets

De: E.S. Haggan
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Having served over thirty years in the RUC / PSNI I was medically retired with CPTSD. Dissociative Identity Disorder also evolved in me as a residue of CPTSD. I wrote a novel, 'The Bitter End of Dreams', through which I hoped to reflect the experiences of working class folk caught in the grip of a sectarian conflict. I set my story in Belfast, but replaced the Judeo-Christian god with that of Mithras. I also gave Northern Ireland an extra county. Such counterfactual alterations opened up for me the opportunity to place my story deep within the NI Troubles without being shackled to specific timelines, events and real people - thus avoiding the risk of libelling anyone, while being able to write a story, familiar to many, and retaining a sense of place and the tragedy of the Troubles. ​​I'm going to talk openly about elements of policing the Troubles, religion, politics, sectarianism and our toxic ideologies. I've explored these topics in my novel, as well as the placing of actual events and atrocities; albeit heavily disguised or deeply submerged in subtext.​​To better frame my thoughts I will, firstly, discuss each chapter in sequence before reading that chapter. In this way I should be able to complete a spoken word version of my novel while using the opportunity it provides to elaborate on its creation process in the context of the NI Troubles.​​Thank you.


*Apologies to the many folks who conversed with me on several social media platforms. Due to the level of hate, including threats, from ex-RUC colleagues I've decided to stay off social media and the like. I'm very dismayed by such reaction, but, in hindsight, no longer surprised.*

© 2025 Stray Bullets Ciencias Sociales Crímenes Reales
Episodios
  • Northern Ireland: A Police State?

    Northern Ireland: A Police State?
    May 24 2025

    Trailer for my next episode in which I take a look at new look nationalist attitudes towards policing in Northern Ireland prior to the Troubles.

    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • State-Terrorism and PIRA's 'No Alternative' to violence: Part IV: 'To Die A Soldier's Death ... '

    State-Terrorism and PIRA's 'No Alternative' to violence: Part IV: 'To Die A Soldier's Death ... '
    May 14 2025

    A look at the concept of 'state-terrorism' and if such is in itself rendered incoherent in a climate of violent insurrection. Also, the 'showcase ambushes' by British Special Forces. Were these not in effect the lethal confrontation of two opposing forces, one personifying the Irish Republican (understood?) risk of their own blood sacrifice, the other effecting a stop and destroy operation against a well-armed for?

    No easy answers, but I continue to try and understand the myriad dynamics which churned and boiled the waters of our 'civilized' society. I also consider the final words of the 1916 Easter Uprising leaders such as Pearse, Connolly and Plunkett.


    Bibliography:

    Richardson, Louise, What Terrorists Want, New York: Random House, 2006

    Bitner, Rüdiger, Morals in terrorist times, in Meggle (ed.), Ethics of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, Frankfurt, 2005

    [1916]: Public Records Office, Kew, London / War Office Records: 71/354; 71/345

    MacLochlainn, Piaras F., Last Words : Letters and Statements of the Leaders Executed after the Rising at Easter 1916, Dublin, 1990

    Bateson, Ray, They Died By Pearse's Side, Irish Graves Publications, 2010

    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.
    Más Menos
    46 m
  • Kneecap: The Politics of Protest

    Kneecap: The Politics of Protest
    May 1 2025

    Another impromptu episode. This time about the Irish hip hop band Kneecap and the recent furore they've stirred. My reasons for talking about them will become evident. I've also added some memories about policing Divis.

    Kneecap row: police assessing ‘kill MP’ and ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ footage

    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.
    Más Menos
    29 m
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