Sunday 3rd November: The Bray by Paul McVeigh voiced by Roisin Gallagher
Julie and Frankie are on a date night in Belfast on a Sunday afternoon. With the cost of childminding so expensive this has only been made possible by Terry, Julie’s sister, taking their two children once a month. On the way into town as their taxi passes The Bray where years before her father had been shot dead for no reason at all, Julie holds Frankie’s hand a little tighter. The pressure of the rare occasion builds, not least when a child in the restaurant is let freely wander about. Julie’s mother would never allow them as children to behave in such a way.
About his story Paul McVeigh says… ‘I was sitting in a restaurant in Belfast, a while back, and there was a small child running around, unsupervised, banging into the poor waiters and wrecking the place. Only when things took a bad turn did the parents get involved. I watched the performative way they were with the child.
‘I wanted to investigate my reaction, and I wanted to look at the situation through the lens of class. In terms of The State of The Nation theme, I wanted to describe how society’s attitude to children has changed over generations – the attention and priority kids get now as though not giving them what they want, and immediately, some damage will be inflicted upon them. At the time of writing a law was passed ending historic prosecution of Troubles related crimes and that became inserted into the mix of the story; the psyche of the character of Julie and her sense of justice.’
