Phoenix Dragon

Northern Ireland 1994.There was a rumour in the air, one which nobody dared to whisper. Some wouldn't even contemplate its potential consequences. Microscopic green shoots had appeared, and individuals with vision had nurtured its development which would hopefully create a pathway to peace. Common folk sought to grasp their freedom from the paramilitaries that had consumed and controlled their daily lives. Soon they would have the liberty to walk the streets without fear of being...
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Northern Ireland 1994.There was a rumour in the air, one which nobody dared to whisper. Some wouldn't even contemplate its potential consequences. Microscopic green shoots had appeared, and individuals with vision had nurtured its development which would hopefully create a pathway to peace. Common folk sought to grasp their freedom from the paramilitaries that had consumed and controlled their daily lives. Soon they would have the liberty to walk the streets without fear of being stopped and searched by forces of the crown carrying guns. Shops no longer being blown to smithereens and being forced to donate their hard earned money for a cause they no longer cared for or supported. Peace and reconciliation after twenty-five years of violence and chaos. Could it be possible? The troubles had led to instability and uncertainty which stagnated economic growth and halted investment into an already impoverished society, bitterly divided along religious lines. Intense prejudice had created an unjust and unworkable one-sided culture of haves and have nots. Thatcher's hardliners had gone, substituted by a more forward-thinking government who soon grasped that war was expensive. The Republican movement had realised that the Armalite and the ballot box were more convincing to their supporters than the long war of attrition. Caught in the headlights were the Unionists wanting to remain loyal to the British state and opposing every move towards 'Irishness.' How would this rumour of peace affect their vice-like grip of the Loyalist community? Peace also brought division; the men of violence ignored the green shoots, arguing that settlement could only be achieved with the total annihilation of the opposition. These men had a powerful voice within some alienated communities that refused to conform to any form of influence by a parliament sitting across the Irish Sea. Would these men vote for a ceasefire and return to their fields, businesses, and trades? It was a conundrum, discussion was the only way to resolve the impasse and appease the agitators. In London, Belfast and Derry secret moves were afoot to further strengthen the green shoots, whilst in South Armagh the flames of war were being ever-increasingly being fanned, to create an unstoppable firestorm.