Say Nothing and the movement towards Irish reunification

At a pivotal moment in Irish history, Say Nothing gives insight into the struggle for a united Ireland.

By Ella Walken

In 2025, about 20 miles of peace walls still stand in Belfast. These walls were constructed during what the British government has dubbed “the troubles,” a period of sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland ultimately fueled by differing goals for the future of Ireland. 

The period has been a hot topic for many film and television adaptations for decades. In 2024, FX released “Say Nothing,” another entry into the troubles canon. The mini-series which is based on the book of the same title by Patrick Radden-Keefe, follows the lives of two high profile Catholic and Protestant families during the period. 

The Troubles of Northern Ireland lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to the end of the 1990s. After centuries of English colonization, the conflict saw the six counties of the North divided along religious and political lines. Catholics had long been discriminated against under British rule and many joined causes in support of a united Ireland. 

At the center of the series are Marian and Dolours Price, two Belfast Catholics who were reportedly the first women members of the Irish Republican Army. The sisters worked with the organization to use their gender to their advantage, participating in manipulation and violence which had only been associated with male militants up until that point.  

When the series isn’t focused on the sisters, it tracks the life and death of Jean McConville, a Protestant recently widowed mother of 10 living in the Divis flats, a hotbed of IRA activity.  

The series pulled in a great deal of young Irish talent. Actors Lola Petticrew and Hazel Doupe are particularly stunning as the Price sisters, delivering performances that are appropriately raw and complex. They’re supported by Anthony Boyle as Brendan Hughes, beautifully portraying the corrosive horrors of war. 

Though the acting is deeply moving and effective, the series is far from perfect in its interpretation of events. By the end of episode two, the viewer will have noticed that the exact same disclaimer has bookended both episodes and continues to the end of the series. 

The disclaimer reads, “Gerry Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or participating in any IRA-related violence.” The repetitive nature of this disclaimer serves as a both humorous and harrowing reminder of the violence Jean McConville suffered at the hands of the IRA. 

Though the quippy repeated end credit disclaimer is an attention-grabbing technique, it unfortunately speaks to one of the weakest aspects of the adaptation: the overblown focus on Gerry Adams. 

In the book by Radden-Keefe, Adams acts as a ghost haunting every page. Slowly but surely, Adams moves from the margins of Belfast to defining the high profile peace process. A common fault of the television adaptation is a lack of subtlety. Instead of using Adams sparingly and therefore driving home just how deeply he was allegedly involved in the violence conducted by the IRA, the series heavily features Adams and some of his more gossip-worthy actions. 

While spending a disproportionate amount of time on Gerry Adams, “Say Nothing” chooses to omit some key players in the conflict, namely loyalist paramilitaries who inflicted violence on Irish Catholics. These groups worked with the British government and military to further discrimination against Catholics and halt any progress towards the motives of Irish nationalists.  

There is only so much that can be included in one season of television, but removing one of the most important factors of the conflict takes away from the historical accuracy of the series and paints an uneven picture. 

For many years, the politics and actions of the IRA have been presented to the world as senseless and violent. In the years following the initiation of the peace process, some of the world has come to understand the situation in Northern Ireland as multi-faceted and nuanced. 

Along with this shift in the public eye, a few films, such as Steve McQueen’s “HUNGER,” following the hunger strike of Bobby Sands, portray the plight and struggles of Irish republicans with empathy.  

Although the series is far from perfect or accurate, “Say Nothing” is unique in how it manages to convey the violence experienced by protestants at the hands of the IRA as well as the struggles of Irish Catholics at the hands of the British with empathy. Although the series has an undeniable anti-IRA slant, “Say Nothing” is particularly distinctive in its empathetic characterization of Irish republican militants imprisoned for violent acts. 

The tide seems to slowly but surely be turning towards a free and united Ireland, also the goal of the Price sisters.  

Post World War II, many previously colonized peoples went through the process of decolonization. Many were successful in shrugging off the control and violence of their colonizers, creating a new nation in their own image. To this day, many Irish nationalists see themselves as facing a similar struggle. 

Though the provisional IRA has been inactive for over 25 years due to the peace process in Northern Ireland, many of the motivations that defined their fight in the years of the Price sisters have remained.  

Under the law, Catholics in Northern Ireland now have the right to vote, have a job, and conduct their lives with the same rights afforded to Protestants. Even though all in society, despite religion, are technically equal, many Irish nationalists still feel the boot of the English government on their necks every day. Because of this, there is an ongoing decentralized movement on both sides of the Irish border to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and reunite the six counties with the Republic of Ireland. 

In recent weeks, the landslide election and subsequent inauguration of new Irish President Catherine Connolly have sparked hope in the minds of nationalists. Connolly is unapologetically left wing and has voiced her support for reunification during her presidency, stating in her first speech as president, “I am particularly conscious of Article Three of the constitution, which sets out in detail the firm wish of the Irish people, the Irish nation, to have a united Ireland.” 

The more time goes on, the closer it seems Ireland is inching towards the goal of reunification, a goal illustrated in “Say Nothing.” Despite its omissions and historical inaccuracies, the series offers a lens into the Ireland of the past and how this history is being lived out in the present.