First visiting Belfast in 1986, Andrew Moore would return repeatedly until 1998, the year of the Good Friday Agreement. In his early 20s Moore had begun to document the social unrest in England triggered by the Thatcher government. As a fairly inexperienced photographer, Moore would go on to continue this theme, documenting and recording a period characterised by a long slow grind of hidden sectarian killing, political tension and endless funerals.
The unravelling of Northern Ireland into unrest and violence lasted almost 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3,500 people. The following body of work has never been published in the UK. Financed from a mix of editorial assignments for international news magazines – Time, Newsweek, Der Spiegel, Stern – and a small amount of funding from the Arts Council. In 2000, Moore received the Mother Jones International Award for Documentary Photography for work made during the final two years of the conflict, one of two major photographic grants at the time, along with the Eugene Smith Award.
A British military Chinook helicopter transporting soldiers in County Tyrone. The use of IEDs made it too dangerous for the security forces to travel by road in rural areas.
Taken in the village of Loughin island the morning after Loyalist paramilitaries burst into a small bar and opened fire on Catholic men as they watched Ireland v Italy in the 1994 World Cup, leaving six dead and another five seriously wounded. Nobody has ever been charged with the murders.
The East Tyrone Brigade of the IRA marching.
Protestant boys from Sandy Row, a staunchly Loyalist area of South Belfast.
Protestant boys from Sandy Row, a staunchly Loyalist area of South Belfast.
A car exploding at the junction between the Falls Road and the infamous RPG Avenue. As I took this photograph I remember thinking that it resembled a film-set with the ‘People’s Politics’ and ‘Revolution’ mural backdrop.
Taken in the British Army Barracks in the border town of Strabane. I always found it sad that economic conscripts from the council estates of England, Scotland and Wales found themselves fighting their direct counterparts from the estates of Northern Ireland.
Taken in the British Army Barracks in the border town of Strabane. I always found it sad that economic conscripts from the council estates of England, Scotland and Wales found themselves fighting their direct counterparts from the estates of Northern Ireland.
Catholic boys launch a petrol bomb attack against an RUC patrol in Ardoyne.
A joint RUC and British Army patrol in County Tyrone.
Taken in the British Army Barracks in the border town of Strabane. I always found it sad that economic conscripts from the council estates of England, Scotland and Wales found themselves fighting their direct counterparts from the estates of Northern Ireland.
Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams, the then twin leaders of Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) carry one of the coffins. McGuinness, despite having been one of the most feared fighters as commander of the Derry Brigade, went on to become a key figure in the peace process, ultimately becoming Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Adams, was the former commander of the Belfast Brigade, but didn’t prosper as well as McGuiness post-ceasefire.
The funeral of 15 year old Seamus Duffy, killed by a baton round (plastic bullet) fired by the RUC. The sense of grief emanating from his family and friends was overwhelming.
This article was published in Issue 1, Volume 1 – Contested Territories.
