Lasting Impacts
- For the period of weeks that Free Derry remained blocked from outsiders, life continued on for the Bogside residents. What sort of services do you think residents no longer had access to? How do you think the community responded to the gaps in these services? Can you think of instances in which communities in your life have taken over the role of public services? Why did they feel this was necessary?
- Over the course of The Troubles (1969-1998) the Bogside neighborhood barricaded itself from the RUC and British military multiple times. Why do you think they resorted to this tactic?
Occupation
- The British military was willing to negotiate with the Bogside residents while the barricades were up, but as soon as they came down they rarely invited them to participate in dialogues over law enforcement in the area. Can you think of any instances in the United States where a group is given influence and then has it taken away? What changed?
- The British military would go on to patrol the streets of the Bogside (and many other parts of Northern Ireland) for the following thirty years. Have you ever had the American military in your neighborhood? If not, have you seen them in American neighborhoods on the news? Why were they there? How did it make you feel to see them there? Safer? Less safe?
The Battle of the Bogside In Three Parts 