Jenny talks about coming to Belfast as a student from England.
She recalls the morning of August 09th and the events that followed.
She met Brendan Meegan that day as they tried to assist families. Three years later they married.
Audio Transcript
00:00:00.0 00:03:11.9 Jenny (Sutton) arrived from England to Queens University in 1969. Active in Students Union. Morning of August 09th going to work but everywhere was in turmoil.
00:03:11.9 00:06:05.9 Meeting Brendan from Students Union. Driving him to check on his friend. Going to Short Strand community centre. News coming in of families being burnt out in East Belfast.
00:06:05.9 00:10:13.3 Being only one with a car she drove men to the Markets to get a lorry. Driving around various streets collecting families and belongings. Relief centre quickly established.
00:10:13.3 00:13:46.2 Families relieved to be getting help. The whole week constant activity doing what needed to be done. Encountering assumptions about ‘women’s role’.
00:13:46.2 00:16:08.0 Going to Ballymurphy, Her English accent helped them get past British army on Falls Road. Ballymurphy was in greater turmoil and lacked basic goods. Drove back and forwards from Short Strand delivering essentials.
00:16:08.0 00:18:05.8 Contrast in conditions between areas only a few hundred yards apart. Experiencing the resilience of women. Making lasting friendships. Sense of community and kindness.
00:18:05.8 00:20:55.9 Running a youth club in Sandy Row. Her background in rural England, middle class Methodist very different from the beleaguered community within which she found herself.
00:20:55.9 00:22:20.8 The experience of the turmoil that week introduced her to Brendan. They married 3 years later, the start of a long and happy marriage.