West Belfast is a story about the nationalist community and how the political events between 1963 and 1973 affected its people. Set against the political backdrop of the early troubles, it centres on the O’Neill family, whose son John’s involvement in the IRA leads to his arrest on Internment Day.

Morrison tells of how a section of nationalists came to support the IRA, and had to grapple with the morality of their actions, which the Catholic Church publicly condemned.

It is a tale about loss of innocence at both the individual and communal level as a result of the events of the period: the Civil Rights Campaign, the deployment of the British Army in 1969, the re-emergence of the IRA and the early days of the Troubles, including almost five hundred people losing their lives during 1972.

It is also a love story.

Shortly after the first edition of West Belfast was published Danny Morrison was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison (a conviction which was overturned after his release). Although twice reprinted during his time in jail, it has been unavailable since. This new edition has been edited and added to, including a Preface by Danny to mark the 25th anniversary.