It airs tonight and looks very good.
Following the 1993 Warrington bombing by the IRA in which their son Tim died, grieving couple Wendy and Colin Parry formed an unlikely alliance with Dublin housewife Sue McHugh to try to bring about peace in Northern Ireland.
Ultimately, the deaths of two young boys – Jonathan Ball (3) and Tim Parry (12) – brought together two women that were living on either side of the Irish Sea and this story is portrayed in Mother’s Day, a powerful new factual drama that’s airing on RTÉ 1 this evening at 21:30.
Aside from these two deaths, 56 other people were injured by the bombs that marked a pivotal moment in the calls for peace in Northern Ireland.
Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, The Replacement) plays Susan McHugh, the Dublin mother of two that was so outraged by the loss of young life that she organised one of the largest peace rallies in Irish history, leading thousands through the streets in protest at the continued violence of the Troubles.
Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Good Omens) plays Wendy Parry, the mother of 12 year old Tim Parry who lost his life in the attack which left two boys dead and many others injured. Daniel Mays (Against The Law, Rogue One) will play Tim’s father Colin Parry, with David Wilmot (The Alienist, Black Sails) as Arthur McHugh.
Ultimately, Susan McHugh’s peace rally in O’Connell Street was an important moment in The Troubles because it helped to kick-start the peace process that eventually led to the IRA ceasefire in 1994.
Speaking about Mother’s Day, wrier Nick Leather says: “As someone who grew up in Warrington and was on my way into town on the day of the bombing, bringing this astonishing story to the screen has been a career-long mission. Over the last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with a wonderfully supportive team at the BBC, including the director Fergus O’Brien, and have found the Parry and McHugh families to be even more inspiring than I did as a kid. I hope people are as moved and affected by this drama as we have been making it.”
Mother’s Day airs on RTÉ 1 at 21:30.
Clip via BBC
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
