Joe only ever smiles and shakes his head as if they are all missing something but he’s no intention of telling them what. Lizzie tells all interested parties to fuck right off, all the way off, it saves time in the long run. It’s nobody’s business but Mary’s and she’s not in the business of explaining herself, she says as snotty as she can manage. I don’t know where she gets half the cheek she has. I’d love just a tiny slice of it. She’s a great friend, the best.

–  What are you doing hanging around with that wan?

–  She’s my friend, Mammy!

–  Your friend? Your friend? Well! You’re easily pleased, I’ll give you that!

–  She’s my best friend, she said so!

–  Did you have to pick one of the Dirty Magee breed? Did you? Did you?

–  I like Lizzie Magee.

–  You like Lizzie Magee! You like Lizzie Magee! Well, you’ll live to regret liking Lizzie Magee, her mother’s nothing but a T.R.A.M.P and her mother before that wasn’t much better! And to cap it all she married into the Dirty Magee breed! But you carry on, carry on when the Virgin Mother Herself would look the other way!

That’s a lot to absorb when you’re only five and the first day of primary school’s been over for ten minutes. It didn’t sway me then and it doesn’t sway me now. Lizzie Magee and me would never be prised apart. From the very minute she’d reached for my hand, I felt like I’d grown a second skin, one that was harder to bruise.

She was coming out of Crawford’s with her two favourites – a Curly Wurly and a quarter of Fizzy Colas.

–  See ye tomorrow, Lizzie, alright?

–  See ye, Mary, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, given half a chance!

–  Funny!

–  I’m hilarious, didn’t ye ever notice? And fuckin’ gorgeous to boot!

I smiled as all the wans lining the front of Crawford’s cracked up. Even one of the young British Army soldiers was laughing along as he walked two by two, rifle across his chest. He wasn’t UDR – no green beret or gold harp pin. He’d likely learn soon enough not to think of us as just ordinary people.

I hope he understands that we aren’t fighting over religion. We only use the labels of Catholic and Protestant to indicate minority and majority rights. Did he know that the English government that had sent him here didn’t want the Six Counties, that the punchline to the big fat joke was that Dublin didn’t want it either? I hope he doesn’t take a bullet because he’s as caught between the two as we all are.