Legacy

I managed to get my hands on the BBC Northern Ireland's 'Legacy' pack which contains hundreds of personal stories on audio accompanied by the transcripts in a book.

I've been dipping in and out of it, listening to stories when I can. Each testimony only lasts maybe 2 minutes at most but it is very powerful. This is partly because I am listening to one story after the other, whilst the initial release of the series was one story broadcast each day for a year. However, it is also powerful because each story is from an individual, each story is vastly different, yet each story has a place in our history and experience.

The Legacy series was broadcast in 1999. That was 14 years ago.

All of the stories that I have listened to so far are still important today, they are still issues that Northern Ireland and the Border Counties are continuing to deal with and address.

So, for me, it is crucial to listen to these stories and remember how although they were recorded 14 years ago, they sound so close to home and current.

For those who wonder about the relevance or importance of a project such as Border Lives, I would recommend they listen to Legacy. In another 14 years, I would imagine that what we record and produce in this project in 2013/14 will still feel real, still feel important, and still need to be heard.