Troubles advert that shocked the nation remembered by Emma Little-Pengelly at Belfast event featuring politicians picking top tunes
Emma Little-Pengelly has spoken of her recollections of a shocking Troubles-era advert that traumatised Northern Ireland, while discussing music picks at a festival event.
Appearing at a panel discussion that featured leading local politicians choosing their top tunes, the Deputy First Minister selected ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’ – revealing that she’d picked up on it through a hard-hitting Confidential Telephone ad that went out in 1993.
Soundtracked by the acoustic hit song, the public information film featured a paramilitary neglecting his family in the Seventies due to his involvement in the movement, then missing most of his son’s childhood after being jailed.
The son follows in his footsteps, carrying out a shockingly depicted paramilitary shooting, only to lose his own life to violence. The advert ends with the regret-filled father weeping over his son’s grave.
Speaking on Monday night (24th) at a panel discussion run as part of Belfast’s Imagine Festival, Mrs Little-Pengelly said the advert hit home as plenty of her schoolmates’ fathers weren’t in their lives for the same reason as the fictional dad.
During the event in Crescent Arts Centre, the Deputy First Minster made the unusual move of swerving Harry Chapin’s original version of “Cat’s In The Cradle”, however – plumping instead for a cover by 1990s American hard-rock band Ugly Kid Joe, which came out the same year the Confidential Telephone advert started airing.
Her choice forced her to deny a joking accusation from the event’s host, music journalist Stuart Bailie, that she was a “secret grunger” with a hidden collection of Nirvana CDs. "Not my scene,” replied Mrs Little-Pengelly.
The DUP MLA also selected Deacon Blue’s 1987 hit “Dignity”, a song she said was introduced to her by her high-ranking civil servant husband Richard Pengelly, plus Billy Joel’s “Goodnight Saigon” – something of a deep cut, as while the song was a success in Europe it only scraped into the Top 30 here.
Also picking their tops of the pops were SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP, MLAs Deirdre Hargey from Sinn Fein and Alliance’s Kate Nicholl, plus Ards and North Down councillor Pete Wray from the UUP.
Mrs Hanna’s choices were the most wide-ranging, taking in Scottish folkie Dick Gaughan’s version of “Your Daughters And Your Sons”, written by County Down musician Tommy Sands, and ambient techno classic “Belfast” by Orbital.
The latter, written after the group experienced the joy and togetherness of the city’s burgeoning rave scene, was picked as Mrs Hanna wanted to show the power of music to transcend divisions during the Troubles. “I also wanted to stand up for middle-aged people who are into electronic and dance music,” she quipped.
Miss Hargey went entirely for politicised folk music, featuring Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” and “The Patriot Game” by the Dubliners, as well as Australian protest singer Eric Bogle.
Mrs Nicholl included “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff and “A Rainy Night In Soho” by the Pogues, while Mr Wray unveiled a passion for Meat Loaf.