The existence of the minority "no-go" areas are an important factor in the present situation in Northern Ireland. To show what it is like living in one of the liberated communities, we reprint these extracts about Free Derry from an article in *Time Out.*
Families in the Catholic area are large–6 or 7 is average, 11 or 12 is no exception. The two or three bedroom houses are adapted as best they can be, with bunk beds and a constant battle for cleanliness and tidiness. The kids organise their own lives as far as possible: the eldest son of a friend of mine, a studious kid faced with A levels, met two other friends most nights and used a room in the comparatively empty house, in which one of the group lived, as a study.
Much of the life goes on, as they say, normally. Kids go to school, those people who have work go to it each morning. Those who collect the dole–and those who can venture outside the area without being picked up–collect it. I asked the headmaster of one of the nine schools in the area, Brother Egan of St. Peters Secondary (Boys), if he thought studies and attendance had suffered. He said there was little truancy, perhaps less than before the trouble. Studies suffered because of some lack of concentration, loss of sleep and a feeling in the older boys that they should be out "doing their bit".