It’s about a year since filming for “Clean Break” commenced
in Wexford. So it was with enormous
interest that viewers sat down to watch the show as it went out on Sundays at
peak viewing time. Once more Billy Roche has panned a nugget from the mud of
Wexford Harbour. Watching it last night reminded me so much of Billy’s style.
The small talk, the loser characters that inhabit every small town, the
idiosyncratic moneyman who takes the till at the boxing ring and admires his stamp
collection while his wife and child are kidnapped. Billy’s love of boxing is once more a feature
to his story line. There are common threads to Billy’s work, those little
sparks in life that come a blaze when he puts pen to paper. All human life is
there, not in some far off distant land but all around us. The main characters are introduced to us in the middle of Wexford Park. All that's missing is a prelate to throw in the ball.
Welcome to 21st century Wexford, a long way from
the Kennedy visit and opera. But the ball is in and the game is on. We live in a world where fiction often becomes fact. So setting a fictional drama in an actual
location draws in the imagination.
Game
of Thrones has been a godsend for tourism up north. Just as 20 years ago Ballykissangel and
Glenroe brought plenty of day trippers to Wicklow, will a wider interest in
County Wexford result and if so can this have some tangible impact on the
perception of the county and its economy?
20 years ago the late Tommy Carr headed up the Co Wexford
Film Commission. The commission’s job
was to compile an inventory of sets, locations, props and actors that might
facilitate those interested in using Wexford for filming. “Saving Private Ryan” was the result as were
some other minor productions. Nothing
stays the same. Nobody better than Tommy to say that it’s time to look again at
the potential for the county in developing drama. So perhaps it’s time to
revive the Commission? In a few weeks
time, the premiere of Colm Tobín’s “Broklyn” will be shown in Enniscorthy. It’s
strong on narrative set in small town Ireland with plenty of on location work. Add that to “The Sea” by John Banville which
was filmed in Rosslare and Ballygarret.
Wexford punches above its weight when it comes to film work.
Clean Break is produced by the same company that filmed
Love/Hate. Clean Break occupies the same
time slot as Love/Hate. Love/Hate is not
in production this year simply to rest the story line and allow chronological
acclimatisation of the plot so Clean Break gets a run this year. The gangland
battle of succession to the late King Nidge will come back to our screens in 12
months. In the meantime I hope that Clean Break is successful and
that it gets another run in the future.
It would be a good balance between gritty urban gangsters in Dublin and
gritty urban gangsters in Wexford!
Enjoy!
