Silent Grace

n 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the ProvisionalIrish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Farrell - on whose life much of the film seems to be loosely based - was the first woman Republican to berefused political status in 1976. By 1980, when the film is set, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister anddoggedly resolute: “There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence forcrime. Crime is crime is crime.