I was born in Pettigo and still live here, in Britton’s Bar. It’s right on the border between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The pub is in the South, but our garden is in the North. Granda used to grow vegetables over there, and had to cross through the river to get them.

People here don’t want a border back because of all the trouble there was. There were a lot of bombs, over at the garage. The windows of this pub would be put in from the bang of the bombs. Pieces of metal from the bombs and the cars blowing up would fly through the windows. Mum and her family would have to leave when there were bomb scares. They wouldn’t want that back again, and the Customs constantly stopping and checking you. They’re hardly going to be stupid enough to bring in strong borders and have a lot of bombs going on again.

I go to school in Ballyshannon. I was in Pettigo Primary School before that. There’s only one bus that runs to the South, so Ballyshannon’s the only school I can go to. You usually have to live in the North to go to the Northern schools. There’s generally one person every year or two that goes to the North. There’s only 50 or something in the whole primary school.

I probably would have preferred to go to school in the North, but because everyone else in my class apart from one was going to the South, it’s just the done thing, because that’s where the bus is going. If you went to school in Enniskillen, there’s buses home to Pettigo all the time. But in Ballyshannon you can only get your school bus home, so you’re snookered.

I’d like it if more children were being born in Pettigo, so the primary school would be fit to stay open. A few families always send their children to the North, and their children then send their children to the North. Because Pettigo is split in two, Tullyhommon is in the North, but it’s still classed as part of Pettigo.