Across three serialised episodes, Ophelia Byrne follows a line on the map into the world of the Irish Boundary Commission – set up in 1924 to finalise the shape of the Irish border. It takes her into an improbable world of high statecraft, split communities, broken promises and many thousands of lives changed forever.
Through original testimonies, secret letters and classified police reports, Ophelia tries to uncover what really happened up to the moment in 1925 when proposals for the new, final border line in Ireland hit crisis point. Then, both the British and Irish governments were prepared to take drastic action to have the Commission’s report ‘burned or buried’. Why? And what does it all mean now?
Episode Two: Secrecy's Veil
Ophelia finds out what happened next to some of the border communities which testified to the Irish Boundary Commission. As she hears stories of blocked roads and political tensions, a chance discovery in the archives makes Ophelia begin to question the entire Boundary Commission process.
Presenter: Ophelia Byrne Producers: Conor Garrett & Ophelia Byrne Exec Editor: Andy Martin