It's the day of Sean's 21st Birthday Party, but he is alone. To avoid awkward questions and the associated embarrassment, he pretends to his mother he is going out to celebrate his birthday with friends in town.

It's the early 90s in Dublin and he is tormented by the recent atrocities in Northern Ireland. A few months previously he had been up north talking to one of the victims of the Troubles. The victim talked about the devastating impact the murder of her husband has had on her and her family. Her grief mirrored a lot of what Sean went through when his father died in tragic circumstances.

In a pub a middle-aged man, who Sean had observed reading some republican propaganda, sees that something is not right and asks Sean if he is OK. Sean opens up to the man. They then start debating about the Troubles ....