A lullaby sung by a mother to her newborn drifts through an embattled village. Friends toast each other in clandestine meetings. Neighbors in urban gang territory share backyard gossip.
Lovers embrace on moonlit rooftops in brief respite from the violence below.
At such times, life is affirmed. They have been drawn to each other since they were teenagers growing up in Belfast, but because of where they were born, their lives have been shaped by random danger. They have seen bullets shatter bedroom windows and bombs rip apart local pubs, and they are bound by ancient, unquestioning loyalty to the ties of blood, tribe and tradition. To violate such a code would be to willfully sacrifice what looks like their people's only hope. Now, after 14 years in prison, former IRA member Danny is returning to the neighborhood where Maggie has managed to survive by marrying, and then raising a son by Danny's best friend.