Violence
This is an incredibly violent play and the main theme within it is violence, which is senseless and gratuitous and so prevalent that those acting violently are immune to it. The protagonist of the play, Padraic, is so sadistic and psychopathic that he has been kicked out of one terrorist organization and is considered too much of a liability for the second, more radical one of which he is a member. He delights in torturing people who offend his own twisted and usually ironic code of ethics, and also enjoys mutilating their corpses once they are dead.
Even the children in the play delight in killing. Mairead is just sixteen years old but has no time for or interest in anything other than killing things. She is not very well educated and her only concept of political statement is terrorism, which she enjoys. Anyone she dislikes becomes a target.
Christy is a violent man but his violence is more contained, and he considers it to be for a purpose. He is sent to assassinate Padraic because he is a liability to the INLA superiors. Although this is a task he relishes, because it is in some way payback for Padraic shooting him in the eye, it is not something that he would have done without instruction or the blessing of his organization.
The organizations shown in the play consider themselves to be political powerhouses but in fact are violent paramilitary terrorists who are responsible for killing thousands of people. There are only two characters in the play who are not in some way responsible for any violence or murder, which emphasizes the theme even more.
The Sham of the Peace Process
The peace process that is ironically mentioned in the play is actually begetting more acts of terrorism and violence because those who are opposed to it are even more determined that it should be derailed. As they do not know how to do this in any other way, they resort to killing again. The peace process does not seem to make either side happy and does not take into account the feelings of most of the citizens of Northern Ireland; it also goes against the goals of the INLA and their members.
