ABSTRACT
The Pensioners style of 'aggressive cosiness' renders unspoilt forms of collectivity – the private tea party – accessible – as a source of political action. The pensioners meet to talk, have a cup of tea, play bingo, listen to music, remember stories and invite others to tell the more. The village is a condensed rural microcosm of Northern Irish society, history and politics, magnified through the presence of the army. In October 2009 a caravan is parked on the pavement of a crossing in the small coastal village of Ballykinler, a 40-minute drive south of Belfast. Ballykinler or Ballykinlar, depending on which of the two 'communities' one belongs to, is wedged between the Mourne Mountains, the Irish Sea and, a British Army camp. In August 2014 shortly after the 12th of July annual parades in Northern Ireland, political campaigners set up a 'civil rights camp' at Twaddell Avenue, North Belfast.
