Adrian Dunbar recalls Enniskillen childhood on BBC podcast

rs living in Portadown as being 'like getting out of jail'. The Fermanagh-born actor, best known for his role as Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty, was speaking to BBC journalist Mark Carruthers on the Red Lines podcast. Mr. Dunbar reflected on his childhood in Enniskillen, the town's political culture and the experiences which helped shape his life before he became one of the best-known actors from Northern Ireland. Born in Enniskillen, Mr. Dunbar spent part of his childhood in Portadown before his family returned to Fermanagh. He said growing up in Enniskillen during the 1960s had been a 'halcyon childhood'. 'Politics didn't really feature in our house,' he said. Adrian Dunbar accepting an award in London earlier this year. (Image: File photo.) 'A bit of a halcyon childhood really in many ways, with the lakes and everything.' Mr. Dunbar said he remembered Enniskillen as a place with a liberal character, which he believes has continued over the decades. 'I was conscious of that liberal quality that existed within the town itself and within the county,' he said. 'And that has continued. That's been a continuous line through what's been happening with the council and so forth—how they kind of made sure they were going to get together and have politics that was consensual and helped all the people all of the time.' Although he spent several years living in Portadown, Mr. Dunbar said he does not identify himself as being from the Co. Armagh town. 'No, no, I don't,' he said. 'But I have a kind of a bit of a grá for County Armagh because of my father's love for Armagh football and so forth—Gaelic football. 'But no, Enniskillen was a wonderful childhood, you know, on the lakes, fishing during the summer. It was a fabulous place to grow up as a kid.' Adrian Dunbar with his folk and roots band 'The Jonahs' in 2004. (Image: Archive.) Mr. Dunbar said his family's return to Enniskillen after around four years in Portadown was a 'huge relief'. 'My parents managed to—we left Portadown after three or four, four and a half years and went back to Enniskillen, which was like getting out of jail,' he said. 'It was massive. It was a huge relief to get back to the town of Enniskillen and some kind of sense of normality—a town you could walk up the front street in your school uniform and not worry about it, that sort of stuff.' Mr. Dunbar attended Saint Joseph's College in Enniskillen and later worked in an abattoir before music and amateur dramatics began to provide a different direction. He said he was able to leave his job after earning enough money performing with Frank Chism, an Elvis Presley impersonator. Frank Chism, who gave a young Adrian Dunbar a job supporting his musical act, advertising a gig in The Mayfly Inn in Kesh - in The Impartial Reporter back in 1973. (Image: Archive) 'Along with that came amateur dramatics in the town of Enniskillen,' he said. 'We've always had a good history of amateur drama in the town, and hence the Ardhowen Theatre and so forth.' The actor said music and drama had provided important 'outlets' for him at the time. 'I was lucky, of course, because I had these outlets of music and I had somewhere to place my frustrations, if you like,' he said. During the podcast, Mr. Dunbar also discussed identity and reconciliation on the island of Ireland. He said he hoped that, in the future, the three counties of Ulster outside Northern Ireland would be reunited with the other six within a united Ireland. 'One of these days, we'll get our three counties back and Ulster will be a big, big nine-county powerhouse within a United Ireland,' he said. Mr. Dunbar, who is a patron of the Aisling Centre in Enniskillen, also welcomed the fact that the centre had been chosen as the preferred charity for the Orange Order in Fermanagh. 'I'm very pleased to say that the Aisling Centre in Enniskillen, of which I am a patron, is the preferred charity this year for the Orange Order in Fermanagh,' he said. Always supportive of a young Dunbar, The Impartial Reporter archive highlights one of his 'competent' performances at The Lyric Theatre in Belfast. (Image: Archive.) He added that he believed members of the Orange tradition should feel that their culture and identity were respected across the border. 'I think the brethren understand that although they might be fearful, they are accepted and their culture is accepted south of the border,' he said. 'So why not just join the whole thing up?' Reflecting on his own connection with Enniskillen, Mr. Dunbar said it was important to remain connected to the people and places which had shaped him. 'It's essential not to forget those roots,' he said. 'It's who you are, isn't it? It's who you are, and the people that made you, and the good people who gave you a helping hand along the way.'