As the decade that brought us the ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement, the 1990s were a transformative time for Northern Ireland and its relationships with both the Republic and Britain.
Though peace campaigning and politics led to legislative change, at the heart of the peace process were the people themselves, whether they lived within or just beyond the border. In particular, those who were in their teens or early adulthood at the time were at the forefront of bringing about the Northern Ireland we have today.
This generation, now in their mid-40s to late-50s (sometimes dubbed 'Gen X'), mixed with each other in ways sectarianism prevented people from doing before. The rise of club and rave culture in the early 90s helped bring about spaces where young people of all backgrounds could not only co-exist, but get acquainted, find common ground and forge friendships.
Read more: Old club pics show Northern Ireland nights out at Coach, Lush & more
One such space was the Point Inn in Quigley's Point, Donegal. A short drive from Derry, the club attracted a mix of local punters and those from across the border who were willing to go through whatever army, police or customs checks it took for a night out there.
"You had to go through all those barriers every week to get to the club," says Charlie Dillon, a punter turned resident DJ at the Point Inn. Also known as Bill X, he himself did the journey from Derry, but remembers DJs and clubbers alike coming from all over the island - and even England.
"There was never no brawling, there was never no fighting," he tells Belfast Live. "Everybody was really into the music, dancing and getting to know different people from different backgrounds and different religions.
"I remember looking across the club and seeing people from the Falls Road chatting to people from maybe even the Shankill Road. There was never no grief. It was a revolution."
The Point was owned by a man named Frank Shortt, who ran it with the help of his wife Sally and their kids. Back in 1992, Frank offered a Sunday slot to DJs Paul P Moran and Les Bennett, who had been playing short rave sets at the Venue in Derry on Fridays.
Paul soon roped in the late Chris Hurley - the DJ often credited with putting Kelly's in Portrush on the map - to their Sundays at the Point. "The Sundays were well attended, but they weren't massive at that stage," Paul says. "It was just starting to take off and people were only starting to get into it."
It was through Paul meeting the East Belfast DJ Glen Molloy that the first Hellraiser came to the Point one Friday night. "The Friday was a complete sell-out," Paul says. "The place was rammed, jammed and packed to the rafters. After that, Frank came to me and said, 'You wouldn't mind doing this every Friday night?'"
With Les leaving to continue his residency at the Venue, Paul took on the role of booking the Point's resident DJs and doing promotion on top of playing sets himself. From there, the club took off.
Thirty years on, regulars still recall elements of a night out there. Be it the electric atmosphere, the pumping tunes or the dungeon-like decor that, as Charlie puts it, "looked like something out of Game of Thrones", there's plenty worth remembering.
One thing clubgoers and staff alike would rather forget were the severe drug raids the Point was subjected to in 1992 and 1993, as well as what followed. Frank was wrongfully convicted of knowingly allowing the sale of illegal drugs on his premises, for which he received a three-year sentence in 1995 (the appeal court ruled in 2002 that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice).
Just as Frank testified to the High Court in 2004, Charlie remembers the raids as heavy-handed, claiming gardaí used sledgehammers and damaged doors, tables and chairs. He also recalls Frank telling the High Court that during one of the raids, a female customer was made to stand spread-eagled in the ladies' toilets while a male garda shone a torch on her and a female garda put her hand inside the woman's underwear.
All of this put a strain on the Shortts, who took pride in making their family-run business a safe and friendly environment where everyone was looked after. "Frank and Sally just loved all the people that came to the club," Charlie says, adding that Sally even used to dress up in costume each week to make people laugh. "I remember one week, she had a grass skirt and a wee coconut bikini and all on her.
"They had a wee food stall and she would've done the toasties and looked after everybody. If anybody was sick or needing assistance, she looked after them."
He adds that there were always efforts to stop drugs from entering the Point. "Frank was really busy making sure that they'd stop any type of drug coming into the club. He put searches on the doors. They did their best."
Despite the turmoil the raids and legal battle brought, memories of the Point remain largely positive for most who went or worked there. "It took people's minds off their day-to-day lives and the Troubles," Charlie says. "Everybody just lived for the weekend, meeting up with their friends, meeting different people."
Such positive memories have not only inspired Charlie and Paul to organise a reunion, but to start a podcast where DJs and clubgoers share their stories. Thirty years on from the Point's initial Sunday raves, the sold-out reunion takes place tonight at Link 48 in Derry.
The pair say they expect it to be a nostalgia-filled night full of familiar faces on decks (themselves included), tunes that'll transport you back to the 90s and the same feeling of community that made the Point so special all those years ago. If you missed out on tickets, keep an eye on the podcast's YouTube Channel for clips of the reunion and more.
If you have old club pics or stories from past nights out in Northern Ireland that you'd like to share, we'd love to see/hear them! Email them on to laura.grainger@reachplc.com.
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