Research carried out by the Northern Ireland Office in 2017 found that, 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement, 35% of people in areas with high levels of Paramilitary Style Assaults (PSA) supported PSAs in certain circumstances.

During 2016/17 the number of PSA shootings doubled and casualties from brutal beatings increased.

The Department of Justice set out to set out to shape a society “where paramilitarism has NO PLACE” by challenging the coercive control of paramilitaries. The goal is to transform

the 35% acceptance into a rejection of PSAs.

Ardmore created an integrated marketing campaign to tell the story of a mother faced with the impossible choice of taking her teenage son to be shot. A powerful story of a deeply disturbing reality.

Research conducted within six months of the campaign launch indicated a clear shift in acceptance, including the effect the campaign can have in changing the attitudes of even the hardest-line paramilitary sympathisers.