Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee revealed the show has helped her come to terms with the hardships of the Troubles admitting the main character Erin is based on her.
The writer and creator of the worldwide hit that holds the record as the biggest Channel 4 comedy ever has recently moved home to Northern Ireland, having been based in London with her husband Tobias Beer and their two kids.
And having spent the first lockdown spent in a rented room in a local church to write her new book, ‘Erin’s Diary’ she said she was able to revisit that time in her life, and realise how she learned to cope with the troubles.
She said: “It’s probably not a good thing at my age but it’s very easy to slip back into being Erin because she is sort of based on me.”
Having grown up in the ‘80s and ‘90s Lisa is dedicating her new book, Erin’s Diary to the late John Hume for ‘giving Derry girls like me a better future’.
Speaking to RTE Guide, she explained: “I wasn’t sure initially if I should dedicate it to John because it's a silly comedy.
“But there would have been no Derry Girls if I hadn’t got the opportunities i did.”
“With this book, I just wanted to write something that brought people a bit of joy, a bit of silliness.
“I just hope it takes people's minds off things for a little bit and brings us back to a time when things were sillier.”
Erin’s Dairy wraps, as the second TV season did, with the visit of Bill Clinton to Derry in 1995.
Lisa, who promised season three is ready and waiting to begin filming, said she'll never forget that fateful day, among many others during that era.
“I’ll never forget that day or the day that the ceasefire was called. Another moment etched in the memory is the day of the Omagh bomb.
“I’ll never forget those moments or how I felt those days.”
Recognising Derry Girls as a major help for a lot of people to start talking about the hard time in Northern Ireland, the creator said the show has helped her come to terms with her own hurt and ‘baggage’ of the past.
“I have only discovered that about myself recently, that Derry Girls has helped me understand some things about myself, some things about my family, some things about our psyche as a people and why our sense of humour is the way it is.
“That is fascinating to me and I really want to write a serious piece about that at some stage about post - Troubles and what that means.
“And because Derry Girls is a fun show it has helped people to talk about their own traumatic experiences.
"In a way this insane wee show starts these conversations.”
