Keep It A Secret

In 1972, every international sporting event in Ireland was cancelled...except for one. Surf pioneers transcended The Troubles' hostilities to host the '72 Eurosurf Championship. The film recounts the inspiring story of the dawn of Irish surfing, revealing how the sport gave young people hope while forever changing their lives, and how their community would leave a lasting impression upon Ireland.

In 1972, every international sporting event in Ireland was cancelled...except for one. Surf pioneers transcended The Troubles' hostilities to host the '72 Eurosurf Championship. The film recounts the inspiring story of the dawn of Irish surfing, revealing how the sport gave young people hope while forever changing their lives, and how their community would leave a lasting impression upon Ireland.

Surfing pioneer Kevin Naughton recounts the first time he discovered waves off the coast of Ireland during a family vacation. The Southern California surfer, who has traveled around the world in search of surf, shares his stories of the beginnings for the sport in the country and the people that has made it the best kept secret.

In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement ended Ireland's conflict known as The Troubles. But the people of these two countries, Northern Ireland - British & Protestant - and the Republic of Ireland - Irish & Catholic, had already suffered through unimaginable violence due to religious, political and social discrimination for over 30 years.

Meet Ireland's pioneers of surf - from Kevin Cavey and Harry & Vivienne Evans to Davy Govan and the Britton brothers. The Dublin and Belfast crews shared a love of surfing but disagreed when it came to nurturing the sport: the Dubliners wanted to make it mainstream but for the surfers of Belfast, it was a lifestyle counter to Northern Irish society.

Filmmaker Sean Duggan reveals who and what influenced him to make the documentary, KEEP IT A SECRET. The director, who is of Irish ancestry and a surfer himself, shares his own story and the one of the beginnings of surfing in Ireland and its pioneers during a revolutionary time for the sport and the country.

In 1972, Ireland was the host of the Eurosurf Championship, an international surfing competition. It was in the middle of the turbulent and often violent The Troubles but the conflict was not the only challenge for the country and its surfers. The waves refused to cooperate but would they through the whole weekend?