[1] The film opens on a ferry in Liverpool, as Fergus Molloy (Mark Womack) remembers the final messages sent to him by his lifelong friend Frankie (John Bishop), whose funeral he is to attend.

Afterwards, Haynes and Walker (Geoff Bell) explain to Frankie's family the circumstances of his death, though Fergus remains embittered and closely questions the two men.

The waterboarding scene was performed for real on actor Trevor Williams, after the results had not been satisfactory during earlier attempts at merely staging the act.

[6] For a Ken Loach film, Route Irish uses an unusually high amount of stunt scenes and pyrotechnics.

[7] Ken Loach said in an interview that the team never considered having it ready for Cannes, but when it turned out that they were ahead of the schedule the French co-producers pushed for a submission.