Conor Sheahan

In a Dublin supermarket, a young woman is working at the checkout.

And like most 21-year-olds, this job, it's really just there to get cash for fun.

She's a pretty shy girl, does what she's told.

That is, until one day, a customer wants to buy something that she will refuse to sell.

but it was something happening 14,000 kilometres away.

A war raging between freedom and oppression, between fear and defiance.

My name is Mark Fennelly, and this is the wild saga of a handful of young women in Ireland who stood up for the rights of black South Africans during apartheid.

Their strike sparked debate, drew attention far and wide and eventually helped change a law.

But it all started with refusing to scan a grapefruit.

Two grapefruit.

Two grapefruit.

Let's not forget the second grapefruit.

And then I can assure you that at the time, no one saw it coming.

So today, the fine city of Dublin is home to around 1.3 million people.

The city's got cobblestones, lots of beautiful historic buildings, and most importantly, it's the home of Guinness.

But in the 1980s, things were not great.

Inflation was high, people were leaving the country, unemployment was as high as 17% by the mid-80s.

Right, so let me introduce you to Mary Manning.

In 1984, she's just turned 21 years old.

And Dunn Stores is this huge retail chain in Ireland, like multi-level, they sell clothes, homewares, groceries.