One mistake transforms Gerry Sweeney from being a youth of academic and sporting promise to two decades of travelling the country working on construction sites in dirty and dangerous conditions. He abandons his teenage lover when she is pregnant and is drawn into a demimonde of violence, alcohol and fleeting illicit relationships. At a point just where he thinks there is no escape from a life of sterile excess, he meets someone he can love. Filled with hope he returns to his homeland determined to change his life. There one final shock awaits him - a shock that will test his resolve and his character.