Mark Halpin
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Mark Halpin is a fictional character on the soap opera Fair City.
Mark is Damien's brother. When his mother Tess moved to Carrigstown, he accompanied her, along with Laura and Damien. Tess had left England to escape the clutches of her abusive husband. Laura and Damien remembered the terrible times, but young Mark could only remember the good times. Everything seemed to be going smoothly for Tess' family, but then Marty turned up in Carrigstown. He explained that he was doing work there as part of his construction job. Marty eventually manipulated Tess, Mark and Laura into believing that he had changed, but Damien remained suspicious. His fears proved to be true, when Marty found himself arguing with Tess shortly after they re-married. Although Marty had been going to anger management classes, he lost control of his temper and knocked Tess out. Horrified that he had killed her, a devastated Marty told Damien that he was sorry and drove off in his car. The Gardai chased after him, but he exited the car and jumped off a bridge where he committed suicide.
In the aftermath of the two deaths, Damien and Laura decided not to tell Mark the truth about what happened. Mark soon discovered that Marty murdered Tess and became infuriated with his family. Damien allowed Mark to work in the Molloy garage business. It seemed that everything was going smoothly for Mark, but it soon became apparent that he was being intimidated by two bullies named Tom and Doug. When Mark was walking down a street, the bullies stole his mobile phone and took note of his number. Damien's friend Suzanne appeared on the scene, causing them to give the phone back to Mark. When Mark told Suzanne that the bullies were only "messing" with him, she realised that he was being bullied and informed Damien about the bullying.
When Mark left his mobile phone in a room, Damien looked at it and was shocked to see a message on it. The bullies had texted Mark, claiming that he had a "gay haircut". Damien told Mark to stand up to the bullies, but Tom and Doug warned a terrified Mark that no one can stop the culture of bullying. They ordered him to do their homework from now on, making Mark's life a misery in the process. When Damien encouraged Mark to go to the local boxing club, he was intrigued by the boxers and was interested in doing some boxing exercises, but he found himself doing homework for hours due to the bullies' intervention.
Unfortunately, although Mark managed to finish Tom and Doug's homework, he was unable to finish his own, drawing him into conflict with his teacher Sarah. Since he was sitting next to the bullies, a terrified Mark decided not to inform Sarah about the bullying and Sarah berated him for not doing his homework. Determined to teach Tom and Doug a lesson they would never forget, Mark began training at the boxing club to make himself stronger. A worried Damien told Sarah about the bullying, but her boss Kieran was unfazed. Mark fought Tom and Doug, but the bullies turned the tables on him. They grabbed Mark and threatened to kill him if he dared to stand up to them again.
