The “Do not use” sign – from last year – is Saoaradh (web) reserving a wall in Braemar St (on the Falls Road) that has never (to our knowledge) been used by anyone else. As the image above shows, the space is now being used – in part – by a hunger strike 40th anniversary board.
Homeowners from counties Donegal and Mayo march on government buildings in Dublin tomorrow to campaign for “100% redress” in the repair of their homes that were made with building blocks of high mica content and which are now falling apart. Free Derry Corner (Visual History) has been altered in support of the cause. For more see Derry Journal | BBC | Donegal Daily.
Commentary from Tullyally Young Loyalists, who on their Fb page call for the collapse of Stormont and an end to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: “PSNI Out”, the “Deal [is] off!!” “FTP” is typically “eff the Provos” but here “P” might be “police”.
During WWII, Tom Moore worked with motorcycles and tanks (rather than aircraft) in India and Burma (Myanmar) and achieved the rank of captain. He became famous during the pandemic for raising about 33 million pounds for NHS Charities during the pandemic. He died in February of this year, aged 100 (WP). He is honoured by this new mural in Tullyally, Londonderry.
An coroner’s inquest found last month that the ten people killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre on August 9th and 10th, 1971, were innocent civilians and nine of them were killed by unjustified force on the part of the British Army (the cause of death of the tenth could not be known with sufficient certainty) (Guardian). Soldiers at the time claimed that they were being fired upon by some of those killed. The findings renewed calls for the prosecution of British Army soldiers and in particular General Sir Michael Jackson, adjutant to the 1st Parachute Regiment at both Ballymurphy and (five months later) Bloody Sunday (WP).
Holy Cross [Boys] Primary School [“HCPS”] distributes student into four “houses” within the school for motivational purposes but unlike the four houses of Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin) these are named for famous philosophers. Students in all seven years take one hour of philosophy a week – staff are trained by The Philosophy Foundation (HCPS Prospectus) – and they now have a mural just outside the school gates to encourage them in the four “R”s – “reflective, reasoned, responsive, re-evaluative”. The mural shows a student (Conor) sitting in the pose of Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur/The Thinker, bringing to mind sayings of the four philosophers: (from left to right) “Quality is not an act, it is a habit” – Aristotle; “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think” – Socrates; “He who knows only his own side knows little” – JS Mill; “Philosophy begins in wonder” – Plato.
In April, UK Defence minister Johnny Mercer resigned/was sacked due to his protestations over the Overseas Operations bill (which passed on April 29th but does not apply to service in NI (BBC)) and the prosecution of two soldiers for a 1972 killing of Joe McCann – they were acquitted (BelTel). Cases against British Army soldier will continue to be investigated, however, unless there is legislation introduced by the British government to deal with “legacy” issues in Northern Ireland. This VASU tarp is next to the Boundary Way waste ground, site of the lower Shankill bonfire. “Support the men who supported & protected us against Sinn Fein IRA – Soldier A-Z.”
The sign reads “Dump wood – PSNI out”; the Ulster Banner flies to mark the boundary; guardians keep warm around a fire; old fridges and furniture lie among the pallets. The signs are unmistakable: collection for Eleventh Night 2021 is under way in the lower Shankill.