Author: Extramural Activity

In All Theatres Of Conflict

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The boards on the right read: “‘Tis thy flag and my flag;/The best of flags on Earth,/So cherish it my children,/It’s yours by right of birth.//Your fathers fought,/Your fathers died,/To raise it to the skies,/And we like them must never yield,/But keep it flying high.” from The Union Jack, by Edward Shirley, in Little Poems For Little People, and “In memory of the men and women from the Orangefield area, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our freedom in all theatres of conflict, both foreign and at home.” These memorial boards are to local men who “stood to the fore to defend the Empire as the 8th Battalion (East Belfast) Royal Irish Rifles” in the 36th division, formed from formed from the “8th Battalion (Avoniel) and the 6th Battalion (Strandtown)” of the Ulster Volunteers.

For the Clyde Valley boards on the left, see Bloomfield House.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04053

IRA – Sinn Fein – ISIS

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04050-2017-02-28-ira-isis

A gallery of scenes from IRA bombings has been added around the Bayardo memorial arch, the centre-piece of which are two images from the 2015 Paris bombings (shown above). “IRA – Sinn Fein – ISIS no difference”.

In a recent interview for the USA’s PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) the DUP’s Sammie Wilson said he agreed with the equivalence. The second image shows the view from the Shankill (the damage at Canary Wharf is centre-right). Alexander Minto Howell was killed outside the Bayardo bar by the British Army.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04051 X04050 X04052 Argyle St Bayardo Somme association slaughter in Omagh carnage in Hyde Park terrorists wantonly slaughtered 130 people innocent during a series of coordinated attacks Friday 13th November

Always Keep A Diamond In Your Mind

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“The past is behind, learn from it. The present is here, live it. The future is ahead, prepare for it.” 2016 mural and board-cut diamond (which is lit from behind at night) in Lord Street, replacing the old LPA mural which lasted from 1997 to 2015.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04047 jobs for the boys diamond project Co-ment project CharterNI

XXXVI

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The main battles of the 36th (Ulster) Division (“XXXVI”) are listed – Somme, Thiepval, Messines, Ypres, Cambrai, Somme (1918), St. Quintin [St. Quentin], Lys, Courtrai – and those who died are commemorated on this new board. The main board is surrounded by smaller boards, part of the Poppy Trail, bearing the names, ages, addresses, ranks, and units of deceased soldiers. For example: William Lyttle, aged 18, 16 Tenth Street, 9th batt. Royal Irish Rifles, Rifleman 13044.

The same (main) board has also been mounted on the Shankill: see Improving Your Environment.

Replaces: They Haven’t Gone Away and Welcome To The Shankill.

Update: info board added “Thousands of brave Shankill men marched down our road and off to war, over 1500 of them never returned, with over 150 losing their lives on the 1st day of July 1916.”

X11327 2022-08-06 Divisions info+

X11328 2022-08-06 XXXVI ACT info+

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X04049 X11327 X11328 northumberland st

Hard Border

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The UK’s vote to leave the EU (“Brexit”) might mean the return of the “hard” border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The board shown above lists the Tories, DUP, TUV, and (west Belfast rivals) People Before Profit as supporters of Brexit. PBP supported the exit on anti-austerity grounds.

Previously from #ae17 (Assembly Elections 2017): Tapaıgh An Deıs | End The Age Of the Dinosaurs | Keep Belfast Clean

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X04050 X04033 Glen Rd Falls Rd

Keep Belfast Clean

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04048-2017-02-27-fleece-process

Voters go to the polls on March 2nd and among the candidates in East Belfast is Northern Ireland Conservative (web | Fb) Sheila Bodel. The party placard above in Grand Parade suggests that the peace process has been a “fleece process”.

Previously: Tapaıgh An Deıs | End The Age Of The Dinosaurs

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X04048 bloomfield rd

The Sacrifice Remains The Same

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Poppy Trail boards have been added below the 2013 Time Changes board commemorating the sacrifice of the 36th (Ulster) Division – in black-and-white on the left – and the Royal Irish Rifles – in colour on the right.

Previously from the Poppy Trail: Among The Fallen | Poppy Trail 1914 | Poppy Trail 1915 | Poppy Trail 1916 | HMS Hawke | XXXVI

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X04045 ogilvie st