In May we reported that the RHC mural in Hunt Street had been replaced by a Ballymacarrett Somme Society mural, though the side wall remained a memorial to C Coy RHC. Now the side wall has also been turned into a Somme memorial, with John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and an image of the Cross of Sacrifice in front of the Thiepval memorial. The larger of the two plaques has been moved to the nearby RHC memorial garden.
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Here is the UDA/UFF mural on the left-hand gable of “Freedom Corner”. The mural is a 2015 repaint of the previous mural, which had to be replaced when it disintegrated. (See Freedom Corner for speculation as to the cause.) At the time, there was some disappointment that it was not repainted in a non-paramilitaristic fashion but defenders described the mural as “historical” (Tele).
The mural shows a UDA-jacketed volunteer with assault rifle and a modified version of the Declaration of Arbroath: “For as long as one hundred of us remain alive we shall never in anyway consent to submit to the Irish for it’s not for glory, honour or riches we fight but for freedom alone which no man loses but with his life – U.D.A./U.F.F”
From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner
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The Ulster Special Constabulary or B-Specials existed from 1920 to 1970; it was disbanded after being used for riot control in The Battle Of The Bogside. The Ulster Defence Regiment (which was under military control and was, as the mural notes, the largest infantry in the British Army) existed from 1970 until 1992, when it was merged with the Royal Irish Rangers.
From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner
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X03942 UDR over 200 members were killed in the troubles 34 USC members were killed by the IRA painted by John Stewart
The recently-refurbished Ballymac Friendship Centre (Fb) was re-opened in August this year, with a new paste-on mural of local schoolchildren with books and backpacks on its front.
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For the anniversary of the Battle Of Albert and the start of the Battle Of The Somme, Tower Street in east Belfast became Ulster Tower Street and residents reproduced the Western Front, with huts of sandbags, canvas coverings for all the front walls, and headlines from the News Letter (“Ulster’s Sacrifice”) and Times (“Britain At War”) of the period. Images of the new murals can be found in A Thought Is Not A Lot.
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Complementing the images from Ulster Tower Street, here are images of the new commemorative boards and their blue backgrounds. The main board features Ulster Tower at Thiepval with a list of battles that the 36th (Ulster) Division was involved in.
The smaller board on the side-wall features a poem from local children: “The Great War took a lot of Pray/It’s hard to say w[h]ere all these brave men lay/A lot of souls still waiting to be found/Buried deep below the ground.//In the fields w[h]ere the bright red poppies grow/Stood men so brave of fight and foe/Some men so young they just didn’t know/A journey with friends they all wanted to go.// When they got there what a different tail [tale] they did tell/Many letters home describing it as hell/Young men put to front to fight/We can only imagine the awful sight.//Fighting beside their mate to keep Britain great/And we still remember them till this date/Nearly one hundred years on/A lot of these great men have gone/Forget them we will not as a thought is not a lot.”
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Here are three images from Cluan Place, the PUL street at the bottom of the (CNR) Short Strand in east Belfast. The first two show the flags and bunting in the street, flying from railings, light-poles, and chimney pots. In the third image, crosses have been added to the board at the entrance to the street featured previously Hard Hats Must Be Worn.
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As part of the Poppy Trail, boards bearing the names, ages, addresses, and service units of Belfast casualties during WWI have been erected on walls and lampposts near their homes. Above: William Bloomer from Matilda Street in south Belfast. Below: Thomas Magowan from Tower Street in east Belfast.
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Charter NI chief executive Dee Stitt returned to work after a three-week holiday following controversial remarks that a Bangor flute band (the North Down Defenders) provided “homeland security” for the area and that he was the big man in the area. (The remarks were included in this Guardian video, starting at 7m 22s. For more on the UDA in north Down, see this Tele article.)
Many have called for his resignation, including Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP (Irish News), though the Charter NI board, who conducted an internal review, did not fire him. At least one of the local people in east Belfast was already unhappy with the organization this summer, when the graffiti above was sprayed in Beechfield Street.
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X03598 NI Executive “managed” September and not “controlled” November
Northern Ireland take on Wales in the Euro 2016 football championship after qualifying for the knockout stage with a 2-0 win over Ukraine, with goals by Gareth McAuley (featured in the mural) and Niall McGinn.
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 