Photographer Mariusz Smiejek (web | ig) was born in Poland in 1978 but moved to Northern Ireland in 2011, which is when he started taking pictures of bonfires – in areas such as Highfield, the Village, and the Shankill – and the people around them. The full gallery for his ‘Bonies’ project is available on his web site.
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Saint Luke’s C of I opened in 1863 in what was then the lower Falls but – because of the “peace” line is now the lower Shankill. It closed in 2006 and the congregation merged with St Stephen’s (in Millfield). The building served as a community centre. In 2015 two pigs’ heads with racist graffiti were left in the doorway in response to rumours that the building might become a mosque (BBC). The property was (later) acquired by Living Faith Global – “a miracle believing and seeing church” – which opened in April 2019.
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A six-week lockdown beginning on December 26th was approved last night by the executive, which said the current situation required an “urgent intervention” (BBC). The lockdowns are difficult for everyone, not just financially but psychologically. (See previously: Home Is Where The Hurt Is.) This Broadway graffiti suggests that the lockdowns are promoting suicides, though there do not appear to be data yet suggesting an increase in suicide during the pandemic. ‘Action 61’ appears to be a fringe protest group.
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Glasgow Celtic stickers on Divis Street, Glasgow Rangers sticker on the Shankill. We can’t really improve upon the WP entry‘s introduction: “the rivalry between [the two teams] has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected, and contributed to, political, social, and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland. As a result, the fixture has had an enduring appeal around the world.” – including Northern Ireland.
See previously: Ultras Celtic | Balance Enquiry
A Matter Of Life And Death | Follow, Follow | The Boys In Blue | We Are The People
Also Gegen Rechts
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The Cupar Way “peace” line, home to graffiti-art/wild-style writing and patronising slogans from around the world, is also home to a single Troubles-related memorial plaque, to Plum Smith (one | two) of the UVF/RHC and subsequently the PUP, which thus far has resisted the artists’ can and the tourists’ Sharpie. It is not known whether the “Plum” graffiti (and previously “RIP Plum Smith”) is by locals or by a visiting writer.
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“Grá mór” [lots of love] on an electrical box in Ardmoulin Street. Artist unknown.
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Emigration of Irish nations outstripped their returning counterparts for most of the 2010 but stabilised in 2018 (Irish Times). (Migration data for NI nationals could not be found.) This Connolly Youth Movement (cym.ie | ig) sticker on Northumberland Street street sign encourages young people to stay and work for change at home.
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A six-week lockdown began at midnight last night with restrictions including an overnight curfew and an end to all “close contact” services (Belfast Live). Shown today are two of larger posters in Sinn Féin’s ‘wear a mask’ campaign, featuring Paul Maskey and Fra McCann, MP and MLA for Belfast West.
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Muralist Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly (whose catalogue of work can be seen in a separate site) and others from Gael Force Art (Fb) have mounted a three-piece memorial for the centenary of the Falls Road Massacre in which four people were killed – one of them being Mo Chara’s great uncle Jimmy Shields – in a 5-minute shooting spree by a “special patrol” on the night of the funerals of three men killed by the ‘RIC Murder Gang’ (see the 2007 entry). For more background see the memorial’s Facebook page.
More than 500 people were killed in Belfast from 1920 to 1922; for details and their locations see The Social Geography Of Violence During The Belfast Troubles.
“These four innocent local men were murdered by an RIC/British Army death squad near this spot in [September 28th] 1920: James Shields, William Teer, Robert Gordon, Thomas Barkley.” With perhaps the first appearance of a hashtag on a plaque: #fallsroadmassacre1920
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Paul, sounding like a Stoic, encourages people to be content no matter what the circumstances. “‘I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me’ – Philippians 4:13” Thanks to an anonymous model in Wilson Street for letting us take a photo of his t-shirt.
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