Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams said of the (Provisional) IRA in 1995 “They haven’t gone away, you know” (youtube). The dove of peace is shot down (presumably by IRA weapons) at the junction of Northumberland and Beverly Streets in PUL west Belfast.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03107 X03106
Tourists from France, Japan, Israel, Germany, Italy, China, Spain and Croatia are welcomed to Boyd’s shop in the Lower Shankill estate.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03102 X03117 newsagents confectionery groceries hot drinks sandwiches greeting cards Welcome bienvenue yokoso shalom wilkommen benvenuto huan ying bienvenido dobrodosli
The South Belfast UDA this week issued a statement that they “won’t be leaving any stage whilst republicans of any faction still exist”. As the Newsletter article notes, the South Belfast branch of the UDA does not speak for the whole organization. Until confirmed, then, the new mural above – “Welcome to the loyalist Lower Shankill – UDA 2nd Batt. C. Coy” – provides only circumstantial evidence …
Elsewhere: Join the South East Antrim UDA: Glenfield Community Association.
Update (2015-10-16): Similar statement from “IRA commanders” BelfastLive | Irish Mirror
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
quis separabit UFF UYM X03089
The quote on this new board in the Lower Shankill estate – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” – is attributed to “Margaret Mead, American Author 1901-1978”. Mead in fact was best known as an anthropologist and in particular for her study of adolescent coming-of-age in the islands of Samoa which concluded that adolescence there was not at all the stressful and confused period that it was Western teens.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03076 X03077 [X12019] The campaign against social exclusion group CASE created this artwork using themes of social justice to highlight how a group of residents by standing together can create real change within their area for the benefit of all residents the quote was written by the american author margaret mead and reflects what the residents aspire to within their community artist lesley cherry worked with case during this project drawing out their concerns hopes and fears for the future and how this statement can relate to similar communities not only in northern ireland but at an international level funded by the housing executive working in partnership with the lower shankill community association replaces several contentious paramilitary murals removed during the redevelopment of the shankill estate
Young people from the Lower Shankill pose in the style of a movie poster: “You must have dreams and goals if you are ever going to achieve anything in this world.” The info panel (shown below) incorrectly states that the board replaces a loyalist H-Block mural (of which there were two versions: yellow (M02473) | orange) and, before that, a UDU-UFF-UDA mural; these were on different walls and this board replaces only the Maze mural.
This is the second of five recently-launched boards in the lower Shankill. The first to be featured was I Am Not Resilient.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03072 X03073 the lower shankill angels youth group came together to create their very own movie style poster celebrating the strength of their group their aspirations and their love and respect for the community the also wanted to highly how they as young people are often misunderstood artist lesley cherry led the photographic workshops drawing out stories about the groups hopes and fears for the future and how some wanted to stay in the area while others wanted to travel and see the world all agreed that the lower shankill would always have a special place in their hearts this artwork celebrates their ambition and optimism at this stage in their lives this artwork was funded by the housing executive working in partnership with the lower shankill community association the artwork replace the a UDA/UDA and the Freedom 2000 mural which featured HM Maze Prison
mark adair megan aiken nathan arbuthnor craig ballentine ryan baxter justin baxter darnel bell latisha brant CJ burke rabileigh crooks morgan dillon alanna flynn nathan hill brandon irvine curtis irvine marcus kane dylan kane megan mccaw simone mccormick jordan mckeag brittney mckeag kerri-lee mclaughlin jenni mclaughlin glenn mcquillan thomas mitchell jordan mullan morgan patterson lauren stewart chloe stewart becky turner craig wilson
Today’s image is of the final new mural in the recent re-imaging of the Lower Shankill estate. It shows a patchwork quilt of word related to women and the roles they play in families and communities, such as “aunt”, “mother”, “sister”, “granny”, and “caring”, “diverse”, “strong”, and “unheard voices”.
Other murals in the project: I Am Not Resilient | Only In The Movies | Coming Of Age In The Lower Shankill
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03070 X03071 The Lower Shankill Women’s Group created this artwork using the theme of a traditional family quilt as their inspiration. The quilt idea was chosen as an item, which is often made together by family members and is ultimately handed down through generations. The women decided to decorate their quilt with words that described themselves their family members. Each member of the group contributed to the project, which were brought together digitally to form the overall artwork. They also wanted to highlight that woman have a pivotal role to play within the Shankill area and that their voices area as important as any one else’s. Artist Lesley Cherry worked with the women during this project, drawing out family stories of care, loss, remembrance and ultimately love, not only for their immediate families, but for their friends and the wider community. This artwork was funded by the Housing Executive, working in partnership with the Lower Shankill Community Association. The artwork replaces a contentious paramilitary mural and an artwork depicting the burning of Protestant homes at the beginning of the Troubles. hope friend loud kind broken honest care pride family stubborn inspiration diverse niece pride care caring acceptance welcome love powerful equalilty equality for all
Among the sweepings at the site of the former RUC barracks are placards from Sinn Féin Youth (Fb), one bearing a (never-before-seen) Red Power flag (WP). “End social injustice”.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03013
Incidents involving ships of African emigrants seeking refuge in Europe are so many that there is a separate Wikipedia page for them. In response to the crisis, an old mural in Crocus Street (see M01486) remembering the emigration of Irish to North America during the Great Hunger was repainted and the lower part (which had images of the Great Hunger) replaced by stencilling which makes reference to the 2015 situation: “Ireland/Éıre 1845 – Europe/An Eoraıp 2015”, “Refugees welcome – Fáılte roımh theıfıgh”, and “No human is illegal – Níl aon dunıe [duıne] mídhleathach”. It was immediately vandalized with a “not” (see the final image, below; Fb) but has now been repaired, along with the mis-spelling.
Update 2015-10-19: the mural has been graffitied with “SF hate blacks” – see the fourth image, below.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
sınn féın youth famine X03011 X03012 X03104 X03142 originally finished 2015-09-12
Actor Leonard Nimoy died on February 27th, 2015. He is best known for the role of Star Trek‘s Spock, a part he played for 49 years. The mural above brings the character from space to the streets, with gold chain and skull hat. “Trek yourself before ya wreck yourself.”
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03010
The wave of people seeking asylum from political strife in Europe continues.”Fáılte romhaıbh a chaırde” is Irish for “Welcome, friends” while “Qaxootiga soo Dhaweyn” is Somali for “Refugees welcome”. Somalis make up about 9% of the current wave of migrants from Africa and Syrians 33%. (Irish Times) 2,000 refugees are to be settled in Northern Ireland. (belfastlive) The yellow-on-black outline of parents and daughter running originates in the United States, used on ‘caution’ signs along highways near the US-Mexico border. For images of the mural’s launch on September 12th, see the WARN twitter feed.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02998 qaxootiga soo dhawevn westagainstracismnetwork.org arabic
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 