Belfast

From D-Day To VE Day

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39 Allied divisions – 12 of them British – participated in the Normandy Landings – officially “Operation Neptune” – that took place on June 6th, 1944; in planning for the operation, the original “D-Day” was June 5th, but bad weather postponed it until the following day, when 160,000 troops stormed the beaches of the Bay Of The Seine. By the end of August, Paris had been liberated, and by the following May, victory in Europe had been achieved. 2024 was the eightieth anniversary of D-Day and 2025 the eightieth anniversary of VE Day, on May 8th.

This D-Day board and VE Day mural are in Edlingham Street, Tiger’s Bay, north Belfast. Also included below is a WWI memorial electrical box opposite, though as can be seen from the board (immediately below) the ‘graveside mourner’ silhouette is becoming a generic symbol of lost UK forces.

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Hang Tight

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Here are three stickers/paste-ups from illustrator and artist DEID (web) in Belfast city centre.

Above: “Слава Україні!” [Slava Ukraïni!] – a Ukranian soldier in front of a field of sunflowers gives the shaka/hang loose sign.

Immediately below: MAGA red-hats with an upside-down Stars And Stripes bring to mind David Bowie’s 1997 song “I’m afraid of Americans” (youtube).

Third, below, “Do you know the traffic warden?” Last below, “The end of the West?” – Donald Trump and JD Vance berate Ukranian president Vlodomir Zelenskyy in the White House in February, 2025 (PBS).

There is one more DEID paste-up in the Paddy Duffy collection.

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Burkina Faso

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For an explanation of this latest message on Black Mountain, see Gael Force Art’s Facebook page. An Irish tricolour would later joing the lettering shown here, though the piece had a short life-span, as it was replaced a message supporting Kneecap (for background see Seas Le Kneecap).

For a history of the messages on the mountain, see the Slıabh Dubh Visual History page.

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Full-Frontal Unity

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As an apéritif for Hit The North 2025 many local artists painted on the “Belfast Stories” hoarding along North Street in mid-April. Here is a selection, from Wee Nuls (web), All The Doodz (ig), KVLR (web), Kilian (ig), and Graffic Belfast (ig). For all fifteen pieces, see the Paddy Duffy Collection.

For the previous art on these hoardings, see ‘Bout Ye?

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Invasion Of The Building-Snatchers

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The Bank Of Ireland building at the junction of North Street and Royal Avenue was purchased by the City Council in 2021 (Business Insider) with the intention of turning it into a visitor attraction called ‘Belfast Stories’ by 2030. The latest step in the process was a period of public consultation (BelTel). In the meantime, Leo Boyd (web) has taken over the boarded-up space that previously housed the ATM with an image of space invaders hovering over the building.

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Monotony

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Castlebrooke Developments – the company behind the TriBeCa plan (for the TRIangle BEside the CAthedral) – will not renew applications for plans approved back in 2020. The slow/non-existent pace of development – a phenomenon that goes by the naming “planning blight” – has led the Cathedral Quarter Trust to consider buying some of the buildings from Castlebrooke, some of which have been vacant since 2000 (BelTel).

See previously: 2018’s To Be Continued | 2020’s Builders At Work

By FGB (probably) in Union Street.

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Know Their Names

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Here is a small selection of pieces from this year’s Hit The North (2025). (For complete coverage, see the map of Hit The North festivals.)

Politics of any sort rarely intrudes (see the 2019 Lyra McKee piece, which is still present in Kent St) but there were two pieces about the current devastation of Gaza were included, one by JMK with the caption “I Stand With Kneecap” and another by Conor McClure with the title “Know Their Names”.

Above and immediately below: “Make Art For Money” and “Picashso” by Luck (ig). Descriptions of the pieces in each photo are interposed below.

A sleepy person by Karl Fenz (web)

An eye containing a reflection of the Sunflower bar by My Dog Sighs (web), and a seated painter by Sanchai (ig).

“Stand By Your Trans” by Mel Carroll (web), “Wonder Day” by Jacky Sheridan (web), and a smiling face by SillyMe (ig) , in front of BUST’s “Dry Gin” from 2022 and a fox by Annatomix from 2023.

“Stand By Your Trans” by Mel Carroll

“Eat the rich” by FGB (web) + Katriona (web). 

HTN 2023 piece by KVLR (ig) in the waste-ground.

“I stand with Kneecap” by JMK

All of the above were painted in Kent Street.

In Union Street … a “Wee Bonnie” dog by Kayde (web) and “Tell People You Miss Them/I Miss You” by Alana McDowell (ig).

“Your Ego Ain’t Your Amigo” by Codo (ig), a cycling artist by Leo Boyd (web), “Know Their Names” by Conor McClure (ig) and “Con Safos” by KAYOS (ig).

The names of dead Palestinian children by Conor McClure (ig)

On the other side of Union Street, Sky High (ig), with Malarky’s “Everlasting” in the background.

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For National Liberation And Socialism In Ireland

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The large Miriam Daly board in Oakman Street was temporarily taken down while symbols and slogans to mark the fiftieth anniversary (“1974-2024”) of the creation of the INLA on December 8th, 1974 (WP) were mounted.

The wall was completed by early December, 2024, and the roll of honour added in the top-left corner by the end of the month. Those listed are: Hugh Ferguson, Danny Loughran, Brendan McNamee, Miriam Daly, Ronnie Bunting, Noel Little, Jim Power, Matt McLarnon, Joe Craven, Paul “Bonanza” McCann, Thomas “Ta” Power, John O’Reilly, Mickey Kearney, Emmanual Gargan, Gino Gallagher, John McColgan, Patrick Campbell, Christopher “Crip” McWilliams, Harry O’Hara, Barry “Bar” McMullan, Martin McElkerney, James McWilliams. The last five post-date the Agreement, starting with Patrick Campbell, who died in 1999 at the hands of drug-dealers in Dublin (Irish Times | Bel Tel).

“Let the fight go on” are the final words of (INLA) hunger-striker Patsy O’Hara; the group officially ended its armed campaign in 2009 (BBC).

December 5th, 2024:

November 23rd:

November 20th:

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