In the 1860s, Ballymacarrett, Mount Pottinger, and Lagan Village, all on the east side of the Lagan, were not a part of Belfast (Lennon-Wylie). Lagan Village stretched from where Hutchinsons car dealership now is down to the modern Park Parade, just above Ormeau Park. In the 1880s Belfast expanded and Lagan Village Road became Ravenhill Road (NVTv). Ormeau Park opened in 1871 (WartimeNI). It did not then include the BMX track celebrated in this mural.
The heroes of the past are the soldiers of WWI and WWII (commemorated by the poppies growing in ACT Initiative‘s Shankill Road Community Garden, above, and in the 75th anniversary VE Day posters in Madrid Street, east Belfast, below); the present-day heroes are the doctors, nurses, and staff of the NHS, symbolised by the rainbow in both images.
William McFadzean won a VC for sacrificing himself on the morning before the Battle Of The Somme (in WWI) and is commemorated in several murals. He shares a plaque here with “Vol W Miller”, who is perhaps the (modern UVF) volunteer Billy Miller from Donegall Pass who was killed in an RUC ambush in 1983 (Long Kesh I/O). The two names on the newer plaque are unknown on-line, perhaps having survived the Troubles and being recently deceased.
The title of today’s post comes from the Laurence Binyon poem For The Fallen.
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” The saying is said to be an African proverb, used by the current (14th) Dalai Lama. The mural is by Danni Simpson (web | ig) at the Chester.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This RSYM (tw) mural in William Street, Derry, expresses solidarity with the protests over the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis PD. Among Floyd’s last words were “I can’t breathe.” The painter was surveilled and arrested on his way home from painting the mural (IRSP) perhaps because he included “ACAB” [all cops are bastards].
“Pro tanto quid retribuamus” [What shall we give in return for so much] is the motto of Belfast, included in the coat of arms shown above and newly appropriate in the coronavirus pandemic. “Thank you to all our NHS staff and essential workers from the local Orange family. Together fighting Covid-19.” The banner is on the Clifton Street hall; King William III bestrides his horse and the horse bestrides the building.
“Seasaıgí an fód ın aghaıdh an chıníochaıs – Stand [your ground] against racism”. The back of Free Derry Corner has been given a Sınn Féın board in support of the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In the foreground is a banner in support of (former) ETA member Patxi Ruiz, who quit his 31-day hunger strike protesting prison abuse yesterday (2020-06-10). He is serving 30 years for the 1998 murder of a Pamplona city councillor (ABC). “Tá muıd lıbh! [We are with you!] Espetxeak apurtu! [Break the prisons!]”
92 events were originally scheduled for the Navigating The Future Festival at the end of March, but the coronavirus intervened and 40 events were held virtually. The hoarding, showing Belfast City Hall under threat from rising seas, is in Clifton Street, Belfast.
“Please, I can’t breathe. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. They’re going to kill me.” These were among the last words of George Floyd, killed on May 25th after Minneapolis PD officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. The killing has drawn universal condemnation. All four officer were fired immediately and Chauvin was soon charged with third-degree murder, (to which second-degree murder was later added.) The other three officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
“Black lives matter.” “Fight racism.” Every day since the killing protests have taken place in cities all across the United States and the world demonstrating against police brutality and racism (here is a collection of images from Saturday June 6th, 2020) Murals painted around the world, including the one above on the so-called “International Wall” on Divis Street (here is a Guardian gallery of George Floyd murals which describes the incomplete Belfast mural in rapturous terms).
As the in-progress shots show (below), Chauvin was originally painted with sunglasses on his head but these have been replaced by a MAGA cap. Two members of the Ku Klux Klan appear in the top right. Three officers with shaved heads and Minneapolis PD (“City of lakes”) badges are shown on the left in the poses of the three monkeys Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru who hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
The title of today’s post is derived from a line in Seán O’Casey’s The Story Of Thomas Ashe (1917, under the name “Seán Ó Cathasaigh”; also later published as The Sacrifice Of Thomas Ashe): “You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea; you cannot put an idea up against a barrack-square wall and riddle it with bullets; you cannot confine it in the strongest prison cell that your slaves could ever build.” Sometimes erroneously attributed to Bobby Sands, as in this 1981 mural.
Still in the window of Harland House (Templemore Avenue, east Belfast) two years after the World Cup, Union Flag and IFA bunting and a ‘Deutschland’ scarf. NI did not qualify, Germany did not make it to the knock-out stage, and England lost to Croatia in the semis.
It’s not known what the connection to Edward Harland (of Harland & Wolff) is – please get in touch.
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 