This graffiti in the city centre in one go describes both the state of things and the alleged culprits.
See also Lost Duppy from 2016. And Don’t Be DUPed from 2014 in the Peter Moloney Collection.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Two in Exchange Place in Belfast city centre: the bird is in the rib cage, the heart is in the bird cage. Artist unknown – please comment/get in touch if you know it!
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Here’s a recent paste-up from print-maker Leo Boyd (web) combining two of his typical themes: retro pulp magazines and what he calls “tech heads” and “tele heads”. For more schlock-horror, see When Urban Love Goes Wrong. For some tele heads, see Are You A Robot? | She Is My Spy. His latest project is Welcome To The Simulation (tumblr).
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In case you feel bad about indulging yourself at Curated Kitchen (web), head across the street to St Anne’s cathedral in Donegall Street in downtown Belfast.
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“In loving memory of Taughmonagh residents Brian McMillan, Alan ‘Rocky’ Meehan, Dennis Berrty (Sgt UDA), Thomas Vance (2 Para), Thomas Douglas. Murdered by cowards during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us every day.”
McMillan and Meehan were civilians shot along with TA staff sergeant (and English Catholic) Joseph Flemming on July 9th, 1972.
Dennis Berry was shot by the UVF after leaving the UDA social club in Taughmonagh. According to Lost lives, “Reliable loyalist sources said the shooting was the result of a personal row rather than having any political or organisational basis.” (p. 441)
Thomas Vance died in the IRA’s 1979 ambush of the British Army at Narrow Water Castle, near Warrenpoint (WP), on the same day that Louis Mounbatten was killed. (Republican mural in the Peter Moloney Collection.)
Thomas Douglas was shot while walking along the street. His family denied he was a leading loyalist and simply a member of the Orange Order (CAIN | Fb).
This plaque has been added to the UDA memorial garden in Taughmonagh (at the corner of Finbank Gardens & Malfin Drive).
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The International Wall on Divis Street draws coach-loads of tourists every day (“tens of thousands” according to Sinn Féin’s Fra McCann). A new IRSP board affixed to the top of the ‘magic lantern’ mural (see Spreading The Word) warns visitors to take precautions. “Community notice: thieves are operating in this area. Please make sure your valuables are secure and out of sight. Respect our community and visitors. Cease this activity!” Here are articles about the Divis Hoods Liberation Army (DHLA) from 2017 and 2016.
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CR gas, along with CS, VX and other chemical agents, was developed at the MoD lab in Porton Down, and authorised and available for use from 1973 onwards against prisoners in Long Kesh (Guardian). Jim McCann was in Long Kesh during the ‘Battle Of Long Kesh’, when republican prisoners attempted to burn down the cages in which they were being kept in protest at conditions in the camp (An Phoblacht). His memoir, And The Gates Flew Open (An Ceathrú Póilí), continues the campaign by him and other prisoners to get the British to admit that the gas was used on inmates during the riot. The book was launched last month in the Cultúrlann.
In the lower left corner is a quoted telegram from Fr. Denis Faul, Fr. Raymond Murray: “To international Red Cross … Visited Long Kesh today with others … Request immediate investigation into use of CR gas … sub-human conditions … SOS … come immediately …” 20 Oct. 1974. These two wrote an 80-page report on the conditions at the camp following the event, entitled The Flames Of Long Kesh.
For more information, see the post on the similar 2014 mural that marked the 40th anniversary of the battle. In-progress shots are in a separate entry.
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The Great March Of Return was a six-week protest by Palestinians in Gaza. Most protestors at the border fence with Israel were non-violent but there are reports of some with rocks, burning tyres, Molotov cocktails on a kite, and an AK-47 (WP). It ended (officially – incidents have continued) on May 15th, Nakba Day, the “day of the catastrophe”, meaning the displacement of Palestinians in the 1948 war. The protest demanded that refugees be allowed to return home – there are 1.1 million living in Gaza. During the protest more than 100 Palestinians died, many by live fire by Israeli forces, and more than 13,000 were injured. According to the mural above, “It’s time the Irish Government show some humanity and act for the Palestinian people. 1. Officially recognise the state of Palestine. 2. Impose economic sanctions on Israel. 3. End all diplomatic ties with the apartheid state. Boycott Israel, an apartheid state.”
The wheelchair protester shown on the right is double amputee Saber Al-Ashkar. He has not, however, been reported dead, as the text below the image (and reports on Twitter and elsewhere) suggests: “They took his land, his legs, and finally his life.” The death might refer to another such protestor Fadi Abu Salah, who was killed in May (Alaraby) (or Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, who was shot in December 2017 – Independent obituary). The UN Commissioner for Human Rights called the killing “incomprehensible” (Guardian); an internal IDF investigation found that Abu Thuraya was not shot by Israeli snipers (Times Of Israel).
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Voters in the Republic go to the polls tomorrow (Friday May 25th) to vote on a referendum to replace Article 40.3.3 which guarantees the right to life of the unborn. If replaced, legislation allowing abortion up to 12 weeks would be introduced for debate. The two images today are from Earl Street and College Green in Dublin city centre. The case of Savita Halappanavar (used by the “yes” campaign in the image above) is described in Never Again.
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Here are two in-progress shots of a new mural depicting the Battle Of Long Kesh in 1974. Images of the completed mural, and background, are in a separate entry.
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 