City/Town

You Cannot Kill Ideas

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A week before he was assassinated and his government overthrown, Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara asserted: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” Sankara gained power of Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) in a 1983 coup and launched an ambitious programme of literacy, feminism, public health, and agricultural self-sufficiency, in addition to launching a drive against corruption and of nationalizing natural resources. He attempted this all without the assistance of foreign aid or the IMF or World Bank. However, he wielded power outside the jurisdiction of the courts and controlled the press. He and twelve colleagues were killed in October 1987.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02695 Korda Fitzpatrick’s Che Guevara, Kernoff’s James Connolly, hammer sickle communism socialism

In The Meanwhile Community Garden

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The Connswater community garden is called “In The Meanwhile” (one of four in east Belfast operated by Groundwork NI to make use of empty ground in the ‘meanwhile’). A field-mouse(?) and a robin share the hedgerow peaceably in the mural that serves as a backdrop. The work is by Friz. The garden has its own Facebook page. For some background see this Irish News article.

Previously: Ed Hicks’s California Dreamin’

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X02791 X02795 connswater st

WIII

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2015-07-22 CosgraveHeightsBilly+

This fine example of King William III at the Battle of the Boyne completes the Tiger’s Bay trio of murals from the past two days (see You Will Become A Great Nation, Even Many Nations & North Of Ireland Armies). Shots of the three together and of the general scene are included below.

For the UDA mural previously in this location, see M04396.

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X02688 X02691 X02690 rem 1690 king billy william of orange bible

North Of Ireland Armies

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2015-07-22 CosgraveHeightsWWI+

Like the array of flags, the adjacent mural of army badges around a burial scene from the first world war features some lesser-seen items. On the left, alongside the Royal Irish Rifles (top left) and the (modern-day) Royal Irish Regiment (at the time of WWI the harp was plain and there was no garland), we see the emblem of the North Irish Horse, a cavalry unit in the Territorial Army. On the right, the emblem of the Royal Irish Rangers (which was folded into the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992) is joined by the star of the Irish Guards (above) and the emblem of the Ulster Special Constabulary or B-Specials (below). Only the Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Guards remain as regiments of the British Army; “The Horse” now forms squadrons of other units. Of the six, four served in WWI; the B-Specials were formed in 1920 and the Rangers in 1968.

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X02692 quis separabit lest we forget

Like Leaves

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2015-07-22 DeanClarke+

Treebeard the Ent (from Lord Of The Rings) watches over the young people of north Belfast’s Tigers Bay. Dean Clarke, age 16, hanged himself on November 4th, 2007, after a week in hospital recovering from an overdose of ketamine (which he believed to be Valium). The Dean Clarke Foundation (Fb) was founded by his mother Alison in order to provide activities and outings for young people. (BBC-NI | Tele) The foundation is also involved in the Tigers Bay community garden (see Work Ethic).

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X02693 titanic centre hedgehog flowers stone wall

You Will Become A Great Nation, Even Many Nations

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2015-07-22 CosgraveHeightsFlags+

Genesis 35:11 reads (NIV) “And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.” The flags of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England are joined in the mural above by those of Australia and (a simplified version of) the Falkland Islands (on the left) and New Zealand and Canada (on the right). The flag flying in the centre is the Royal Standard, flown on the building or vehicle where the monarch – currently EIIR, Elizabeth II Regina, Queen Elizabeth the second – is.

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None Shall Separate Us

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“None shall separate us from those we have loved and lost. Quis separabit. Honour – loyalty – liberty – sacrifice.” A standing stone has been added to the UDA memorial garden in Cosgrave Heights, next to the plaque to the “Scottish Brigade North Ayrshire roll of honour” that was added (circa 2012) to the pair to the North Belfast Brigade that were present in 2008 (see M04397).

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Consolidate The Peace

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2015-07-22 LPAHarveyCourt+

As talks were held at Stormont throughout 1997, (leading to the Good Friday (or: Belfast) Agreement in April 1998) paramilitaries on both sides in the conflict began pressing their case for concessions, including the release of political prisoners. The image above is of a 1997 UDA mural that is still in decent condition in loyalist east Belfast: Consolidate The Peace – Release East Belfast’s Loyalist Prisoners. It shows a Long Kesh tower and barbed wire with red hands breaking the chains between handcuffs. For a similar image (which was painted out this week) in nearby Lord Street, see All Gave Some.

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X02694 we forget them not LPA harvey court

Never At Peace

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03612 2016-07-07 Ireland Unfree+

Contemporary Republican stencil containing a trio of classic slogans: Patrick Pearse’s famous closing words at the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa (which was re-enacted this August on its centenary) — “Ireland unfree shall never be at peace”; “PSNI-RUC not welcome”; and – of the greatest vintage – “Tıocfaıdh ár lá. IRA”. Meenan Square, Derry.

02804 2015-08-23 IrelandUnfreeDerry+

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X03612 X02804 our day will come

Garden Of Eatin’

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2015-07-02 GardenOfEatin+

Badger, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, and owl – along with various butterflies and birds – all inhabit the new community garden at Conduit Street in Donegall Pass. (It’s not all make-believe; the bird box on the tree in the middle is in fact real!) The mural above is the work of Nozzle & Brush.

Click here for work-in-progress shots. And for images of the launch (on April 22, 2015) see the Fb page of the Donegall Pass Community Forum.

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