Union Flag

Our Flag Was Still There

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2013-02-05 HightownRdFlag+

A tattered Union Flag on the Hightown Road/Bóthar Bhaile na hAirde in Glengormley/Gleann Gormliath (just north of Belfast). The title comes from the U.S. anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”: “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” (WP).

Previously on Extramural Activity: Shankill Rd flag and barbed wire.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Semiotics

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2013-01-30 MariesWide+

They say (some) shows on TV these days are good for you, because they are so complex in structure and signification. The citizens of Belfast are well up to the task, one suspects, as they get plenty of practice just walking down the street (in this case, the Newtownards Road): the Union flag is the most familiar signifier of the group, the fake storefronts (more) might take a moment to process (and make life difficult for bloggers differentiating between murals and street scenes), and one can then attempt to unscramble the meaning of adipose tissue (a.k.a. fat) of a bare-chested man spreading over his “cancer”-banded underwear. The store to the right of (the fake) Marie’s is coincidentally called “Body Language”! See image below ….

2013-01-30 MariesStraight+

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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McCurrie & Neill

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2013-01-13 McCurrieNeill+

A banner and board reminding people of the deaths of Jimmy McCurrie and Bobby Neill, next to their memorial garden (in the right of the shot) on the Newtownards Road, with the cranes Samson and Goliath in the background. The two civilians died in the course of rioting and a gun battle around St. Matthew’s that was “the first major confrontation to occur in east Belfast during the troubles” (McKittrick et al., p. 50). It is not clear at what time each died. McKittrick (Lost Lives, ISBN 978-1840185041, amazon.co.uk, .com) gives the death of both as the 27th, and puts Neill’s death at 2 a.m. (and so strictly on the 28th??). Matt Baggott is the current Northern Ireland chief of police.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00900 Investigate these murders. Where is their justice? murdered 27/28th june 1970; still no truth, still no justice