UVF/RHC/YCV

At The Heart Of Bloomfield

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The hooded UDA gunmen stare down at you in the green in the middle of Bloomfield (Bangor) estate. The new printed board replaces the similar North Down battalion mural seen in Always Remembered. (The plaque to Andrew McIlvenny and Roy Officer has been moved to the right-hand side.) There are smaller UDA boards – one on top of some old “UVF” graffiti (third image) – and one RHC board on the other gables around the green; not included here is the somewhat odd history of Bloomfield that only shows images from the Shankill in Belfast – see A Journey Through Time And Space.

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The Pride Of Whitehill

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This UVF hooded gunman board (above the Pride Of Whitehill flute band (Fb) mural) was previously a memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division (see They Sleep Side-By-Side) but has now become part of the East Belfast battalion’s markings in Bangor (see Always A Little Further).

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On The Way To The Shops

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There are nine gable walls along Clanmorris Avenue, Whitehill (Bangor) which – more importantly – can be seen from the South Circular Road approaching the Bloomfield shopping centre. On many of these walls “UVF reserved” has now appeared, even on the one that recently acquired a UDA board (see third image, below). Above: a small “UVF pilgrims” board; bottom: “RIP GFA“; in between: “The media is the virus”.

Previously: Booked | Reserved | A Message From The Board

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Bowtown UVF

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The “east Belfast” board shown above is on the east side of Bowtown while the two pieces of fresh “north Down” graffiti are on the west side, perhaps indicating that the tension between the two UVF factions – persists. The east Belfast faction was suspected in the bus burning in response to the Protocol in 2021 (BBC | Tele).

See previously in various Newtownards estates: Always A Little Further (Whitehill) | East East Belfast (Westwinds & Bowtown) | EB UVF (Westwinds). For the UDA factions in the Glen estate, see Ulster Defence Unions.

The phrase on the board is also used in an east Belfast mural: “We seek nothing but the elementary right implanted in every man … the right, if you are attacked, to defend yourself …”

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Neighbourhood Watch

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A hooded UVF volunteer has been added to the shops at the bottom of the Glen estate in Newtownards (compare with 2018). It’s unclear (to us) who such a threatening image is directed at: the residents of the estate (in both a controlling and defending function), and/or the UDA at the top of the estate, and/or the East Belfast UVF, and/or outside observers.

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Be Prepared

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For this year’s Twelfth, the famous UVF “Prepared for peace, ready for war” mural that has stood over the entrance to Mount Vernon for twenty years was retouched. The most obvious change is in the apex, as a different UVF symbol – with flags – has been included, along with the words “3rd Battalion” which had been in the much earlier version of this mural on another wall.

The image above has been photoshopped to remove the lettering on the left.

For the previous version (and a link to the original wall), see Prepared For Peace, Ready For War.

Update 2024-12: The wall was damaged by Storm Darragh.

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Andrew Cairns

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Andrew Cairns of the UVF was chased and beaten by about a dozen people before being killed by a single shot to the head (BBC). The killing took place next to the burning Boyne Square bonfire and the memorial (shown below) is on the other side of the bonfire site. Sutton attributes the killing to the UDA (Sutton); the Sunday Mirror reported that the killer was rejected by the UDA and was a member of the LVF (Free Library); see also BelTel | Guardian. One of the accused (Irish Times) was later UDA South East Antrim chief (BelTel).

Cairns was included in an old UVF mural, also in Wellington Green.

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Still Ready & Willing

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The UVF 1st East Antrim Battalion is “Still ready & willing to defend the people of Ulster against all foes” including the British government that – even as Northern Ireland marks its centenary – has “deserted” it over the NI Protocol that involves checks on goods moving between Britain and Ireland (whether north or south) but no (new) checks on goods moving between north and south (gov.uk). The “still” goes all the way back to 1912, when the British government of the day proposed (for a third time) “Home Rule” for Ireland and the Ulster Volunteers were formed – though the original “deserted” postcard and previous murals show the date as 1914.

The PSNI board was seen previously: In The Pocket Of Sinn Féin.

Davys Street, Carrickfergus. For the same comparison in Belfast see, Deserted! Well, We Can Stand Alone, and in Moygashel, see Belfast Agreement, Null And Void.

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