“Victory to the workers. Victory to the NHS.” Republican graffiti from Lasaır Dhearg (tw) on the wall of the RVH, across the street from the NHS Blue post box. (And, in a different colour, “CIRA thanks NHS.”)
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Copyright © 2020 Sabine Troendle (web | Fb)
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As he begins his trek around Ireland to vanquish the forces of James II, King William III wears a mask to protect himself from the novel coronavirus.
The title of this entry is based on the old Bobby Jackson mural The Landing Of William III At Carrickfergus June 1690, itself based on a popular postcard.
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Copyright © 2020 Sabine Troendle
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“Wash your hands – we’re in this together”. Coronavirus-related graffiti on the Newtownards Road next to the construction-site hoardings at Templemore Avenue, which have been in place for over a decade since Edenoak collapsed.
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Copyright © 2020 Sabine Troendle
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“No surrender to Covid-19”. Two banners from Donegall Road in support of “our brave NHS”: above, the 1st South Belfast Linfield Supporters Club (Fb) and below, the Rangers Supporters Club in Barrington Gardens (Barrington Street).
For the Covenant and Somme boards, see Out Of The Rubble.
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Copyright © 2020 Sabine Troendle
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Here are selection of pandemic-related images, many expressing support for the NHS, from Belfast, that were not the subject of individual posts. The first and last of these are from CNR west Belfast (“God bless our NHS” is outside St Paul’s in Cavendish St and the tarp below Charlie Hughes is from the RNU) while the hand-made sheet is in PUL west Belfast (Denmark St) – an indication of the cross-community support for health-care and other “key” workers. The graffiti (“Coronavirus kings”) is on the Dublin Road.
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“There’s always hope, there’s always help” for mental health issues, from organisations such as Lighthouse, Lifeline, the Simon Community, Childline, the Samaritans, PIPS. Two other unusual things about the mural: it invites passers-by not only to sign the mural (like the latest version of Build Homes Now to its left) but to “write a message of hope” (as occurs on the so-called “peace” line in Cupar Way); and it explicitly says that “this space is kindly on loan from the Workers Party” (replacing the long-standing ‘Bring Down The Walls’ mural).
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Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Say no to death dealers”. Saoradh sticker on Divis Street, west Belfast, against drug dealers.
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Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Unionist trespassers will be prosecuted by the laws of QUB.” There are more Catholics at Northern Irish universities than Protestants. The main factors seem to be the roughly 60-40 split in the number of 17 and 18 year-olds and the fact that 34% of Protestants going from secondary school to university migrate to Britain, while only 23% of Catholics do so. The DUP said that the main reason for the latter (migration) is that the universities need to do more to attract Protestants instead of being “a home to republicanism”, a characterization the universities reject (2009 BelTel | 2011 BBC | 2016 News Letter).
The resentment persists to the present day, as can been seen from the graffiti written on the panels of the Wall On Wall installation (see Wall On Wall | Confrontier | The Green Line) on the Cupar Way “peace” line, in which the dividing lines around the world are labelled with the universities on one side and the “unionist kids”, “Protestant working class” (for whom migration is less of an option, perhaps), “token Prod”, and “Protestant manual labourers”, on the other. Deirdre Robb of Belfast Exposed expressed disappointment at the graffiti (Irish News).
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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Harland & Wolff shipyard workers occupied the premises for nine weeks this (2019) summer in response to news that a sale by owners Dolphin Drilling was falling through. The unions called for the yard to re-nationalised, as it was from 1970 to 1989 before being sold into private hands (BBC). The UK government declined to intervene. Ultimately, the yard was sold for 6 million pounds to InfraStrata, an energy company based in London. The deal included continued employment for the remaining 79 employees (BBC). The poster above is in the window of McDowell’s chemists on the Newtownards Road.
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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 