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Lighting A Fire On The Antrim Road

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St Patrick’s College – popularly known as Bearnageeha – is another school (in addition to Coláıste Feırste) with a mural. In fact, this mural went up before the Titanic and Olympians murals in Beechmount Park. This image of the W. B. Yeats mural has been photoshopped extensively in order to remove several alarms and notices and a light socket, which took away from the mural greatly. The background colour has also been lightened. (Alternative title for this post: mind the gap!)

X05261 2012 Yeats Education+

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00664 X05261 education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire

End Sectarianism

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“End sectarianism – it hasn’t gone away. Bring down the walls.” Workers Party (web) stencil on Northumberland Street, Belfast. “It hasn’t gone away” echoes Gerry Adams’s remark (Sunday 13 August, 1995) that the IRA “haven’t gone away”.

Below, a Workers Party banner rests against a wall in Custom House Square prior to the march Up The Shankill And Down The Falls on Saturday (October 6th, 2012), the day before the mural was photographed.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00836 X00673 X00670

Tea Party, Belfast Style

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Here’s a flyer from the summer inviting folks to a quite different (that is, left wing, rather than right) tea party than you might find in the States these days.

(See also: posters for the Jobs For Youth march.)

On the Falls Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00658 workers tea party, against monarchy for democracy and socialism an evening of fun, devoted to freedom come one come all bring your own song poem quotation speech and saying king street belfast tuesday 26th june caife na croisbhealai

Banquet

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Here is a close-up of the first three panels (out of 7.5) of Rita Duffy’s Banquet. It was originally produced for International Women’s Day 2011 and was launched on March 11th (Greater Shankill Partnership | Newsletter) on the Shankill, before being replaced by a Covenant board. There’s an excellent set of pictures, taken by the Shankill Women’s Center, of the boards being erected over a 2002 mural celebrating the Queen’s 50th anniversary, and a video by NVTv.

A wide shot and a close-up of the info board are below … This is a difficult piece to photograph in its new location (Cupar Way): it is long and there’s a tree on the pavement; it is also highly reflective. Unlike other pieces on Cupar Way, it has (so far) largely escaped the plague of locusts that is the signatures of tourists.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00646 X00644 X00642 Banquet by rita duffy, this mural is presented by the shankill women’s centre to celebrate the centenary of international women’s day 2011. it was funded by the arts council of northern ireland. the picture is the artist’s response to research carried out by local women into the women’s suffrage movement in belfast. the campaign to get the vote precipitated a change in the lives of women living in the shankill throughout the 20th century and beyond. banquet celebrates the ongoing process of that change. 1911 international women day 2011, swc, mary-ann mccraken helen crickard caroline mccorin linda walker

Up The Shankill And Down The Falls

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This poster is widespread throughout working class Belfast at present. This one is from the Ballysillan Road (though the electrical box has been tagged by someone from the Westland). The posters started going up previous to the announcement of 760 (Guardian) or 920 (BBC) job losses at FG Wilson’s this week. The route involves both loyalist and nationalist areas and the poster refers to the Outdoor Relief Strike (account from nationalist source | brief loyalist account) of 1932. The poster has phone, e-mail, QR, Facebook and Twitter links. The marcher carries … a Blackberry.

Update: Here’s a link for Charlie Cairns’ comment about the threat of prosecution against the posters.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00632 march for a future! emergency action to create jobs, free access to education, no cuts to ema and benefits, 1:30 saturday 6th october @ custom house square, belfast, 80 years after the outdoor relief strike when protestant and catholic workers stood together march up the shankill and down the falls, youth fight for jobs, sponsored by the trade unions unite cwu fbu pcs rmt ucu tssa bectu, all youth community and trade union branches welcome, youth fight for jobs ni

Never Actually Existed

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The new WARN (West Against Racism Network) mural on International Wall.

On the left, an Irish family in front of a window reading “No Irish need apply” is stereotyped as jagged-toothed, shillelagh-wielding hunch-backs in the style of Punch and other magazines’ portrayal of the Irish. The Punch portrayal is described, and Punch named explicitly, in the song ‘Do Me Justice’ a.k.a. ‘Here I Am From Donegal’. (Lyrics | audio: Frank Harte (full song) | Len Graham (clip).) They also carry a copy of “The Big Begorra” – a play on The Big Issue, a newspaper published on behalf of, and sold by, homeless people. “We’re projections of 19th century anti-Irish prejudice—we’ve never actually existed.”

The treatment of the Irish is used as an analogy for the the Roma (WP): “Whereas I, ethnoid steriotypus their creator, have existed since time immemorial. My latest target—the Roma! I hope you’ll swallow all the lies I concoct.”

“Hey—what was the outcome of the harassment of the Roma newspaper sellers?” “The evening edition collapsed!” – this is a reference to the Belfast Telegraph‘s decision to cease printing an evening edition.

This mural does NOT contain a reference to the ‘Free Marian Price’ (WP | FB) campaign, which all of the other murals on the international wall currently (summer 2012) do. In the lower right is the signature of political cartoonist Ian Knox, a.k.a. Blotski (WP) – Marty Lyons and a Short Strand artist were also involved – and date (9 August, 2012 – for Féile 2012 (pictures of the launch).

(Replaces a black-and-red ‘Oppose Racism‘ mural, which replaced the Liam MacCarthy Cup mural.)

International Wall, Divis Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00581 No Irish need apply; we’re projections of 19th century anti-Irish prejudice—we’ve never actually existed;west against racism network’ big begorra issue; whereas I ethnoid steriotypus their creator, have existed since time immemorial; my latest target—the Roma!; I hope you’ll swallow all the lies I concoct; Hey—what was the outcome of the harassment of the Roma newspaper sellers?’ the evening edition collapsed!