This space on Ardoyne Avenue was used for “cultural” murals from 1997 to 2015, when Staır Na Gaeılge was replaced by Resistance. In its latest incarnation, Saoradh (web – the organisation’s Facebook page is currently blocked) have made a small addition to the side-wall in the centre of the image above.
For the larger pieces, see Homes!!! and Lidl On Equality.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Cherish ALL of the children of the nation equally/Chomhchúram [sic] a dhéanamh do chlann UILE an náısıúın.” Pro-life tarp at the entrance to the library on Main Street, Dungiven, perhaps in reference to the 2018 referendum on abortion in the Republic (see Yes And No | Repeal Head).
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Hillview is the – currently vacant – 11-acre area on the Crumlin Road between Woodvale and Ardoyne, formerly the site of a Dunnes store. In August of 2017 the City Council voted to allow the site to be redeveloped as a shopping centre (Belfast Live | BelTel). The possibility of using the site for housing has been pressed by PPR (see Lidl On Equality and various Build Homes Now posts); the tarp shown above is sponsored by Saoradh, who took up the cause in September.
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The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was reformed in 2001 as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), as recommended by the Patten Commission. This Saoradh (web | Fb) tarp in Hugo Street questions the extent to which the force has changed. The traditional RUC officer in bullet-proof vest is on the left; the modern officer on the right is more heavily protected. In the centre, the PSNI emblem overlays the old RUC one, with Stormont in the background.
For the board celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, see versions in Andersonstown | Ardoyne | St James’s.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Republican political party Saoradh (web) are organising a ‘National Republican Easter Commemoration’ on the Saturday before Easter Sunday (which is April 1st, this year). The parade is expected to be led by a colour party and marchers in combat gear (Irish News | BelTel).
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The Thames Street wall of Salvezza’s pizzeria doesn’t allow for full murals because of a giant flue, but Saoradh (web | Fb) are making the most of the space with long vertical tarps. The quote on the tarp above (new for 2018) is from James Connolly, from his foreword to Labour In Irish History: “Only the Irish working class remains as the incorruptible inheritors of the fight for freedom in Ireland.”
The tarp that hung for most of 2017 is included below.
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The Whiterock Flute Band was founded in 1962 by the the local Temperance Lodge and drew on areas near the now nationalist areas of New Barnsley, Moyard, Whiterock, and the upper Springfield for its membership. Over the years has seen the route of its annual parade changed “by the authorities or at the whim of nationalists” (band history pages one | two | three).
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The PPR (Participation & The Practice Of Rights) project has called for homes to be built at the Crumlin Road “Hillview” site but the council’s planning council approved a retail park (Belfast Live) by a vote of 7 to 6 (BelTel). The connection to supermarket chain Lidl is unclear, as there is no mention of a supermarket in the plans for the retail park. If you can shed any light, please leave a comment. Their slogan “Lidl: Big on quality, Lidl on price” has been rephrased as “Lidl: Big on quality, Lidl on equality”.
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This is a tarp from republican party Saoradh (“liberation” web | Fb), alleging that the “supposed police service in the north of Ireland” is engaged in “the brutal militarised suppression of a civilian population”. “The uniform may be different but the brutal tactics are the same.” “End human rights abuses in Ireland now”. Replaces the Resistance tarp (previously seen in Ardoyne).
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Mervyn and Rosaleen McDonald were Catholics living in the mixed Longlands area of Newtownabbey when they were visited by “UFF loyalist assassins” and shot dead in front of their two young children. The killings are described in most detail in Jack Holland’s Too Long A Sacrifice, which contains an interview with the gunman and the claim that the unit had access to RUC files (p. 94). They are buried in Milltown Cemetery (see final image).
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X04628 X04629 Seamus Costello | Pat Finucane 25 | Askatasuna
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 