V For Victory

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August 15th, 1945, saw the end of the second World War in the Pacific theatre, effectively ending the war as a whole. The 75th anniversary of the event was celebrated on the Shankill by and Up! Culture + Arts. Belfast Councillor (and 2020 High Sheriff) Nicola Verner has video (tw) of the tarp on the float that paraded along the Shankill on the day itself. With sponsorship from the Executive and the Greater Shankill Partnership (tw).

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Bonies

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Photographer Mariusz Smiejek (web | ig) was born in Poland in 1978 but moved to Northern Ireland in 2011, which is when he started taking pictures of bonfires – in areas such as Highfield, the Village, and the Shankill – and the people around them. The full gallery for his ‘Bonies’ project is available on his web site.

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It’s OK To Talk

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October 10th is WHO World Mental Health Day. To mark the occasion and respond to the continued high rates of suicide in west Belfast (Assembly Research), emic (web | ig) and local youth painted an “OK” gesture on the side of the Alternatives (web) offices in Agnes Street, which also includes the numbers for Lifeline and Samaritans. In-progress images of the mural being painted by can be seen at AlternativesRJ. In the US, the “OK” hand gesture has recently become associated with the ‘white power’ movement (WP).

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Time For Unity

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Brexit chaos has done much to provoke thoughts of the breakup of the UK in both Scotland and Northern Ireland (e.g. Slugger). Sliabh Dubh was last week calling for “unity”, the first step towards which would be a “border poll” both north and south. The UK government, however, has not spelled out the conditions under which a poll might take place (the GFA says only ‘when the motion seems likely to pass’) (The Detail), and Taoiseach Michael Martin said recently that a border poll was not on the agenda for the current five-year parliamentary term (Irish Central).

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The Holy Family

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Christmas greetings from Holy Family Parish, in four languages: “Happy Christmas” in English, “Nollaig Shona” in Irish, “Wesołych Świąt” in Polish, and “ക്രിസ്മസ് ആശംസകൾ”/”krismas āśansakaḷ” in Malayalam. Many nurses working in Ireland come from Kerala (Irish Times). The hoarding is next to Brothers Asian take-away on the Antrim Road at – “A bite of Asia”.

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Home Is Where The Hurt Is

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Domestic abuse reports to PSNI in the second quarter of 2020 increased 4% to 8,302 (BelTel). Women’s Aid NI (web | tw) provides refuge and support to victims of domestic violence. The stencil by Laura Nelson & Leo Boyd from VaultNI is on Carrick Hill. The title of today’s post comes from Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Mason (tw).

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Stranger Kings

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Members of Foreign Assassins and TDS (The Death Squad, in homage to the old NY crew) collaborated on a series of panels along the Connswater greenway inspired by the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, which in turn was inspired by Stephen King novels (including Needful Things) and 1980s fantasy and sci-fi movies (WP).

For in-progress shots, see Montana Cans.

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