Step Back In Time

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The old Ballymacarrett station was the last stop before Belfast when travelling from points east such as Holywood and Bangor. On the morning of January 10th, 1945, a faulty signal caused the 7:10 from Bangor to be halted at Ballymacarrett, only for it to be hit from behind by the oncoming 7:40 from Holywood. The steel lead-car of the Holywood train ploughed through the whole of the last carriage’s wooden coachwork and on into the penultimate carriage, causing the death of 22 people and injury to another 27 (WP).

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Road Sign

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Speed limits in Northern Ireland are set by the Department Of Infrastructure/An Roinn Bonneagair after consideration of all relevant factors. The residents of Tern Street, Belfast, have instead used a decades-old mode of public communication – wall painting – to ask motorists to slow down around the sharp turn just off Dee Street.

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Sick Of Covid

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A six-week lockdown beginning on December 26th was approved last night by the executive, which said the current situation required an “urgent intervention” (BBC). The lockdowns are difficult for everyone, not just financially but psychologically. (See previously: Home Is Where The Hurt Is.) This Broadway graffiti suggests that the lockdowns are promoting suicides, though there do not appear to be data yet suggesting an increase in suicide during the pandemic. ‘Action 61’ appears to be a fringe protest group.

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Pakis & Taigs

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North Belfast is experiencing a housing shortage (Build Homes Now) which means people are willing to go the extra mile for homes, which doesn’t always go down well with the locals. The graffiti shown in today’s post appeared in mid November in the majority-PUL area of Skegoneill, near the junction with Glandore Avenue and (CNR) Ashfield. Police called the graffiti a “hate incident” (QRadio).

See The Earl’s Thorn Bush.

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Pay Now

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Gratitude for NHS and other front line staff has been in no short supply throughout the pandemic but the cost of the pandemic last month led UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to moot a pay freeze for public sector workers (BBC). After widespread outcry, including the People Before Profit (web | tw) campaign shown here, he two weeks ago declared that salaries of a million nurses and frontline staff would not be frozen but declined to specify an increase (Nursing Times | iNews).

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Plum Position

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The Cupar Way “peace” line, home to graffiti-art/wild-style writing and patronising slogans from around the world, is also home to a single Troubles-related memorial plaque, to Plum Smith (one | two) of the UVF/RHC and subsequently the PUP, which thus far has resisted the artists’ can and the tourists’ Sharpie. It is not known whether the “Plum” graffiti (and previously “RIP Plum Smith”) is by locals or by a visiting writer.

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Old Firm

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Glasgow Celtic stickers on Divis Street, Glasgow Rangers sticker on the Shankill. We can’t really improve upon the WP entry‘s introduction: “the rivalry between [the two teams] has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected, and contributed to, political, social, and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland. As a result, the fixture has had an enduring appeal around the world.” – including Northern Ireland.

See previously: Ultras Celtic | Balance Enquiry
A Matter Of Life And Death | Follow, Follow | The Boys In Blue | We Are The People
Also Gegen Rechts

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Bang Up To Date

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The previous UVF mural in Carrington Street (Volunteering | On Your Side) was paint-bombed in October (Keep It Local) but has been quickly replaced by this computer-generated board showing the Harland & Wolff cranes, a Long Kesh watch-tower, and a hooded gunman from the UVF’s East Belfast Battalion.

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