Above is Friz’s 2012 B-movie mash-up on the side of Ryan’s Bar on the Lisburn Road: A fire-breathing Godzilla, a masked wrestler (from “Lucha Libre” – Mexican “free[style] wrestling”) about to hurl down an electrical cloud, an octopedal brain with bow-tie, a giant robot smashing buildings, the mad scientist and the damsel in distress. Close-ups of the robot and Godzilla’s fire, below.
U.S. civil rights protester John Lewis (WP) – leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and co-organizer of the march on Washington in August, 1963 – made a visit to Dublin, Derry, and Belfast at the end of April (Newsletter | DerryCity.gov.uk). In honour of his visit, the ‘We Can Do It!” (a.k.a. “Rosie The Riveter”) figure at the left edge of the Douglass mural (under Barack Obama) on Northumberland Street was painted over and Lewis’s image – wearing the Presidential Medal Of Freedom – put in its place. For a wide-shot of the mural pre-Lewis, see Liberating Minds, which gives all of the quotes in the mural, including the quote from Abraham Lincoln that provides the title of this entry.
UVF/YCV mural in Ballyclare celebrating and commemorating soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI and in particular at the Somme. The central panel, shown above, shows soldiers bearing the Division’s standard (painted in colour in an otherwise black-and-white mural and in the style of the (US) Marines ‘Iwo Jima’ Memorial (WP)) which comprises the Union flag, harp insignia of the Royal Irish Rifles, and the red hand of Ulster on a field of shamrocks.
The other panels, shown in the full shot, below, show (clockwise from top left) uniforms of the Ulster Volunteers, a Protestant woman defending the fields (see Deserted! Well, I Can Stand Alone), soldiers going over the top, and soldiers bowed at a UVF memorial.
The close-up above is from the ‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ mural at the top of Grange Drive, Ballyclare, showing King Billy crossing the Boyne. (full mural below)
‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ is a flute band from Carluke, Scotland. According to the band’s Fb page, the band was formed in 1988 and named after a member of the Carluke Orange Lodge (LOL 190). Here is video of the band parading in Belfast, at the UVF centenary celebrations last year (2013).
More graffiti relating to the Gerry Adams arrest last week, this time on Divis Street: “In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts”. The graffiti refers to a collection of interviews made by former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides), some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Adams’s interrogation. More background from the BBC.
This is the ‘yesteryear’ portion of the hoarding around waste ground on The Square, encouraging people to “Shop, live, enjoy – Ballyclare”. There are photographs of ‘McIlroy’s shop 1867’, ‘Main Street 1907’, and ‘Square in the 50’s’.
Before the Gerry Adams arrest dominated the headlines (Get The Real Story), the major issue of last week was the announcement by NI Secretary Theresa Villiers (BBC-NI) that there would be no further investigation of the La Mon Restaurant bombing – in which 12 people died (WP) – or the Ballymurphy Massacre – in which 11 died (WP). Relatives of both sets of deceased were disappointed by the announcement, and on the republican side, Gael Force Art in conjunction with Relatives For Justice took to Slıabh Dubh to promote the latter’s #Time4Truth campaign. Below is an already-existing board on the lower side of Springfield Road, painted by Rısteard Ó Murchú, making the same demand.
“Peacemaker, leader, visionary”. A new mural of Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams was officially unveiled yesterday (Saturday, May 3rd, 2014), taking its place on the International Wall between the Local Volunteers mural and the current WBTA mural (and replacing the Falls Curfew mural).
The second image, below, is of the Adams piece alone. The mural was quickly painted after Adams’s arrest on Wednesday evening (April 30th) after he went for questioning about the Jean McConville case (see also: Headstone); he was released today without charge. An earlier version of the mural (completed May 2) had the word “tout” spray-painted on it on the night of May 2nd-3rd, in the location where “ar aghaıdh lınn” now appears.
A sizeable crowd turned out, as the launch served as a rally in support of Adams, featuring a statement by Martin McGuinness. As can be seen in the third image, below, of McGuinness and Martina Anderson, protesters at the unveiling/rally carried posters showing a picture of Adams with Nelson Mandela, between the words “Defend the peace process – Release Gerry Adams TD”. Video of the launch/rally from the BBC | images from the BelTel.
Poster from the junction of Whiterock and Springfield Roads: “It’s not joyriding, it’s murder. Debbie McComb Aged 15 Killed by car thieves, March 1, 2002.” McComb died of her injuries after being hit by Henry Marley, who was driving a stolen car and drove through a red light. Her death and other deaths led to a substantial campaign against “death drivers” in 2002 (see, for example, An Phoblacht | The (Sunday) People). Marley was sentenced in April of this year for colliding into two other cars (Newsletter).
