This is the scene in Ardoyne Avenue, looking west towards Berwick Avenue and Divis mountain. In the middle ground, Sınn Féın urge people to get on the electoral rolls: “British government guilty of electoral fraud. 211,000 denied their vote [see also in Linden St]. Are you one of them? An bhfuıl tusa ına measc? Register now. Cláraıgh anoıs. Sınn Féın.”
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Faugh-a-ballagh” (from the Irish “Fág an bhealach”, “clear the way”) is the regimental motto of the Royal Irish Regiment. It is said to date back to 1811, when it was used by ensign Edward Keogh of the 87th Prince Of Wales’s Irish regiment. See also: Colonel Tim Collins, commander of the first battalion, who made a famous speech on the eve of the Iraq invasion | Talavera 1809.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Who burnt us out? People before profit.” “Fat cats get fatter – puts the kittens out in the cold.” “They burnt us out – don’t let them get away with it.”
On April 17th, 2004, incendiary devices went off at multiple points inside the 1936 Art Deco-style North Street Arcade (BelTel) and more than 20 businesses, including Good Vibrations record store, were burnt out. Suspects were interviewed (Guardian) but no charges were ever brought.
The third image is from October: new shutters have been graffitied with “New shutters wont hide the fact that you burnt out twenty businesses – shame on you.” Google Street View from 2008 shows graffiti reading, “Make my Christmas – jail the arsonists. Shame on you” with an anarchist symbol. In 2010, KVLR, DOC, and Filth sprayed the shutters (web). In 2012, ARNZ (of TMN) wrote on the shutters (Street View).
On the shutters blocking the arcade itself, KVLR and Friz (of SPOOM) jointly painted a piece for the 2011 Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and repainted it in 2012, again for the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. (See Visual History 11.)
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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In 2004 neither the first nor the last spots on the International Wall had been formally painted. The last spot, shown here, contained a variety of pieces (which can be seen in close-up at Peter Moloney’s site): a Fıanna Éıreann recruitment board (with internet address!); an IRPWA board calling for political status; “Support the prisoner”, formerly “Support the prisoner candidate” Tommy Crossan; an ETA mural; a mural in support of the Turkish hunger strikers.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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These two murals on the International Wall, Divis Street, urge freedom for Castile and Catalonia (and Ireland).
On the left, “Fuera fascistas de Castilla” (Out, fascists of Castile!) The protester on the right is waving the flag of the Castilian Left, a political party working for recognition of the Castle region of Spain, roughly the north-central portion of the country, including Madrid (WP).
On the right are the flags of Catalonia and Ireland. The ‘Catalan Countries’ include (in Spain) Catalonia, parts of Valencia, and the Balearic islands, Andorra, and (in France) the Roussillon region.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This two-panel mural on the International Wall on Divis Street protests the US occupation of Iraq.
On the left, George W. Bush sucks down Iraqi oil (and black bubbles with dollar-signs come out of his ears). On the right, Iraq lies in rubble and bones, conquered by a tattered US flag. (According to the artists – see final image – the frame on the right reproduces/is based on a magazine cover during the Viet Nam war.) The “British Support Hook” is has been added in the strip in the middle between the main panels.
Originally, the given reason for “Operation Iraqi Freedom” (not “liberation” as that would have yielded “OIL”) was the hunt for “weapons of mass destruction” but that search was suspended in January.
The mural to the left is Cherish The Children; to the right is Castilla Nacion.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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george w bush rockets red glare gave proof through the air that our flag was still there basra Bhaghdad Baghdad
Boards for West Belfast Taxi Tours and a project by the “Teens for justice Summer School 2004“. The paint pots are for the Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) mural being painted to the right.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Three on the International Wall, Divis Street: Turkish hunger striker Zehra Kulaksiz, Native American prisoner Leonard Peltier, and “spot the difference” between the RUC and the PSNI: Patten Still Not Implemented.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Maghaberry POWs – not forgotten. Segregation for Irish POWs”. With RSF’s “Our actions are political not criminal” still hanging on.
The International Wall, Divis Street, Divis, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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In 2004 the first spot in the International Wall (left of the traffic light) was still blank and the wall started with the pro-Palestine mural.
For the whole of the mural, see M01757.
Divis Street, Divis, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 