This is a poster by English artist JoLA (ig), who specialises in magpies. This one has pilfered a string of pearls. “I fucking love this place.”
Union Street, Belfast city centre
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Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Resistance is not terrorism – Saoırse don Phalaıstín”. Gazan photo-journalist Motaz Azaiza (ig) visited Dublin – where he spoke at Bohemians (reddit | The Journal), Belfast – where he spoke with Clare Daly at the MAC, and Derry – where he spoke with Jamie Lee O’Donnell at the Guildhall (Derry Now). He also attended a rally at Free Derry Corner (Derry Journal | Derry Now), which has been painted with his likeness in honour of the work he has done documenting the destruction of Gaza by Israeli forces for his almost 18 million people on instagram. Fifteen of Azaiza’s relatives were killed in an air-strike on Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 13th, 2023 (WP).
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Commemorations of the INLA’s fiftieth anniversary have so far been limited to graffiti – see Saoırse Go Deo in Derry and Let The Fight Go On in Belfast – but here we have two deliberately painted panels in the Bogside (specifically Meenan Square) (one replacing The Way We Were).
“Irish National Liberation Army, Derry brigade. This mural is dedicated to the women and men who gave their lives in the struggle for national liberation and socialism. Erected by the James Connolly Memorial flute band.”
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These bird-boxes and platforms were installed by Wild Belfast (web) – a group aimed at enhancing natural habitats – in order to attract house-martins, who visit Ireland in the summer in order to breed, but whose numbers are in decline because of a loss of nesting sites (under the eaves of houses) and building materials (mud).
The boxes are in front of street art by artist Daniela Balmaverde (web) on the end of one of the stands at Cliftonville FC (BBC) – the shamrock earrings are the club’s emblem.
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This is a 2024 revisiting of the waste-ground (an old weaving factory) at the Westlink corner of the Village, south Belfast. Compared to 2023 (see This Area Needs Social Housing), there is some UVF graffiti (some of which has been covered over with heart stickers – see also Smothered In Kisses) and many new flags, including the row overlooking the Westlink (in the tenth image) among which are the flags of Israel and Ukraine.
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Leitrim’s “literary heritage” is recognised by this large mural by Nik Purdy/Blow Designs (ig) in Main Street, Carrick-On-Shannon. Clockwise from top we see portraits and quotes from …
Canon [William] Slator: “You’ll never find more beauty/Peace and welcome all combined/Than along the Shannon River/where your cares are left behind.”
Nora J Murray: “There are silver waters lapping/Under arches grey and brown/When the swans come up the river/To the bridge in Carrick town”
John McGahern: “I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is also a revelation of truth.” (2000 interview)
MJ McManus: “The people came to drink the soup/Ladled from greasy bowls/They died in whitewashed wards that held/A thousand Irish souls” (from the poem ‘Eighteen Forty-Nine’)
Susan Mitchell: “No bigger than a bulrush./I beside the rushy Shannon cry./There are no children on the shore./The singing voices sing no more./The sea draws all the rivers down./And love has sailed from Carrick town.” (from the poem ‘Carrick’ – Google Books)
The monument in front of the mural is also to Mitchell.
Purdy also did Committees Of The Rich in Sligo.
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Love Hearts turn 70 years old in 2024 – they were originally included in crackers for the Christmas season in 1954. Over the years, the messages on them have changed, and various specialty versions have been produced, including for Prince William’s 21st (in 2003) and a recent collaboration with YoungMinds with affirmative messages (Swizzels | WP). The messages on these “Love tHeArts” – imagined by FGB (ig) in North Street, Belfast city centre – are perhaps less “Marry me” and “Be mine” and more “Fund me” and “Follow me on Instagram”.
See also Eat To The Beat for another Swizzels sweet – the drumstick – by FGB.
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The long-running extradition case against Seán Walsh – from the republic to the north – took another twist in March when the supreme court referred his case to the European Court Of Justice. Walsh is wanted on charges of New IRA membership, based on surveillance of meetings organised by MI5 agent Dennis McFadden (Herald). The point now at issue is whether a 2021 UK law on sentencing for those convicted of terrorism charges (pdf) – no early release is possible (gov.uk) – contravenes article seven of the European Convention On Human Rights.
Republicans also claim that he would be subject to maltreatment if extradited (RN).
A write-up of the arguments can be found in this Irish Times article from 2023, when the possibility of referral was first mooted by Walsh’s legal team.
The black shamrock in the centre of the wall pre-dates the Walsh graffiti – see Black Shamrock for its significance. Free Derry Corner has its own Visual History page.
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Copyright © 2024 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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A new painting of Amelia Earhart has been created by JEKS (ig), on the side of the Foyle building, North West Regional College, on Queen’s Quay. A number of sources claim without citation or measurement that it is the tallest piece of street art in the north – both the BBC and the Chamber Of Commerce use the passive “thought to be”. Its closest competitor would be the recent piece by Zabou on the Telegraph Building in Belfast – see Broken Promises.
The Foyle Building has six “levels” (NWRC) while the original Telegraph Building had four storeys (Archiseek). In addition to comparing images of the two paintings, you can also judge by comparing Street View images of the buildings: Derry vs Belfast.
Information about Earhart’s connection to the Maiden City can be found in the entries on the printed board (But What Do Dreams Know Of Boundaries?) and the mosaic (Flying Solo) to Earhart in Derry.
JEKS did eventually fill in the hair (and so cover over his instagram handle) on the lower portrait.
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“The cry was no surrender” – in preparation for the Twelfth, Ulster Banners, the Union Flag are posted along a fence in upper Shankill below a Shankill Old Boys (Fb) tarp and a band flag using St Patrick’s Saltire as a background. On the big day, the band paraded (Parades’ Commission) from the Shankill into the city centre (youtube), and back again after the demonstration in Barnett’s Demense (GOLI).
With a pair of bonus Shankill Star (Fb) t-shirts.
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Extramural Activity 