This trio of Ulster Defence Association, Ulster Freedom Fighters, and Ulster Young Militants boards are in Holywood, County Down. The overtly paramilitary UFF acts as the link between the others, in that the UDA and UYM emblems appear in miniature alongside its own. The UFF slogan “Ferriens tego” is missing from its board. The local troop is the North Down 2nd Batt. D Coy.
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Many suffer so that someday future generations may live in justice and peace.”
Portraits of Nelson Mandela and Bobby Sands are presented side by side, both smiling, in front of the flags of (post-apartheid) South Africa and the Republic of Ireland.
Bogside, Derry.
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The coat of arms of Londonderry involves “the picture of death (or a skeleton) on a mossy stone & in the dexter point a castle” below the arms of the city of London. It is here joined by the flags of Britain, Scotland, and the crimson of the Apprentice Boys, as well as two cannons from the walls of Derry. The board above is in Hawkin Street, above “UDA” (“Ulster Defence Association”) and “KAT” (“Kill All Taigs”) graffiti.
Previously: Vita, Veritas, Victoria
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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A snake wrapped around a rod is the symbol of Asklepios, the healer, but this fearsome creature is wrapped around a spear and they both seem headed for a victim rather than a patient. CNB15 work from Spanish street artist Sabek (Fb)
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Here is the CNB15 piece by MELS2 (Fb), showing (in the wide shot, below) four bloody hands, with blood red nails, belonging to a blonde-haired, black-lipped woman looking askance at the viewer. The inspiration for the work is Dublin photographer Monika Lejman/Mona Leymann.
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culture night belfast 2015
The wave of people seeking asylum from political strife in Europe continues.”Fáılte romhaıbh a chaırde” is Irish for “Welcome, friends” while “Qaxootiga soo Dhaweyn” is Somali for “Refugees welcome”. Somalis make up about 9% of the current wave of migrants from Africa and Syrians 33%. (Irish Times) 2,000 refugees are to be settled in Northern Ireland. (belfastlive) The yellow-on-black outline of parents and daughter running originates in the United States, used on ‘caution’ signs along highways near the US-Mexico border. For images of the mural’s launch on September 12th, see the WARN twitter feed.
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02998 qaxootiga soo dhawevn westagainstracismnetwork.org arabic
Dublin artist James Earley (Fb) was in Belfast last week for Culture Night (CNB15 ) and painted this large-scale horse on the side of the National Grande Café. A wide shot and in progress shot are below. Here is a short video of Earley discussing his work; this piece is in a less-definite stained-glass style than previously – see his Wolf for CNB14.
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Soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) division in the trenches of WWI prepare to go ‘over the top’. One waits for the precise moment according to his watch, ready to fire a shot, while the other prepares to blow a whistle and launch a flare. “‘Throughout the long years of struggle, the men of Ulster have proved how nobly they fight and die.’ King George V”. The quote also appears on the Ulster Tower in Thiepval (Ulster Tower) and on the Cenotaph in Belfast (WP).
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Street art is often vandalised (see: the whole of Cupar Way and also A Short Treatise On The Ephemerality Of Art in which NIKO destroyed Praise’s CNB12 piece) but rarely is the vandal a commercial company drumming up business.
In a first for Belfast murals, speech balloons have been added to the Ring Of Peace mural in Waring Street to advertise office space. They read “Forget it, Muriel. I’m moving my business to CQHQ without you!” “Oh Jeff … It’s too close to the City Centre! I want to be with nature …”. We hope that indeed the ad does move away from the “muriel” – the balloons appear to be pasted over the mural, rather than painted on.
The speech-balloons are in fact an improvement over the earlier complete covering of the mural (paperjamdesign). In a less successful part of its media strategy, the business’s web site, at cqhqbelfast.com, appears to be non-functioning.
Report and video on the corporate vandalism from BBC-NI.
See the unadulterated original: Ring Of Peace.
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The [Sergeant] Lindsay Mooney Memorial Flute Band was formed in 1973 after the St. Patrick’s day death of Lindsay Mooney, a UDA member killed by the premature explosion of a bomb near Lifford, County Donegal (Sutton). The band dissolved in 1993 but commemorative nights are still held (NI World).
The board above is in the Lincoln Court area of Londonderry, from where Mooney and the band both hailed. “To those of us who criticise, to those who cannot see, just remember in a foreign land fell a better man than me.”
The Ballad Of Lindsay Mooney: youtube | lyrics
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Extramural Activity 