Religion and politics mix in this image of the Blessed Virgin Mary gazing at a recent mural at the bottom of Teach Na bhFıann/Fianna House (formerly Dill House) in the New Lodge. “Cumann Na mBan” in Irish is “the women’s organization/council/society” in English. The organization in question is the republican paramilitary group which was founded on April 2, 1914 and celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
The Socialist Party flyer above on Royal Avenue urges Belfast residents to pay attention to the on-going protests against water charges in the Republic as a way of learning how to resist any cuts implemented by Stormont. Yesterday marked one in a shifting series of deadlines for registration for the water scheme and rallies were held in various southern cities (Independent). Water charges have been ruled out in the North until at least 2015 (Tele).
A Che Guevara quote – “I don’t care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting” – unifies two panels bearing masked men firing funeral volleys, Irish and Palestinian shields, and “Our day will come” in both Irish and Arabic.
“They paid the ultimate sacrifice”. The UVF/YCV mural above on a Ballyduff electrical station shows WWI soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in relief against an orange sky (perhaps “at the going down of the sun”), picking their way across the battlefields of Flanders. The Ulster Memorial at Thiepval, which commemorates the 5,000 lost lives and more specifically the role of Orange Order members, is shown in the top left corner of the smaller wall. A plaque, hidden behind the low wall to the right but shown below in close-up, indicates sponsorship from the UVF “1st East Antrim Battalion, Ballyduff & Glengormley”.
Here’s the second of two Emic (Fb | Web) pieces done for CNB14: a male figure is engrossed in the music coming from his headphones. The location is the shutter of the Young Savage vintage clothing store on (upper) North Street, part of Bigg Life Arts/Cafe Wah! As can be seen in the wide shot of the Centre, below, Emic also did a piece two shutters down (the Inkie piece in between was featured in Art Lab); his other CNB14 piece is a little further north on the same street.
“End partition” was the message on the mountain (Black Mountain/Slıabh Dubh) last week, shown here between Clonard Monastery on the left (where the Hume-Adams talks took place in 1988 and 1993) and the Cupar Way “peace” line on the right.
Here is a mural in the Markets area of south Belfast celebrating the achievements of local boy George McMullen, who played youth football for St. Malachy’s and St. Matthew’s before joining Cliftonville in 2011 age 20.
On the left is the familiar Cliftonville huddle (see previously: The Red Army). The two poses in the centre and on the left are reproductions of Belfast Telegraph images. The first is from Cliftonville’s 2013 Dankse Bank Irish League-clinching win over Linfield, which the Reds won with a McMullen penalty in the dying seconds; the second in from the same moment in the 2014 campaign: Chris Curran has just scored to put the Reds two-nil up in a game against Portadown that would win them the League for the second year in succession.
Other Cliftonville players have been featured in murals: Joe The Goal in Ardyone and Rory Donnelly in the Bone.
Below is a shot of the piece in development and below that is a wide shot showing the mural’s location adjacent to the End The Siege On Gaza mural.
In Belfast, we like to get our kids started early with drawing in the street – see the gallery of images from Jacqueline Wylie’s CNB14 Rainbow Crossing – and one of them even took to the wall in North Street.
Images of Padre Pio, the Capuchin friar, and Our Lady with a sacred heart adorn the outside of the Centre For Health & Well-Being in Ballymurphy’s bullring. Wide shot below.
Extramural Activity 