After a delay, the UVF mural in Inverwood Court, replacing a George Best mural, has been finished. (The Belfast Telegraph reports it was finished on 2013-09-21, and that negotiations to remove it are “ongoing”.) The quote on the right – Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed – comes from the section of Martin Luther King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail in which he considers the merits of civil disobedience or direct action. For a shot of the half-finished piece, see Second Best.
A fourth and final metal-work piece from the Cupar Way “peace” line shows an aeroplane in outline over a globe and gives a list of various Belfast streets which were formerly industrial centres: Shankill Rd., North St., Victoria St., High St., Ann St., Peters Hill, Royal Ave., Castle Place, Queens Bridge. A wide shot of all (one | two | three) four pieces (as well as Let Go Of The Past and 3 R’s) can be found below.
The first, above is of ‘the angel with the book’, a reference to Revelation 10: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.” (King James trans.)
The second, below, shows Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley being burnt at the stake in 1555. “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England [as I trust] shall never be put out.” (WP)
Detail from a new mural on the Springfield Road, opposite the barracks: End British internment of Irish Republicans, 2013. Painted by Rebel Rebel of the Gael Force Art group. A shot of the whole piece can be found below.
Another image from inside the Clifton Street Orange Order hall: an outline of the island of Ireland under the title (in Old Irish script) Oḋreaċt na [h]Éıreann – The Heritage of Ireland – surrounded by the coats of arms of the cities of Londonderry, Dublin, Cork and Belfast, and with the words “Occupy Till I Come – Luke 19:13” at the bottom.
“Occupy until I come” is the King James translation of Luke 19:13 (Greek: πραγματεύσασθαιἐνᾧἔρχομαι) and is better translated as “conduct business until I come [back]”. It is from the story of the king who gave money to 10 servants to see what they would make with it. The one who does nothing with it says he knows the king is exploitative and harsh (αὐστηρὸς, austere!) and he was afraid (to lessen or lose the money, presumably). To which the king says, roughly, ‘if you knew that I expect to profit from other people, you should have done something with it!’ and has his money taken away; meanwhile, the citizens who spoke against the king in his absence are executed. So the moral of the story for Ireland is … the King has given Ireland to Protestants in order to increase its value, and they better make sure they do, because he expects to collect the profit; and anyone among the natives who protests is to be executed upon his return?
Last weekend (September 14th and 15th) saw many buildings typically closed to the public open up for European Heritage Open Days. Among those was the Orange hall on Clifton Street. Military and religious themes were prevalent throughout, as images over the coming days will illustrate.
Titanic was hull number “401” at Harland & Wolff, and, after hitting an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14th, 1912, sank at 2:20 a.m. (WP). Above is another (see also 2013-09-02, 2013-09-13) metal-work piece on the Cupar Way “peace” line, with images of a boat dock, solderers, and wind turbines.
These protesters are outside the Antrim Road Tesco’s, with placards bearing messages about globalisation: “Politicians, we need support against Tesco globalisation”, “No more! Unfair, non-transparent and collusive tendering practices”, “Support local companies in their fight against Tesco”.
Extramural Activity 