Above: Henry Joy McCracken RFB [republican flute band (web)]. Annual Henry Joy/United Irishmen Commemoration. March will be held in the New Lodge area, Sunday 2nd of September. Parade will start at Duncairn Parade at 3 pm sharp. All republicans Welcome. Republican Network For Unity.”
This is a 2010 mural of Máıre Drumm and the women of West Belfast breaking the British Army curfew of the lower Falls in 1970 (youtube). Drumm was later shot dead in her bed in the Mater hospital where she was a patient (WP).
The mural was unveiled July 4th on the 40th anniversary of the curfew’s end – see p. 28 of An Phoblacht. This version incorporates two of the ‘Free Marian Price’ (painted) “posters” that have been added to most of the murals – see the Visual History page on the International wall. The original can be seen in M05636. A shot of this mural being painted can be found here.
“Release Martin Corey” stencil now appearing all over nationalist west Belfast, alongside ‘Free Marian Price’. Martin Corey was returned to prison in 2010 and a 2011 commission ruled that he was a member of the CIRA (WP | Belfast Telegraph).
Billy Hunter (background BBC | Belfast Telegraph) has died. On Saturday (25th August) a floral tribute to him was mounted on the railings of the ASDA store where he worked.
According to ‘The Irish News’ (Monday 27th August 2012) ‘Hunter died after he doused himself in petrol and set it alight at the side of the Ballywalter Road, Millisle, on Friday morning.’
The Irish News quotes Gerard McErlane as saying, ‘The fella did it and God have mercy on him. What he did he did to himself. John and Thomas had no choice when he murdered them. He had a choice and maybe it was his conscience. I don’t know.
I said a prayer and lit a candle for him doing that as I would for any human being doing that to themselves.’
However, Mr McErlane said tributes to Hunter should be removed. ‘It bothers me that they are supporting him. Even in his death they are supporting him. They are glorifying him. I want it removed.’
Quoting an ASDA spokeswoman, the Irish News reported that the store would support colleagues who want to attend the funeral. She said the store would let the ‘community decide on floral tributes.’
Here is an angled shot of the entire Stroud St. mural, details of which have been featured in one | two | three previous entries. The artist is Ed Reynolds (steadyhanded.com) “assisted by William McKee Strong, June 2012”. The Tele had a write-up of the work: The Singing Butcher.
Here is a third panel from the new Stroud St. mural (previous panels one | two). This image is based on a photograph by the celebrated Belfast photographer Bill Kirk whose exhibit ‘Sandy Row 1974’ was at the Red Barn Gallery September-October 2011. At 6:50 in the video below one can see the original photograph of the Elliots.
This mural is an example of the ‘re-imaging’ of local areas that is being commissioned/sponsored by public bodies in NI at present. The stated aim of the project is to replace existing murals with ones that are less violent or, as in this case, to create new ones in order to enhance the appearance of an area. This mural contains no images of flags, political or paramilitary personages or emblems. It is ‘non-political’ in that sense, though you might argue that state sponsorship of ‘neutral’ images is in itself a political act.
Many such murals seem to rely on nostalgia, as is evident in this image.
Here’s the part of the Stroud Street mural (mentioned a few days ago in Just The Ticket) that incorporates the street-light into the mural.
Ed Reynolds is the artist. The mural was commissioned by the Belfast City Council, in consultation with the Sandy Row Community Forum and the Residents’ Association
There are a few seconds of footage of children swinging on a light pole at the 1:25 mark of this youtube video
This is the new Michael Conlan mural, on Violet Street, painted by Marty Lyons. It is notable for how quickly it went up (Conlon (and Barnes) won medals on August 11th), for the sponsorship (by the Beehive and McPeakes), and for the artists’ signatures (below the McPeakes label – click on the image to enlarge).
Boxing is organized on an all-island basis (WP), though at the Olympics boxers can choose to fight for either Ireland or GBNI.
At London 2012, Ireland won four medals in boxing. Conlan, Barnes, Katie Taylor (gold) and John Joe Nevin (silver).
Extramural Activity 