Here are close-ups, and a final wide-shot, of the “Reaching Out” suicide-prevention mural in Springmadden on the Springfield Road, painted by Lucas Quigley.
Above, a girl is carried away by balloon hearts; below, a fox peeks out from behind giant sunflowers and foliage sporting a ladybird while a butterfly looks on.
Graffiti in the Highfield estate complaining about/threatening someone allegedly reporting [touting] others to the authorities about unemployment claims [bru, brew; the dole].
According to one source, “bru” is originally a Glaswegian corruption of “bureau” from the 1930s.
The pro-Union NI21 party was founded in June of last year (2013) and is contesting council and European elections today. Above is an Irish-language hoarding in support of Europe candidate Tina McKenzie who hails from republican west Belfast. “Is é seo #freshpolitics. Vótáıl McKenzie 1 do Eoraıp” – “This is #freshpolitics. Vote McKenzie 1 for Europe.”
Poster from the junction of Whiterock and Springfield Roads: “It’s not joyriding, it’s murder. Debbie McComb Aged 15 Killed by car thieves, March 1, 2002.” McComb died of her injuries after being hit by Henry Marley, who was driving a stolen car and drove through a red light. Her death and other deaths led to a substantial campaign against “death drivers” in 2002 (see, for example, An Phoblacht | The (Sunday) People). Marley was sentenced in April of this year for colliding into two other cars (Newsletter).
Four generations of headgear and rifles, from 1912 to the present, are featured in this new UVF board in Glenwood Street. A portion of the previous No. 4 Platoon ‘graveyard scene’ mural it replaces can be seen in the top right, with black figures superimposed. The title of the post, which comes from Ecclesiasticus 44, appears on the accompanying info panel along with a verse from Laurence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen. The fourth verse of Binyon’s poem is more often quoted, as in What Do We Forget When We Remember and At The Going Down Of The Sun.
U.S. civil rights protester John Lewis (WP) – leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and co-organizer of the march on Washington in August, 1963 – made a visit to Dublin, Derry, and Belfast at the end of April (Newsletter | DerryCity.gov.uk). In honour of his visit, the ‘We Can Do It!” (a.k.a. “Rosie The Riveter”) figure at the left edge of the Douglass mural (under Barack Obama) on Northumberland Street was painted over and Lewis’s image – wearing the Presidential Medal Of Freedom – put in its place. For a wide-shot of the mural pre-Lewis, see Liberating Minds, which gives all of the quotes in the mural, including the quote from Abraham Lincoln that provides the title of today’s post.
The Giro d’Italia (Tour Of Italy) got off to a rainy start in Belfast yesterday (Friday May 9th, 2014) with a team time-trial. While there was talk in February of removing not just election posters (BBC) but also flags and murals (BBC), and the tourist board and Department of Enterprise hopes that spectacular scenes (through the rain) from the north Antrim coast will recoup the cost of hosting the event (4.2M in total), republicans took to the slopes of Slıabh Dubh to greet Italian visitors and perhaps viewers with “Fine Dominio Britannico” (“End British Rule”), and loyalists held what the Tele describes as a “protest march”, setting off this morning at the same time as the second stage – around the Antrim coast – got under way (Parades Commission on the Ligoniel Combine).
“In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts – McIntyre”. The graffiti refers to the Boston College oral history project, directed by Ed Moloney and involving former IRA volunteer Anthony McIntyre (who now writes at The Pensive Quill), a collection of interviews of former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides) between 2001-2006, some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Gerry Adams’s interrogation (see Get The Real Story). More background from the BBC.
More graffiti relating to the Gerry Adams arrest last week, this time on Divis Street: “In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts”. The graffiti refers to a collection of interviews made by former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides), some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Adams’s interrogation. More background from the BBC.
Before the Gerry Adams arrest dominated the headlines (Get The Real Story), the major issue of last week was the announcement by NI Secretary Theresa Villiers (BBC-NI) that there would be no further investigation of the La Mon Restaurant bombing – in which 12 people died (WP) – or the Ballymurphy Massacre – in which 11 died (WP). Relatives of both sets of deceased were disappointed by the announcement, and on the republican side, Gael Force Art in conjunction with Relatives For Justice took to Slıabh Dubh to promote the latter’s #Time4Truth campaign. Below is an already-existing board on the lower side of Springfield Road, painted by Rısteard Ó Murchú, making the same demand.
Extramural Activity 