These two wide shots are from the junction of Northumberland and Beverly streets, where the new Kitchener board joins poppies for soldiers of the the 36th (Ulster) Division on the 100th anniversary of the Somme and the (repaired) John Henry Patterson – godfather of the Israeli army – board.
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Copyright © 2017 Extramural Activity
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This street art by Jonny McKerr (Tw | Fb) is at the Stoker’s Halt in east Belfast. See also: Stoker’s Halt | Be Nice | Lady In Blue.
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“The Stormont swamp is irreformable”, claims the TUV election manifesto. “It’s time to drain it.” The expression “drain the swamp” in politics goes back to (at least) 1903 when it was used by an American socialist in reference to capitalistic influence in and is borrowed from the literal practice of draining swamps in order to reduce mosquitoes, and so, malaria.
Another Americanism is shown in the second image: Barak Obama’s “Yes we can” became Hillary Clinton’s “Yes, she can”, which Naomi Long (Alliance), the #gingerninja, is using for her own campaign.
Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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This is one of the four murals at the Stoker’s Halt, on the Upper Newtownards Road, probably by DMC (Dermot McConaghy). The others are JMK’s old man (see Wrinkle In Time), Be Nice by Verz, and The Stoker himself, also by Verz.
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“Are you one of Kitchener’s own?” asks a new mural in Northumberland Street: “We here pay grateful and everlasting tribute, to all foreign nationals across the empire, who courageously and passionately fought side by side with their British counterparts, for King and country, during the First World War.” The left-hand side (second image) features images of soldiers from the West Indies and India, including “The Flying Sikh”, Hardit Singh Malik and a French lady as she “pins flowers on a regiment containing Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus.” On the right, images of the “presentation of Colours to the 51st Battalion Canadian expeditionary force” and of Canadian “bluebird” nurses in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
Replaces (part of) Welcome To The Shankill. See Belfast Live for an image from the launch.
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X04199 X04201 X04202 India Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa. one million dead in the great war rest in France “A la gloire de dieu et a la memoire du million de morts de l’empire britannique tombes dans la grande guerre 191401918 et qui pour la plupart reposent en France.” Greater Shankill ACT
It’s back to polls on Thursday for the UK General Election, including 18 Northern Ireland constituencies. The Alliance Party is an “Other” party, neither nationalist nor unionist. Party leader Naomi Long is standing in east Belfast.
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One of the first casualties of the Easter Rising, on the evening of Good Friday, was Belfast-born Charles Monahan (Charlie Monahan, Cathal Ó Monacháın/Ó Muıneacháın), who died along with Con Keating and Daniel Sheehan in a motor accident in Kerry, when their car – which only had one headlamp (see image #3) – was driven off a pier. His body was not found until October 30th. The driver, Tommy McInerney – shown here studying a map – survived. This mural is in the Markets; Monahan is also claimed by east Belfast and a 2006 mural to him survives to this day on Mountpottinger Road (Visual History).
“Born in Riley[‘s] Place in the Market area of Belfast, Charles was one of many people who left Belfast to take part in the events leading up to the Easter Rising. Charles[‘s] role was to meet up with 3 other vols and help guide Roger Casement land a ship full of weapons. On the 21st April, 1916, the driver took the wrong road and drove off the pier into the Laune at Ballykissane. Charles, 37, drowned along with two of his comrades.”
For more Roger Casement murals, click here.
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X04178 X04180 X04179 X04181 Stanfield St Banna Strand Irish Volunteers 2nd battalion Dublin Brigade Irish Republican Brotherhood IRB
The UK general election takes place on Thursday (June 8th), only two years after the previous one. The (British) Conservative party hopes to increase its majority of 17 seats/votes. The NI Conservatives (web) are fielding candidates in 7 of the 18 seats but are not expected to contribute to the overall Conservative tally.
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Here’s the left-hand side of the UDA mural in Disraeli Street being launched today (June 3rd, 2017). As can be seen most clearly in the final, sideways-on, image, both pieces are a combination of printed poster and attached boards. Lines from Laurence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen of WWI are used: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun/And in the morning we shall remember them.”
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Two pieces of Village graffiti with the same message: “Stay out PSNI scum” and “Out to fuck PSNI scum”.
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Extramural Activity 