Belfast

No Matter, Try Again

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Glen Molloy’s Samuel Beckett mural in the Dundela area of east Belfast was largely whitewashed the day after it was finished – see the second image, below. (This was only a few weeks after the Maya Angelou mural across the street was painted and graffitied.) (Belfast Live) The portrait was restored last year, with blue sparkling blue eyes, and the quotation was added again this summer.

(The Angelou mural was partially repaired at the time, and support for Ukraine added this year – see We May Encounter Many Defeats.)

The quotation is from Worstward Ho! (not “Westword Ho!” as written on the wall): “Say for be said. Missaid. From now say for missaid. Say a body. Where none. No mind. Where none. That at least. A place. Where none. For the body. To be in. Move in. Out of. Back into. No. No out. No back. Only in. Stay in. On in. Still. All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

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Upward

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The new arch at Denmark Street and Carlisle Circus, next to the Clifton Street Orange Hall, was a year in the planning, both technical and financial (News Letter). There are seven windows and four flag-holders built into the arch. On the Denmark Street side, we see the emblem of the Association Of Loyal Orangewomen Of Ireland, the breaking of the boom (to end the Siege Of Derry), National Memorial (in the arboretum in Staffordshire), Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee (crown and Bible over rose, thistle, shamrock, daffodil, New Zealand silver fern, and Canadian maple leaf), City Of Belfast Loyal Orange Widows Fund, Orange Order symbols. On the Carlisle Circus side, we see the shutting of the gates (to start the Siege Of Derry), William Johnston (WP), the stained-glass window in Schomberg House to murdered OO members, Pietro Annigonni’s 1995 portrait of Queen Elizabeth on garter day (WP), Wehle’s portrait of Martin Luther, and the 36th Division going over the top.

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When Young People Are United …

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“… they can never be divided.” The two parts of this slogan are found at the end and the beginning of two murals and symbolically join together PUL Tiger’s Bay (with a mural at the end of the “peace” line on Hallidays Road, shown in the first three images) and CNR Newington (with a mural on Limestone Road, shown in subsequent images). Youths from both communities worked on the murals (Belfast Live).

The Hallidays Road wall previously had a similar ‘Welcome’ mural on it – see The Bigger Picture.

Presumably these are Blaze FX (web) productions. The murals were started back in May but were only completed last week. The muralists are perhaps busy with another job …

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And In The Blue Corner …

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This is the completed version of the Sunak-Truss mural – including Larry The Cat (ig) – in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. The two candidates fighting to get through the door to No 10 Downing Street are, in the ‘Leave’ corner, wearing gold gloves, and sponsored by Prada, which is where his expensive loafers came from (Yahoo News) Rishi Sunak, and in the ‘Remain’ corner, wearing Euro gloves, and sponsored by Claire’s, which is where her 4.50 earrings come from (Nadine Dorries’s twitter), Lizz Truss.

“Round 8” above the ring indicates that the Belfast hustings (in the Culloden on Wednesday 17th) for Conservative leader were the eighth in a series of twelve. The News Letter has a blow-by-blow account of the meeting. In classic journalistic style, ITV reported on the hustings from in front of the mural (video).

Painted by Ciaran Gallagher (web) with funding by Willie Jack of the Duke Of York and Harp Bar (Today Post).

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Incendiary Device

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Irish-language rap group Kneecap (web) played in Falls Park on Friday night, sharing the stage with Imelda May and Damien Dempsey in a concert that Féıle entitled “Irish Voices“, but before that they revealed a mural in Hawthorn Street showing a PSNI land-rover on fire next to the phrase “Níl fáılte roımh an RUC [The RUC is not welcome]”.

Outraged responses to the mural have come from all quarters. The line comes from their song C.E.A.R.T.A. (youtube), about making sure the police don’t find the satirically enormous array of drugs – “cóc, speed, Es, agus moll marıjuana” to name only a few – they hope to take at a party: “Seans ar bıth go bhfaıghıdh sıad mo mhála MD/Mar tá cóısır ann anocht ‘s níl fáılte roımh an RUC”.

The Kneecap party and the middle Falls are the latest in a long line of places where the PSNI is not welcome, not just Ardoyne, Divis, and the Bogside (Derry) but also the Village, the Shankill, Carrickfergus, Millbrook (Larne), the Caw (Londonderry), and Tullyally (Londonderry).

The sticker shows a vintage republican image: see e.g. England Get Out Of Ireland and Stad Maggie Anoıs.

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We May Encounter Many Defeats

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“… but we must not be defeated.” Racists graffiti was added to the Maya Angelou mural in Dundela Avenue shortly after it was painted last July (Belfast Live). The repairs got rid of the graffiti and restored the lettering but the face was not restored to its original condition. The mural has remained intact since then and the yellow background provides an ideal surface for the Ukrainian flag and words of support: “We stand with you, Ukraine!” and “Slava Ukraïni – heroyam slava! [Glory to Ukraine – to the heroes, glory!]”

The quote is attributed solely to Angelou and appears to come from her personal writings (Order Out Of Chaos); she died in 2014 (Independent).

Commissioned by David Holmes, designed by Jody Hackett and painted by Glenn Molloy in 2021.

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Fellowship

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“Fuck the IRA” on the wall of Mustardseed Christian Fellowship in Crimea Street, Belfast.

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We Will Never Stop

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A rally is planned for 1 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday 13th) at Belfast City Hall in support of the family of Noah Donohoe and in protest at a request by the police to use PII (Public Interest Immunity) certificates to redact portions of three police files. (The primary source is a paywalled article in the Sunday Independent, which both the Irish News and Belfast Telegraph reported on.) Visual reminders of the case are all over the city and many have been featured on this site previously. Today’s post collects those not previously featured. In order, they are from Beechmount; University St; Duncairn Gardens (replacing the board seen in Between The Lines); Rossville St, Derry; the Markets.

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Mıse Éıre

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Mıse Éıre (short for ‘Is mıse Éıre’ [I am Ireland]) is a short poem by Patrick Pearse in which Mother Ireland speaks of her glories and sufferings. The un-partitioned Ireland (though with the flags of the four provinces in the corners) is used here by Sınn Féın Poblachtach (web) to call for unification of “the whole people of Ireland … Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter” [Wolfe Tone, from his autobiography].

The poem also appears in a Derry mural from the 1980s and a current New Lodge GAA mural.

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Gertrude Star

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Gertrude Star flute band (Fb) celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2021 and to mark the occasion this (2022) May, the two side-walls were painted with the emblems above and immediately below. For the mural, which was painted for the 50th anniversary in 2011, M08166.

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