The white dove (an albino rock dove/pigeon) is a domesticated bird and so not commonly seen in wilds of Belfast’s gardens and hills. It is probably more commonly seen in murals, serving as a symbol for the peace process (see “Hawks” & Doves). This one, by emic (web), can be seen at the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill.
More street art at the Spectrum Centre: Half Human | Not Today, Satan. Not Today | Loyalist Or Racist
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Blue Tit (Cyanistes Caeruleus | Meantán Gorm) is a common bird around Belfast. This one can be seen at the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill.
More street art at the Spectrum Centre: Half Human | Not Today, Satan. Not Today | Loyalist Or Racist
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Plans to redevelop Castle Arcade were published in July (NewsLetter). The arcade runs between Castle Lane and Castle Place. The castle of Belfast originally stood at the top of High Street, built by the Normans in the late 12th century and then rebuilt by Arthur Chichester in 1611 but destroyed by fire in 1708 after which the area became commercialised (Belfast Entries | Belfast Castle). If you know the art’s creator, please comment or get in touch.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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More grassroots support for “justice for Ian Ogle” in Cluan Place, including an image of him playing for East Belfast Protestant Boys flute band (Fb). (See previously Justice For Ian Ogle | The Leaders Of This People Cause Them To Err | The 12th In Cluan Place). And also for supporting your local soccer club: “We aren’t filmstars – against modern football“.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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For the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike, portraits of the deceased ten (plus Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan from the 1970s) were placed on the railings of the Ballymurphy memorial garden. There is a new (compared to 2006 and 2008) set of plaques, erected in 2017:
“A Letter To The 22: You have not gone away, you are in the hearts and on the lips of your people. The old speak of you with knowing tongue. The middle aged, as those who worked beside you. The young men and women with a passion not unlike your own. Your names can be heard on the wind taken from the mouths of men who tend their flocks on Slieve Gullion, Cnoc Phadraıg, Glenshane. They echo in the small graveyards in Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Tyrone, Antrim, Derry and Armagh. They are heard among your people at the mass gate on Sunday in the crowd at the hurling game, around the hearth when the bottle is cracked and song is sung. Your image can be seen on the faces of happy smiling children for whose freedom you gave your all. You are in our prayers you have not gone away, you never will. Mıse le meas Colm Mac Gıolla Bheın 2006. This monument was erected by the Ballymurphy Ex POWs in memory of the 22 hunger strikers who died for the cause of Irish freedom. It was unveiled on the hundredth anniversary of Thomas Ash[e] who was the first republican to die on hunger strike in 1917. He died after five days while being force fed. Thomas Ash[e] an these 21 brave Irish men stood by their beliefs and refused to be criminalised. Fuaır sıad bás ar son shaoırse na hÉıreann. I measc laochra na nGael go raıbh sıad.”
For the mural, with NHS board, see Pray For Us.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The height of anti-BLM sentiment came last year (2020) when the statue of Winston Churchill in London’s Parliament Square was vandalised and boarded up for protection, lest it suffer the same fate as the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol (iNews | NYTimes) met at the hands of protestors marching in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA (for CNR support for see An Injustice To One Is An Injustice To All | You Cannot Put A Knee Upon The Neck Of An Idea | Here To Stay | Black Lives Matter). The graffiti in the Woodvale (below) is from 2021, however. The graffiti above is in the Highfield area.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Gerry Adams’s quip about the IRA after the ceasefire (in August, 1995) has become a slogan used for women’s struggle (International Women’s Day), sectarianism (Hasn’t Gone Away), British rule (They Haven’t Gone Away, You Know), coronavirus (It Hasn’t Gone Away, You Know) and now the “4000 families waiting” for social housing as lots in the city centre and north Belfast are turned by “private developers” into “student accommodation”. “Preparing immigrant ships. No not this time. We need houses, no relocation. North Belfast families will stay in north Belfast. We will not be shipped out.”
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Copyright © 2021 Sabine Troendle (web | Fb)
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“In loving memory of Ian “Big O” Ogle. “He who paid the ultimate sacrifice should never be forgotten” 27th January 2019. Unbowed, unbroken.”
The scripture cards within the wreath of poppies in Cluan Place – where Ogle lived and was killed – are directed at the east Belfast UVF; some of its members killed Ian Ogle (BelTel) and are alleged to still be active in the area (Belfast Live | BelTel).
II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Isaiah 9:16 “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.”
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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A new board has been mounted in AMCOMRI Street for the fortieth anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, with photographs from the area in the background, including the Revolution mural at the bottom of Beechmount Avenue in 1996-1997.
“Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something.”
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 