Babies’ bottles and “dummies” (pacifiers) hang from a tree in the middle of Musgrave Park, next to St Brigid’s GAC pitches, perhaps because Brigid is patron saint of babies, children, and midwives (as well as brewers and poultry farmers) (WP).
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“North Belfast will never accept a border in the Irish Sea – there is no union without NI.” The Sun shines on a flag from Shore Road Loyal Rangers Supporters Club (Fb) and a board protesting the NI Protocol – Rangers are triumphant but the union is in peril.
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Free-hand sprayer Dan Kitchener’s (web | tw) latest mural in Belfast (in Enfield Street in the Woodvale) places a black taxi – a mainstay of transportation in West Belfast – in the streets of Tokyo. To our knowledge, this is the first piece of street art in PUL West Belfast other than on the “peace” line; it will be interesting to see how well it survives compared to both sectarian murals and street art in the city centre.
“The title of the piece is ‘You can go Anywhere’ to show that with hard work and determination, you can explore the world. The mural is Sponsored by local Butchers shop Hugh Linton Butchers and R City youth group which are an award-winning organization helping Communities Integrate Through Youth. With the help of Jonathan Hodge local community volunteer. The taxi’s number plate HWL 1970 is a nudge towards the establishment founder Hugh Linton” (Belfast Walking Tours Fb).
Dan released a video of the mural in progress. Previously by Dan for Culture Night: The Dream | Blurry Eyed.
Funded by Communities In Transition with support from Greater Shankill Partnership and youth group R-City (tw) whose ‘footprint’ logo appears in the top left of the first image, above.
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“For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand” (Psalm 95:7). Glasgow Rangers – the team of the chosen people of Northern Ireland – returned to winning ways by securing the League championship for a record 55th time (see We’re Back | F*ck Your Ten In A Row | Respect, Heritage, Culture).
The previous Biblical reference in the apex was Rev 18:4 – see Brits Out! For 2 Chronicles 7:14 see If I Send Pestilence. For the Orange symbols on the left (and Gen 38:28), see Your Kingdom Will Endure Forever.
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The old streets of Divis, including St Peter’s (which goes back to the 1860s) are reflected in the head and shoulders of wide-collared youth.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The home of the Ulster Rangers supporters club (Fb) is on the Shankill below Tennent Street. The club has plenty to celebrate this spring, as Rangers are Scottish league champions this year, for the 55th time in club history – see F*ck Your Ten In A Row | We’re Back | Respect Heritage Culture.
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Street artist Emic (web | tw) was commissioned by Up! Culture And Arts (and SASH and the Shankill Somme Association) to produce a series of large portraits – based on photographs from the time – of soldiers from the Shankill who fought in WWI, including brothers William and James McKendry, and Richard Mussen, son of the Richard Mussen whose funeral cortège is painted as a mural lower down the Shankill. The portraits were placed in the Shankill and West Kirk graveyards (the West Kirk photographs include poppies). On March 16th, the photographs were lit up and an ‘Angel Of Mons’ was projected onto the Spectrum Centre (Up! Fb).
Video from the Somme Association set to The Bloody Road To The Somme.
Also from the Shankill graveyard: Reflections On The Somme | Somme Memorial; and from the graveyard: Queen Of Ireland, Empress Of India | Interment | The Great War
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This is the latest iteration of the “Build Homes Now” mural in Northumberland Street, with an update to the central panel. Previously it was a space for visitors to sign their names in support but now it is a quote from (presumably) someone living in temporary accommodation: “When you’re in a hostel for so long, it starts to feel like a jail. It’s just so irritating and frustrating.”
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The new Bobby Sands mural is not the only recent addition in Twinbrook. Almond – the middle of the estate – has a ‘before and after’ of the pandemic: on the left, locals sit out in the street watching children play; on the right, frontline personnel.
For the ‘Victory To The IRA’ graffiti on the left, see Who.
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Rangers’s season doesn’t end until May 15th but they have already clinched the Scottish League title. This gives their fans plenty of time to celebrate. This display is from Glenbryn. See previously: F*ck Your Ten In A Row | Respect, Heritage, Culture.
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Extramural Activity 