AAD [Action Against Drugs] circulated lists of alleged drug dealers in north and west Belfast in July (Belfast Live), and in August members brandishing a gun and a club posed beside graffiti in the New Lodge urging residents to ‘take back their community’ (BelTel); there have also been attacks on the houses of alleged anti-social elements (BelTel). However, in much of the graffiti, such as the piece above threatening “drug dealers, hoods, and house breakers”, “AAD” has been scored out, indicating community dissatisfaction with the vigilantes.
There have been various ‘give sectarianism the boot’ campaigns over the year. This one is not an appeal to bring players from both sides together using sport but criticism of Belfast City Council’s decision to remove a portacabin from the grounds of East Belfast FC (Fb | tw) due to lack of planning permission, as well as perceived inequality in funding compared to clubs in nationalist communities (Facebook).
“Óglach Tony ‘TC’ Campbell was shot dead by the British Army as he walked along Edlingham Street on February 4th 1973 as he returned home from celebrating his 19th birthday. TC was one [of] six New Lodge residents murdered which was later referred to as the “New Lodge Six Massacre. … Tony lived in 13D Artillery House [now Teach Ghráınne].” Campbell was hit 17 times (BBC).
“Óglach Seamus McCusker was murdered by members of the Workers Party [as part of the PIRA-OIRA feud] on this spot [New Lodge Road outside Artillery House] on the 31st October [1975]. At the time of Seamus’s killing he was on his way to deal with a local resident’s complaint.” McCusker was killed two days after the PIRA shot Robert Elliman in the Markets; a few hours after McCusker’s death, Tom Berry of the OIRA was killed in Short Strand.
The First Presbyterian church in Rosemary Street dates back to 1783 but the congregation goes back to 1644. There are six stained glass windows around the pews, including this one on the teaching of First Corinthians 13:13: “And now abideth faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity.” The piece was produced in 1929 by Mayer Of Munich with patronage by Riddel. Two British Legion flags, laid by after forty years of use, are to the left.
“Is cuimhin linn.” Last week saw a series of events, organised by the Belfast 1969 Pogroms Commemoration Committee, in Clonard, Falls, and Ardoyne, including a photographic exhibition, documentary screenings, panel discussions, a play, a mass, and murals (Irish News), including The Pogrom Of August 1969 and the one above, in Bombay Street, which used to run between the Shankill and Falls but after the riots and burnings of August 1969 was split in two by a so-called “peace” line (see the wide shot, below).
“These are terrible days … but some good has already come from these attacks on our communities. You have young people and elderly people all closely knit together and that is a grand thing. We must not allow hatred to spring up in our hearts. For what we are aiming for now is justice. We demand justice. We are not begging for it – we are demanding it. It is our right and we will keep on demanding it until we get it. We don’t ask for anything more – just a fair deal … that we will soon have a community where everybody, irrespective of religious belief or irrespective of political ideology will be able to lead a normal life and will not be unjustly discriminated against.” – Fr Patrick Egan, sermon in Clonard Monastery, August 1969 (youtube).
“In loving memory of Isobel Bamford 18.09.1954 – 03.02.2014 from family and friends in Kirkintillock LOL 206, KRSC [Kirkintillock Rangers Supporters Club], City of Glasgow ABOD and POTNFB [Pride Of The North Flute Band].” Kirkintillock is eight miles outside Glasgow, Scotland. This memorial bench to Bella Bamford is in the pocket park just above the King William III mural on Sandy Row.
A message from the students at Glenwood Primary School: “Kill your speed, not a child. Look at the road, not your phone.” With support from the Greater Shankill A[ction for] C[omunity] T[ransformation] Initiative (Fb). Although these are boards, they have been printed to look as though they are on brick. BelfastLive has a gallery of images from the 2016 launch. Shankill Road at the top of Lanark Way.
Humans are animals and quizzes for determining precisely which animal you might be have been on the internet since forever; even the World Wildlife Fund has one. Work by Friz (tw | web | ig) for Hit The North 2019, in Kent Street, Belfast.
US president Donald Trump, yesterday quoted (approvingly, in a tweet) a conservative radio host claiming that Israelis think of him “like he’s the King of Israel” and “the second coming of God”. He went on, later in the afternoon, to describe himself to reporters as ‘the chosen one’ (video at BBC) for imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. He said that American Jews who vote for Democrats are “disloyal” (BBC) to Israel; he later clarified (NYTimes). 80% of Jewish Americans voted for Democrats.
The Trump flag flies over Sandy Row, next to the other ‘Prince Of Orange’.
The Westrock bungalows were aluminium prefab houses built in 1949 during the post-war housing shortage next to Springhill and Ballymurphy. British troops fired on the area from the high position of Corry’s timber yard in the summer of 1972; their bullets could go through the walls. Five people were shot dead, including a priest. The plaques shown are new additions to the memorial garden in Westrock Drive.
“On the evening of July 9th 1972 British marksmen mounted an unprovoked and sustained attack on this community. Among the snipers[‘] victims lay five dead. Gunned down during efforts to bring aid an succour to the wounded. Still waiting for justice to their memory and for freedom of the truth.”
Extramural Activity 