City/Town

The Loyalist Executioner

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Here are dozen South East Antrim UDA boards along Shanlea Drive in Ballycraigy (Larne). The first four commemorate the massive bonfire built each year (see Commonwealth Handling Equipment) – “We lead, others follow”.

The middle are the most violent, showing volunteers wearing balaclavas and carrying assault rifles, with a poem about killing “Provos” which here seems to mean simply Catholics, as no IRA members were killed in either Ormeau or Greysteel. “The Provo’s fear the reaper/From the UFF he comes/The loyalist executioner/He brings judgment with his gun//He strikes when no one expects him too/From behind his hood cold eyes/The reaper brings stiff justice/As another Provo dies//He brought revenge for the Bann/ In Ormeau bookies five/And for the Shankill bombing/Greysteel was his reply//Sometimes his lust is chilling/As he goes about his task/The Provo’s fear the reaper/There’s death behind his mask.” There was a poem with the same sentiment in south Belfast (see The Reaper Come To Call) next to a mural of Eddie The Trooper.

Of the final four (the right-hand side) the historical photograph was the basis for a mural in south Belfast.

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A Burning World

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Here, in sequence, are the HTN22 pieces on Union Street to the east of Kent Street, with work by Razer (ig) (reproducing a Judah Passow photograph from Divis flats), NOYS (ig), Irony (ig), KVLR (ig), Lobster Robin (ig), Friz (ig), Shane Ha (ig), and Ink Fun (ig). ADW’s 2016 piece Keep Her Lit completes the wall.

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | Evoke | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Red Heads

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Here, in sequence, are the HTN22 pieces on the west side of Kent Street, above the gates into the construction site: unicorns from Zurdie (ig), Not Pop (ig), ‘Hope Never Dies’ from Glen Molloy (ig), sushi from Zippy (ig), FGB (ig), ‘The Belle Of Belfast City’ from Alana McDowell (ig), Leo Boyd (ig), Codo (ig).

The Lyra McKee tribute (If You Listen Very Closely, You Can Hear Her Breathe) completes this side of the wall.

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | The Children Of Gear | A Burning World | Evoke | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Evoke

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In sequence, here is the east side of Kent Street, below Union Street. This wall begins with emic’s 3-D hands and then the new (HTN22) pieces begin: Claire Provoust (ig), Holly Pereira (ig), DMC, ADW (ig) (this piece was featured previously in Spring Into Art), Det + Mash, Omin + Oner + Kone, Vents (below Biggie Smalls in Only Love Can Save Us). The Codo piece from last year is still on the shutters at the end (see Before An Audience).

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | A Burning World | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Our Murdered Brethren

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Orange Order Victims day is an annual commemoration (on September 1st) of the 339 members who were killed during the Troubles. The stained glass window reproduced in a board on the Newbuildings memorial garden is in the Museum of Orange Heritage in Schomberg House, south Belfast.

Compared with the garden in 2020 (see Newbuildings Victoria), there is a new NI Centenary board, and on the outside (replacing the tarps giving thanks for the NHS and commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE day) there is a celebration of the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. On the electrical box, there is a stencil in support of Bloody Sunday’s “Soldier F”, who continues to face murder charges (for the killings of William McKinney and James Wray) and five attempted murder charges after the PPS’s decision to discontinue prosecution was quashed in March (Guardian); the PPS has appealed (News Letter).

339 Orange Order members killed during the Troubles.

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Commonwealth Handling Equipment

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The Craigyhill (Larne) bonfire was officially measured at 202.3 feet in height, exceeding the existing Guinness World Record for tallest bonfire, a 199-ft pyre in Austria in 2019. More than 40,000 pounds was raised for the effort (Belfast Live). In preparation for lighting, houses around the green were boarded up with sheets of plywood (see below).

The red and blue pallets mostly go at the bottom because they are sturdier pallets; they are also longer lasting and more expensive to produce. The red pallets come from La Palette Rouge while the blue come from CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) (Belfast Media). They can be legally bought or sold only by their respective companies.

In nearby Antiville, a bonfire builder fell to his death. See With Heart And Hand.

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Who Am I?

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Work by Irony (tw | ig | Fb | tumblr) in College Court, Belfast.

Later (March 2023) replaced during the Women’s Work jam – see Women’s Work for in-progress shots and We Built This for completed works.

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With Heart And Hand

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The Antiville (Larne) bonfire was toppled and set alight on Sunday night after the death of one its builders, John Steele, who fell from it at about 9:30 p.m. the previous evening (Belfast Live video | BelTel | Belfast Live). The Antiville bonfire was perhaps 50 ft in height; the nearby Craigyhill bonfire, at 202 ft, continued to stand until it was lit at midnight on Monday night.

Many floral tributes were left along the fence of the adjacent Presbyterian church, including ones from other bonfire sites (Craigyhill, Old Mossley, Doonbeg), flute bands (Anderson Memorial, Ballycraigy Sons Of Ulster, Ladyhill, Cairncastle, North Down Defenders, Tullycarnet), UVF (Rathcoole RHC), and UDA (Tullycarnet); Steele’s funeral will take place on Thursday (Irish News).

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My Enemy’s Enemy

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The Ireland Supports The People Of Donetsk graffiti outside the RVH has been modified, perhaps twice. Most prominent is a the writing by MASH (of TMN krew) – highly unusual appearance by a tagger on a central thoroughfare (and in west Belfast, too).

It is possible is that the “Free Ukraine” in the bottom left was an earlier response to the original graffiti. It is not clear why “Free” has been x-ed out.

Support for either Ukraine or Russia in CNR areas is non-existent, perhaps because of anti-imperial attitude applied – in equal but opposite measure – to both NATO and Russia. At the beginning of the conflict, Sinn Féin deleted thousands of comments critical of the EU’s or NATO’s stance towards Russia from its web site (Indo | Irish Times | journal.ie | see also Irish Examiner).

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Soldier Of Ireland

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After serving in the IRA in the War Of Independence, Liam Mellows was elected to the First Dáil and as a member of the second Dáil voted against the Treaty in January 1922 (his speech is recorded in Oireachtas.ie under the name “Liam Mellowes”). In the Civil War that followed, he served as IRA quartermaster in the force in the Four Courts that surrendered to Free State forces on June 30th, 1922. He was imprisoned in Mountjoy and executed in December, in reprisal for the killing of Seán Hayes (see Executed). (WP | An Phoblacht) His proposals for government were published posthumously as ‘Mellows Testament’ (NLI) and include state ownership of heavy industry, large estates, the transport system, and the banks. The sticker below quotes from that document: “Ireland, if her industries and banks were controlled by foreign capital, would be at the mercy of every breeze that ruffled the surface of the world’s money-markets.”

Stewart Street, south Belfast

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