CNR – Page 29 – Extramural Activity

The Cobwebs Of The Past

2022-05-022025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

In his statement in response to the news of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (11 April, 1998), John Hume said, “This process is not about the victory or defeat of nationalism or unionism. It is about something much greater. Today, as Fergal Keane said in relation to South Africa, we can take collective breath and begin to blow away the cobwebs of the past. We can begin to break the bondage of fear which has so damaged our people and our country, difficult and demanding though this will be in the coming days and weeks.” (CAIN)

Commissioned by the Grand Central bar (Derry Journal) in Great James Street (whose side-wall the mural is on) and painted by Peaball (ig) an art group (including Donal O’Doherty, formerly of UVArts – Belfast Live).

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Copyright © 2022 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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Rifleman Robert King

2022-04-302025-01-07Extramural Activity2 Comments

The Military Medal (“MM”) “for gallantry in the field” was awarded to Rifleman Robert King of the 12th Royal Irish Rifles in the dispatches of July 12th for his actions on July 1st, the first day of the Battle Of The Somme. King was from Ronald Street in Larne (RIR 12th Fb; there is also a 12th batt RIR memorial association).

The reverse of the medal can be seen in the previous version of this mural.

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Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Had Enough?

2022-04-282025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The NI Assembly election is this day week (Thursday May 5th). Here is another gallery of electoral posters. Where last week’s selection included a Noah Donahoe placard in electoral style, this weeks’ includes one for New Life City Church (ig), again in the style of an electoral candidate: “He’s not after your vote, he’s after your heart.” Also shown are: (above) TUV’s ‘don’t hope; vote’; Sinn Féin’s “Time for real change” on top of a “spoil your vote” stencil; the PUP’s “country before party” with anti-woke independent Tony Mallon’s “We the people”; and last, Neil Moore of the Socialist Party “We can’t afford this system” (namely, capitalism).

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Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Was This Lawful?

2022-04-262025-01-07Extramural Activity1 Comment

A 2021 command paper that proposed a statue of limitations and amnesty for so-called “legacy” killings included the claim that ‘the vast majority of security force killings were lawful’ (BelTel) and the comment has been attributed to NI Secretary Brandon Lewis (Pat Finucane Centre). (For background see e.g. this eamonnmallie.com piece.) The claim is used against him in this tarp commemorating Stephen McConomy was hit by a plastic bullet forty years ago this month, on April 16th, and died three days later: “Stephen McConomy (11) shot dead by Lanc. Corp. from Royal Anglian Regiment – April 1982. Was this ‘lawful’, Brandon Lewis?” Speaking at the memorial service, surviving family-members vowed to continue resisting the proposed limitations (Derry Journal).

There is also a plaque to McConomy in Fahan Street where he was shot (this one has since been replaced) and long ago there was a mural on Rossville Street.

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Copyright © 2022 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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What Did You Do In The Election?

2022-04-142025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Today is the last day to register to vote in the May 5th Assembly election. You can register on-line at gov.uk. Currently, 1.4 million people are registered in Northern Ireland (BBC). As today’s images make clear, the poles of Belfast are already cluttered with placards for the various candidates, as well as the salient issues, such as the “sea border” and the death of Noah Donohoe.

Che’s Afterlife

2022-04-082025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Henri Cartier-Bresson said of Che Guevara’s eyes that they “glow; they coax, entice and mesmerize.” (WaPo), and (in a special feature ‘This Is Castro’s Cuba Seen Face To Face‘ that he shot for Life magazine) described Che as “an impetuous man with burning eyes and profound intelligence who seems born to make revolution”. The descriptions seem to fit the iconic “Guerrillero Heroico” photo by Alberto Korda, which Jim Fitzpatrick took as the basis for his two-tone poster version, but raised the eyes even more (WP).

This small Che board is in the alley between Ross Road and the Falls Road, near You’re Never Alone, over the back door to someone’s yard. It dates back to at least 2016.