Union Flag

Three Scottish Soldiers

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Highland Fusiliers Joseph McCaig (18), (his brother) John McCaig (17), and Dougald McCaughey (23) were lured by members of the (P)IRA from a city-centre pub to their deaths in the fields above Ligoniel in 1971 (WP). Their deaths contributed to the resignation of Chichester-Clark and the introduction of internment in August. There are monuments to the three men in Ballysillan and at the site of their deaths on White Brae depicted on the right of the mural – for images of the monuments see The Highland. This new Rathcoole mural to their memory replaces one to Queen Elizabeth II.

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East Belfast Ulster Volunteers

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The Union Flag/UVF side-wall is a new addition to the Ulster Volunteers/UVF memorial in London Road, east Belfast. The main panel shows WWI soldiers going over the top (see Between The Crosses) while the four portraits to its right are of deceased UVF volunteers of the 70s and 80s – Seymour, Long, Cordner, and Bennett – (see Ulster’s Brave).

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Westwinds East Belfast

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This large Union Flag is another “East Belfast UVF” marking in the Westwinds estate in Newtownards (10 miles to the east of Belfast), a more colourful companion to the hooded gunmen in  East East Belfast and EB UVF. The familiar purple-and-orange UVF flag flies over the playground.

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A Rock That Cannot Be Moved

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A Union Flag is freshly repainted on a rock in the Westwinds estate, Newtownards, now joined by the emblem of the YCV on another.

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Loyalist Ballymacash

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Ballymacash estate, now part of Lisburn, was once a village around the location of Drayne’s Farm, with a school at the junction of Glenavy, Brokerstown, Ballymacash, and Nettlehill roads. Lisburn.com has a history of the area. Today it is famous for its enormous 11th night bonfire (see Ballymacash Bonfire, as well as Skull & Crossbones | Death & Life).

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Ulster First Flute

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This vintage piece is next to Linfield Gardens, off Sandy Row. (For the mural all the way back in 1997, see M01330.) Ulster First Flute (Fb) shares the emblem of the other UFF – the Ulster Freedom Fighters – a red first (with or without the drops of blood). See also: Gareth ‘Big Henry’ Morrison on Loyalist Avenue.

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Loyalist East Belfast

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Here are the two low walls along Freedom Corner in east Belfast. Above, “The Ulster conflict is about nationality – this we shall maintain” using flags as identifiers: the Ulster banner for Northern Ireland, the St George Cross for England, the Union Flag for the UK, St Andrew’s Saltire for Scotland, and Baner Cymru for Wales. The previous version used flowers and the red hand – see Daffodil Nation.

Below, “Loyalist east Belfast” between the Ulster Banner and Union Flag.

From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner

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Larne Remembers Her Fallen

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History Hub Ulster and Larne Urban District Council are conducting a search for additional names of residents from the Larne area who died in WWI, to add to the 147 included on the war memorial in Inver. The dead are also remembered in this wrap-around mural in Milbrook. We will have close-ups of the different panels and plaques tomorrow. For images of the launch, see the Friends of the 36th – Cairncastle facebook page.

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Faded Glory

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These five images show the remains of an Ulster Special Service Force (USSF) mural in Drumahoe Gardens, Millbrook. In addition to the union flag and emblem of the unit, the mural showed the Covenant and Carson, the gunrunning ship Clyde Valley which landed at Larne (not shown here), the garlanded red hand shown above, a memorial lamp post(?) not shown, soldiers from the 36th Division going over the top(fourth), the Ulster Tower and a helmet on a cross (not shown).

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Use The Veto, Leo

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“First round” Brexit negotiations between Europe and the UK required an agreement in principle on the land border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (a member of the EU). President of the European Council Donald Tusk went to Dublin at the beginning of December to declare that as a member Ireland (and prime minister Leo Varadkar) would have a veto over whether “sufficient progress” had been made (Irish Times), which the the Sınn Féın board above urged him to use. The DUP objected to any “special status/stádas speısıalta” for NI, rejecting the wording proposed on December 4th. An agreement was reached on December 8th which would (somehow) both preserve Northern Ireland’s similarity to the rest of the UK without requiring a “hard border” with the Republic.

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