The Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) is the youth division of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and its emblem, shared with the YCV of 1912, is the red hand on green shamrock, as shown in black-and-white (above and below) in a new side-wall added to the recently repainted UVF mural in Tavanagh Street, for which see the wide shot (third image) and Taking Aim.
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The UVF mural in the Village area of south Belfast has been freshened up. The design of the mural remains the same as before, with hooded gunmen on either side of the UVF emblem aiming directly at the viewer (see the second image). For the previous version, see 2013’s The Village People. There is a new side-wall to the left, which will be the subject of tomorrow’s post.
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“Killed in action” (on the mural) or “on active service” (on the plaque) often means killed by a bomb exploding prematurely, as in the case of Finbarr McKenna, who died in Crocus Street intending to attack the RUC station on the Springfield Road at Violet Street. Here is an account of McKenna’s death from a British soldier. Lost Lives estimates that as many as 163 volunteers (9% of the total killed by the IRA) died from premature explosions. Footage of McKenna’s funeral appears in the (Sınn Féın-produced) account of Larry Marley’s funeral.
The plaque dates back to at least 2004.
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X04992 In memory of IRA Volunteer Finbarr McKenna who died on active service in Crocus St. 2nd May 1987. Erected by the Greater Clonard Ex-Prisoners Association.
The wall of the Royal (on the Falls just above Springfield Road) continues to serve as a prime spot for graffiti. “IRA – here to stay” is connected with the recent controversy over “IRA” lettering and an assault rifle (Belfast Live) mounted on flagposts both here (Irish News) and on Divis Street (see Life In The Old Dogs Yet).
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“White-line picket in support of Niall Lehd – Saturday 30th June, International Wall, Falls Road [in fact Divis Street] at 2 pm”. For details of his incarceration, see Free Niall Lehd. This IRNC/IRPC poster is in the New Lodge (Join The IRNC | IRPC).
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Saoradh (web | Fb | tw) have added a pro-Palestine mural with the slogan “Resistance is not terrorism” to the Falls Road at the old Linden Street (replacing TMN’s homage to Vaughan Bodē).
See also: RNU Stands With Palestine.
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This mural has been added to the “D company” corner at Northumberland and Divis streets (see Our Struggle Continues), with traditional words (“saoırse/freedom”, “beır bua/seize victory”) and imagery of the four provinces and a lark in barbed wire.
In the background can be seen the old Divis flats. The flats were built to replace the tightly-packed streets of the lower Falls. After the first three blocks were completed in 1969, there was a plan to have a mixture of flats all the way up to Dunville Park (“Phase 2” in this 30-minute BBC video on the flats, which also includes the story of its eventual demise.
In the (blacked out) spot of the Orlando nightclub shooting mural.
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“Dedicated to the memory of INLA volunteer Matt McLarnon, Nora McCabe and Peter Doherty who were murdered in this area by British state forces during the 1981 H-Block hunger strike. A Mhuıre banríon na nGael guí ar a son”. The area in question is Clonard/Falls. Doherty and McCabe were hit by plastic bullets; McLarnon was shot by a sniper on Divis tower. Erected by a Sınn Féın group (Lower Falls/Clonard Committee) rather than INLA. Linden Street, Belfast.
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Larne man and member of the Continuity IRA or Irish Republican National Congress (IRNC – see Join The IRNC and Maid Of Erin; also IRPC, who now have a Fb page, as does the Free Niall Lehd campaign) member Niall Lehd was initially arrested on explosives charges in 2014 (BBC-NI) and given early release in 2016 (An Phoblacht). He is associated with Ciaran Maxwell, who says that he became a republican bomb-maker out of fear (RTÉ | Express). He was returned to jail in March (Irish News).
Below is a wide shot from 2018-02 showing the advertising hoarding that appears to be disused and (another shot of) the ‘RIP Jamie’ graffiti below.
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This was presumably to be a UDA mural in the Bangor estate of Kilcooley (there used to be a UFF mural on this wall – see M03710), but the mural was started in May 2016 and the image above taken in April 2017. If you have any information about why the painting stopped, please get in touch.
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Extramural Activity 