political

Yes For Unity

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The IRSP last month (September, 2018) launched a campaign on Facebook, youtube, and twitter to poll various districts on the question of a border poll. “Unity referendum now! British occupation has been a disaster for the people of Ireland. A united Ireland is the way forward for all the people of Ireland.” The one above is on the fence around the North Queen Street play park; the one below (“88% of Divis people”) is below Divis tower.

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Decolonisation

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“In memory of our fallen INLA volunteers, upper Springfield area: Hugh Ferguson, Ronnie Bunting, Noel Little, Hugh O’Neill, Micky Kearney, John McColgan, Paddy “Paddybo” Campbell. Comrades: Barry “Baz” McMullan, Sean “Shanto” fleming, Harry O’Hara, Paul Collins, Bernado Brownlee, Emmanuel Kelly, Michael Conlon, Billy Lynch, James “Harpo” Murray, John Kennaway. Saoırse go deo [freedom forever].” Ferguson was the first member of the INLA to die, in 1975 in the feud with the OIRA. Bunting and Little/Lyttle (both Protestants) were shot dead in 1980 in Bunting’s Andersonstown home by masked gunmen from the UDA or SAS with RUC complicity.

Whiterock Road, Belfast, next to the Kevin Lynch – Marian Price – Kevin Lynch wall.

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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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Head Examined

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A crude anatomy of the loyalist brain by TLO, with modules dedicated to Buckfast (tonic wine), flying our flag, The Sash, 1690, killing all taigs, and Saving Ulster From Sodomy. DUP councillor called the poster “a hate crime” (Guardian).

Side-by-side with: Ian Paisley Jr as The Crawler.

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The Crawler

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Adolphe Smith accompanied John Thomson as he travelled around Victorian London in the 1870s, interviewing the subjects in order to provide background for Thomson’s photographs, their combined efforts published as  Street Life In London (pdf from LSE). The entry accompanying this image (in unmodified form) is entitled “The Crawlers“; Smith describes them as “old women reduced by vice and poverty to that degree of wretchedness which destroys even the energy to beg”. The DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr. was recently seen in the House Of Commons apologising for failing to disclose two all-expenses-paid holidays for him and his family to Sri Lanka (Irish Times). His colleagues suspended him for 30 days and withdrew his salary for a month for this failure and for acting as a paid advocate for Sri Lanka’s human rights record (Colombo Telegraph). If 7,543 of his constituents sign a recall petition, he will face re-election. The election poster combining the two is (presumably) by TLO.

Update: “That’s not funny!” above a vandalised version of the poster at the end of August.

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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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The Keys To Freedom

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Here is a vintage mural still hanging on in St James’s in west Belfast. It was painted in 1995 (by Andrea Redmond?) and dates back to the peace process and the “Green Ribbon” campaign to secure the release of political prisoners: the dove carries the keys to set them free. The graffiti on the keys, however, reads “IRA” and “FTQ” (“Eff the Queen”), and in the upper wing, “UTP” (“Up the Provos”).

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Prince Of Fumes

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Here is another TLO (web) piece commenting on the use of tyres in 11th Night bonfires. King William Of Orange (original here) is shown in a gas mask with a chain of tyres around his neck.

Previously: Tyred Of Your Culture, and from last year, Good Year For A Bonfire.

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Skull And Crossbones

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The skull and crossbones was the emblem of the Ballymacash Young Conquerors flute band in Lisburn, and it is still used by members of the new band, the Pride Of Ballymacash (Fb).

For close-ups of the bonfire in the background of the second image, see Ballymacash Bonfire.

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This Mess We’re In

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This graffiti in the city centre in one go describes both the state of things and the alleged culprits.

See also Lost Duppy from 2016. And Don’t Be DUPed from 2014 in the Peter Moloney Collection.

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