Christmas greetings from Holy Family Parish, in four languages: “Happy Christmas” in English, “Nollaig Shona” in Irish, “Wesołych Świąt” in Polish, and “ക്രിസ്മസ് ആശംസകൾ”/”krismas āśansakaḷ” in Malayalam. Many nurses working in Ireland come from Kerala (Irish Times). The hoarding is next to Brothers Asian take-away on the Antrim Road at – “A bite of Asia”.
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“Fuck the auto-crime team” say the hoods of the New Lodge Road. In October, a car stolen from the Whitewell was recovered (Fb), and in January an ACT car was rammed by a car thief in Sandy Row (Belfast Live).
The graffiti are on Regent Street, Belfast.
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Walkway Community Centre (Fb) in east Belfast got a new mural back in May, painted by Nathan Calderwood, to thank all of the “community heroes” working during the pandemic. “ea” (on the left) is for Education Authority who sponsored the work.
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A six-week lockdown beginning on December 26th was approved last night by the executive, which said the current situation required an “urgent intervention” (BBC). The lockdowns are difficult for everyone, not just financially but psychologically. (See previously: Home Is Where The Hurt Is.) This Broadway graffiti suggests that the lockdowns are promoting suicides, though there do not appear to be data yet suggesting an increase in suicide during the pandemic. ‘Action 61’ appears to be a fringe protest group.
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October 10th is WHO World Mental Health Day. To mark the occasion and respond to the continued high rates of suicide in west Belfast (Assembly Research), emic (web | tw | ig) and local youth painted an “OK” gesture on the side of the Alternatives (web) offices in Agnes Street, which also includes the numbers for Lifeline and Samaritans. In-progress images of the mural being painted by can be seen at AlternativesRJ. In the US, the “OK” hand gesture has recently become associated with the ‘white power’ movement (WP).
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“Thank you NHS and all frontline workers – stay safe”. They might not be getting much recognition in terms of mammon but “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6.10 NIV) The van was spotted on the Shankill.
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Ní saoırse go saoırse na mban [“There is no freedom without the freedom of women”] with images of Countess Markievicz, Colman Doyle’s famous ?1974? image of a (staged) female IRA volunteer with AR-18, Máıre Drumm, and Maıréad Farrell. Lasaır Dhearg (web) sticker in north Belfast.
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Gratitude for NHS and other front line staff has been in no short supply throughout the pandemic but the cost of the pandemic last month led UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to moot a pay freeze for public sector workers (BBC). After widespread outcry, including the People Before Profit (web | tw) campaign shown here, he two weeks ago declared that salaries of a million nurses and frontline staff would not be frozen but declined to specify an increase (Nursing Times | iNews).
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Domestic abuse reports to PSNI in the second quarter of 2020 increased 4% to 8,302 (BelTel). Women’s Aid NI (web | tw) provides refuge and support to victims of domestic violence. The stencil by Laura Nelson & Leo Boyd from VaultNI is on Carrick Hill. The title of today’s post comes from Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Mason (tw).
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North Belfast is experiencing a housing shortage (Build Homes Now) which means people are willing to go the extra mile for homes, which doesn’t always go down well with the locals. The graffiti shown in today’s post appeared in mid November in the majority-Protestant area of Skegoneill, near the junction with Glandore Avenue and Catholic Ashfield. Police called the graffiti a “hate incident” (QRadio).
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Extramural Activity 