The People Before Profit Alliance is an all-Ireland political party closely related to the Socialist Workers Party. In the north, candidate Gerry Carroll was elected to Belfast City Council in 2014, representing Black Mountain. Gay rights does not seem to form an explicit part of the platform, but the mural above, featuring a heart with the rainbow colours, appeared on Divis St in time for the Pride parade on August 1st.
The 1916 Proclamation Of Irish Republic includes the sentence “The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.” At the time, it had a political meaning, but it has since been pressed into service by advocates of children’s right and now, in the board above, by supporters of gay rights. James Connolly (leader of the Irish Citizen Army) and the text of the declaration are shown against a backdrop of the gay pride rainbow flag. Launched 2015-07-31
A week before he was assassinated and his government overthrown, Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara asserted: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” Sankara gained power of Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) in a 1983 coup and launched an ambitious programme of literacy, feminism, public health, and agricultural self-sufficiency, in addition to launching a drive against corruption and of nationalizing natural resources. He attempted this all without the assistance of foreign aid or the IMF or World Bank. However, he wielded power outside the jurisdiction of the courts and controlled the press. He and twelve colleagues were killed in October 1987.
“SOS – Wall St rapes Ireland”. Conor Devine (at EamonnMallie.com) provides context. This message on the mountain (Slıabh Dubh) came and went in a matter of days, if not hours, because the television exposé it was designed to coincide with was not in fact broadcast; also perhaps because parents did not appreciate having to explain rape to their young children – the mountain can be seen from a large portion of west and central Belfast.
Chinese, Cantonese, European, and Presbyterian. Three signs outside the Chinese take-away in Ballycarry: the Chinese lettering for the restaurant, a DUP poster supporting Sammy Wilson, and an Ulster-Scots heritage banner: “1613 The Arrival of Edward Brice – The first presbyterian minister in Ireland”.
On a barn wall in Ballycarry, County Antrim: a African youth (perhaps Ethiopian Mursi tribe) with painted face and a headdress of warthog tusk and aluminium coils. (By Liquid Colour Design – see also The Craic Is Mighty)
A new “historical wall feature” was unveiled by the Shared History Interpretive Project (SHIP) on the outside of the Dockers Club in Pilot Street in Sailortown. The new piece is a montage of about 60 images of vintage photographs, a census form, and posters of industrial life. In the top-middle (behind the lamppost) there can be seen an image of the board this one replaces, which featured two carters pulling away a heavy load, similar to the carter in the image above. Another addition in the new work is the inclusion of Billy McMullen (1888-1982) and John Quinn (1876-1935) alongside Winifred Carney (1887-1943), James Connolly (1868-1916), and Jim Larkin (1876-1947). Both McMullen and Quinn are Belfast trades unionists. Quinn’s headstone in Milltown Cemetery was featured previously, in Forgotten In Life, Remembered In Death. More information about all five, as well as photographs of dockers and of the unveiling, can be found at the SHIP web site.
Extramural Activity 