Two shots of Keats & Chapman, booksellers, in North Street, and a second incarnation of ‘Read More’ by “Filth” (This Is Filth, Graham Watson). The original Read More was two units further down the street – that spot has been taken by JMK’s Venus (featured previously). A picture of the shop during trading hours (taken 2013-10) is below, with a little girl perhaps getting her first look into Keats & Chapman.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Target practice in south Belfast. A bullseye gets 100 points.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Republican lower Ormeau – PSNI out.”
Graffiti in Dromara Street, south Belfast.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Graffiti in the Highfield estate complaining about/threatening someone allegedly reporting [touting] others to the authorities about unemployment claims [bru, brew; the dole].
According to one source, “bru” is originally a Glaswegian corruption of “bureau” from the 1930s.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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One more piece of graffiti related to the arrest and questioning of Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams at the start of May from the junction of Finaghy Road North and Trench Park.
Previously: In-Former Republicans (1) | In-Former Republicans (2) | It Was Gerry | Get The Real Story
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Materials intended for an Eleventh Night bonfire in Rathcoole were set alight early on Tuesday morning (0200 May 13th, 2014, according to Proud To Be A Protestant – Banter) and still smoldered in the morning. Nolan’s radio show last week had a segment on this bonfire, following up on an Irish News report (article behind a paywall) that the bonfire might be moved or covered for the Giro d’Italia. “Culture before cash” means that locals would prefer bonfires to the funds available (here is the Belfast City Council ‘Bonfire Management’ page; Rathcoole is in Newtownabbey) to put on a street party with a willow-wood beacon in its place. According to this Irish News report, in 2013 45 Loyalist and 12 Republican bonfires part of the scheme. Here is the DOE’s Bonfire Report (pdf).
Previously: Bonfire Flags (images of (nearly) finished bonfires) | Everyone Has The Right To Participate (pallets in the lower Shankill estate)
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Graffiti in The Village area (south Belfast). The precise reason for the graffiti is unknown (leave a comment/e-mail if you know). Romanians were in the first wave of European immigration to Northern Ireland and came under attack especially in 2009. More recently, a Romanian had faeces thrown at him last week (BelTel) and attacks against immigrants, Poles in particular, have been on the rise in recent months. The latest is this attack (Tele) on a family in Templemore Avenue and an attack by a gang of fifteen people (Guardian). Last week saw “Locals only/Get out!” graffiti in east Belfast (U.tv – includes video| The Journal) and south Belfast (NewsLetter). Last year, “No blacks” graffiti was directed at two Nigerians, also in east Belfast (BBC). The Polish envoy has expressed his concerns to the PSNI (Guardian | IrishNews).
Previously: Never Actually Existed
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Giro d’Italia (Tour Of Italy) got off to a rainy start in Belfast yesterday (Friday May 9th, 2014) with a team time-trial. While there was talk in February of removing not just election posters (BBC) but also flags and murals (BBC), and the tourist board and Department of Enterprise hopes that spectacular scenes (through the rain) from the north Antrim coast will recoup the cost of hosting the event (4.2M in total), republicans took to the slopes of Slıabh Dubh to greet Italian visitors and perhaps viewers with “Fine Dominio Britannico” (“End British Rule”), and loyalists held what the Tele describes as a “protest march”, setting off this morning at the same time as the second stage – around the Antrim coast – got under way (Parades Commission on the Ligoniel Combine).
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts – McIntyre”. The graffiti refers to the Boston College oral history project, directed by Ed Moloney and involving former IRA volunteer Anthony McIntyre (who now writes at The Pensive Quill), a collection of interviews of former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides) between 2001-2006, some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Gerry Adams’s interrogation (see Get The Real Story). More background from the BBC.
For legal commentary, see Folkman Law.
Wall Street, Belfast. The same graffiti appeared on Divis Street.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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More graffiti relating to the Gerry Adams arrest last week, this time on Divis Street: “In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts”. The graffiti refers to a collection of interviews made by former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides), some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Adams’s interrogation. More background from the BBC.
The graffiti also appeared in Wall Street.
Previously in this location: Divis Isn’t Working.
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Copyright © 2014 Extramural Activity
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Extramural Activity 