painted wall

Winter’s End

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Shown are the White Witch (Jadis) and two wolves, Maugrim – Captain of the Secret Police – and Vardan (from the movie adaptation). The piece is called “Winter’s End” however, because Jadis’s reign over Narnia – the winter of 100 years – is under threat from Aslan the lion.

The piece is by Friz (web | tw). The two images below are in-progress shots from March. For the metalwork in the top right, see Chains & Ropes. The corner – which is typically beset with cars – is in Townsley Street/Manderson Street, Belfast, next to CS Lewis square.

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Welcome To The Jungle

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Dee Stitt of the UDA resigned last week as chair of Charter NI citing the strain on his family caused by negative media attention (BBC-NI | Irish News). At the end of 2016, Stitt was criticised for remarks describing his North Down Defenders (tw | Fb) as the “homeland security” of the area and describing working-class estates as “jungles” in which there is always a “big guy” (Guardian video 8 min mark ff.| BelTel | ITV) . The mural above does not directly indicate ties to the UDA/UFF, except for the red fist. For a more explicit NDD board further down the estate, with UDA, UFF, UYM, and LPA flags, see North Down Defenders.

For the recent tension between UDA factions in north Down, see Ulster Defence Unions.

Replaces the mural to VC winner Sir Edward Bingham.

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Ruling By Fooling

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The line “Yes, ruling by fooling, is a great British art – with great Irish fools to practice on” comes from a piece by a James Connolly article in The Irish Worker in 1914. It is used here in the context of what the “Good Friday [Agreement] has delivered: the copper fastened partition through the consent principle & triple locking border poll provision; gerrymandering using peace walls for population control; 70% Protestant, 100% unionist police force; internment by remand; revoking of licences; and miscarriages of justice; sectarianism; total polarisation of mindset; 18 peace walls in 1998 59 peace walls in 2018; sectarian allocation of social housing; almost 500 lives lost to suicide.” In contrast, 32CSM declares that the Declaration Of Independence (in English | as Gaeilge | it was also translated into French) by the Dáil in 1919 is “the only mandate the Irish people need”.

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The Proclamation

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Robert Ballagh’s 1916 Proclamation was first painted as a mural by Mo Chara Kelly and Rısteard Ó Mhurchú in 1991 for the 75th anniversary of the Easter Rising (see Cáısc 1916 which also contains the Ballagh piece). That version stood for ten years on the Whiterock Road. It has reproduced again in Ard An Lao above the hunger strikers, after the removal of several plaques (see All Our Dead). “With special thanks to Hugo Óg Wilkinson”.

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X06110 our revenge will be let there be no bitterness

Resurfacing

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The Blair Mayne mural in Queen Street, Newtownards, which dates back to 2008, has fallen down, revealing the remnants of mural it replaced, a UVF firing party (J1754). A UDA flag, however, has been placed on the mounts.

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North Down UVF

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This mural at the bottom of Kilcooley estate in Bangor has recently been repainted, with the main alteration being the “North Down UVF” replaces “1st July 1916”, focusing attention on the locals from battalion that joined the 36th and away from the Somme. (See the previous mural in 1st July 1916.)

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Heaven When I Die

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The poppy was used exclusively by the UVF (because of their shared named with the Ulster Volunteers, which became the 36th Division, which served on the western front in WWI, but in the last few years (2016-2018) it has been used frequently by the UDA in memorial murals (e.g. one | two | three), indicated here by the lowered flags and absence of weapons. (The first UDA poppy, however, dates back to the 2012 (if not earlier) tribute to Benson Kingsberry.) For background on the inclusion of “West Belfast” alongside “North Down” in a Newtownards mural, see Ulster Defence Unions, which also contains poppies (and which in turn links to information about the Ulster Defence Union of 1893). “UDU” seems to be used here to represent a desire for greater unity among (at least some parts) of the UDA.

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Ulster First Flute

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This vintage piece is next to Linfield Gardens, off Sandy Row. (For the mural all the way back in 1997, see M01330.) Ulster First Flute (Fb) shares the emblem of the other UFF – the Ulster Freedom Fighters – a red first (with or without the drops of blood). See also: Gareth ‘Big Henry’ Morrison on Loyalist Avenue.

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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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Ain’t Nothin But A Gee Thang

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“Ain’t Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang” (youtube) was the most successful single from Dr Dre’s 1992 debut solo album The Chronic. The song featured Snoop Dogg – who quickly went on to have his own solo career – on vocals. Below is the adjacent writing by CLUES in McKibben’s Court.

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