The Sporting Wing

Three Celtic-related stickers from Belfast.

Above, in the city centre, the “Holy Trinity” of …
Glasgow Celtic (see previously The Celtic Football Club | The Bould Bhoys | and many others),
Cliftonville (Belfast) (see previously Let’s All Do The Huddle | The Red Army | others),
and St Pauli (Hamburg) (see previously Good Night, White Pride | Gegen Rechts | also Armed With Taste).

Below, second, from the Shankill: “Big Jock Knew”, that is Celtic manager Jock Stein knew of the sexual abuse of Boys Club manager Jim Torbett. Torbett was sacked by Stein in 1974 but returned to the position in the 1980s. Torbett was tried in 1998 for crimes during the earlier time-period and served 30 months, and again in 2018, for various offenses, receiving a sentence of six years (WP). More charges are to be heard in April, 2023 (Daily Record). The phrase is the title of song sung by fans of teams playing against Celtic (WP).

Below, third, from the Falls: “the sporting wing [of the IRA]”, a play on the idea that Sinn Féin was the “political wing” of the IRA. The GAA has also been given the title (BelTel 2020); Sammy Wilson, as DUP press officer defending UDA attacks on GAA halls in Belfast and Banbridge, in September 1993, described the GAA as “the IRA at play” (WP). (For a history of the two organisations, see Irish Peace Process.) Instead of the usual four-leaf clover, three hooded gunmen fire a funeral volley.

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An Injustice To One Is An Injustice To All

In his Letter From A Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr wrote, “I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The marchers portrayed in the poster above carry placards supporting immigrants (“No human is illegal”), the poor (“Poverty is the worst form of violence”) and Palestine. The poster calls for participants in the annual march, which retraces the route taken on the fateful day in 1972, beginning at Creggan shops and proceeding to Free Derry Corner. Yesterday’s march concluded a week of talks and other commemorative events. Today – January 30th – is the fifty-first anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Derry.

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X11975 [X11974] An injury to one is an injury to all

Fáilte Go ACT

The Irish “Fáilte” is included among the many languages at the entrance to the ACT (Action For Community Transformation) visitor centre on the Shankill. See previously the signage at Boyd’s in the lower Shankill (which does not have a “Fáilte”) and the Coiste claim that All Flags Are Welcome (which does not have a Union Flag).

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Political Leaders Are Not Listening

Here is a second set of images showing the “peace or protocol” poster that has appeared in PUL areas in the city, three in east Belfast – along the Newtownards Road – and two from north Belfast – Oakmount Drive and Ballysillan Road. Two others in norther Belfast were seen previously in A Return To Violence, which also explains the poster.

For the murals along “Freedom Corner” see 50th Anniversary; for the black-and-white mural, see Please Pay Here; for the banner, see Choose One Or The Other.

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A Return To Violence

Following yesterday’s east Belfast “Peace or proticol” graffiti, today we have “Peace or protocol – it’s your decision”, aimed at Leo Varadkar on the day that he again became Taoiseach (Irish Times) and repeating his words back to him from a speech in 2018: “The possibility of a return to violence is very real”. At that meeting, Varadkar was anticipating violence by anti-Agreement republicans in response to customs posts on the Ireland-Northern Ireland border, and brought a newspaper describing the death of four customs officials, two lorry drivers, and three IRA volunteers at a Monaghan post in 1972 (BelTel).

The authors of this poster are not known, but the parallel statement (mutatis mutandis) would be that anti-Protocol agents – perhaps the “young loyalists” that the UVF “can no longer contain” (UK Daily; see also RTÉ from November) – might return to acts of violence such as the 1974 “Dublin & Monaghan Bombings” that killed 33 people – in the background of the poster is part of a photograph (included below) of bomb damage in Talbot Street – if the Protocol’s “Irish Sea border” is not removed.

The instance of the poster shown in today’s post is on the edge of Tigers Bay, on North Queen Street; the posters have also been appearing in east Belfast: Newtownards Rd (at Templemore Ave tw; at Dee St tw) | Beersbridge Rd (reddit).

A group called Let’s Talk Loyalism greeted the new premier with a mock funeral in Dublin for the Good Friday Agreement; the flowers behind the coffin read “GFA is dead” (tw).

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Ireland Out Of The EU

“Britain out of Ireland, Ireland out of the E.U.” Strict Irish independence is the policy of the IRSP (web). Back in 1972, Sinn Féin campaigned against Irish membership in the EEC (DFA), but (in the north) supported the ‘remain’ position on Brexit (UNU).

The poster is on Lecky Road, in the Brandywell, on top of what used to be ‘Derry Women Make Communities’ – see Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History.

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105 Years Of Balfour

“Britain in Palestine & Ireland” The Balfour Declaration of November 1917 is seen as a pivotal moment in the history leading to the what is formally known as the State Of Israel, as it made the UK the first major government to endorse the idea of a homeland for Jews (WP).

The poster (for a talk in Cultúrlann) is in Allworthy Avenue; the board is on Northumberland Street. The latter draws parallels between Ireland and Palestine: homelands partitioned for British imperialist interests, struggles for freedom met with British barbarism … forbidden from speaking their native tongue, faiths outlawed … . About 650 former RIC members were recruited to the “British Gendarmarie” that would police what was called “Mandatory Palestine” (Palestine Studies | Irish History) after WWI.

The League Of Nations mandate putting the UK in change of the Palestinian territory was replaced (in 1947) by a UN plan for partition, which triggered an internal war between Jews and Arabs, and when the UK ended the mandate and evacuated from Palestine in May 1948, Israel declared independence and neighbouring Arab states entered the conflict. About 700,000 Arabs were displaced during the fighting. Key48 (tw) advocates for the right of return and uses as a symbol the keys that householders took with them when they fled.

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X11793 X11794 X11838 X11839 X11840 X11841 His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

Warning – Déjà Vu Zone

One row of street art around a construction site might look much like another, but do not be alarmed – this is your first time in Kent Street, Belfast.

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Do You Own A Giant Building?

The search continues for a new home (or homes!) for the Vault artists (tw). It won’t be long before they have to put their paint buckets on their heads and gather up their briefcases and handbags and head out – the building is to be demolished to make room for housing (BBC).

“News flash! Vault Artist Studios is relocating! Are you a millionaire, property developer or rich benefactor of the arts? Do you own a giant building that could house 100 multidisciplinary artists or do you have a friend that does? If so, Vault Artist Studios is interested in talking with you. As a registered charity, Vault can save you money on building rates! Vault can breathe new life into your disused property and transform this city for the better! If you do own a giant disused building and are interested in working with Vault then email futures@vaultartiststudios for more information. P.S. We are interested in working with all different sizes of building, not just giant ones.”

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Costs Are Rising. And So Must We!

“It’s not a cost of living crisis, it’s capitalism – Join the fight for a socialist republic.” Here are images of the Lasair Dhearg (web) “We Can’t Afford …” campaign in Derry’s Bogside. “We can’t afford … heat, electricity, to eat, a home.” “Ireland: 1.1 million living in poverty, 312,000 of them are children.” “Waiting on a home: 103,218; empty homes: 188,000”

For the same campaign in Belfast, see We Can’t Afford. Free Derry Corner has its own Visual History page.

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