printed board/placard

They Shall Not Grow Old

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“Remember With Pride” (with a poppy). Although the dates of his birth and death are given, Stevie “Top Gun” McKeag’s name appears only on the side-wall of this new mural in the Lower Shankill estate. McKeag was the top assassin in the UDA during the 1990s, claiming at least 12 victims. Both his WP page and this Guardian article describe his career and preeminent standing within the UDA.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03892 X03888 X03890 X03889  X03891 X03893 1st april 1970 24th september 2000 ulster young militants terrae filius 2nd batt c.13 shankill road military commander they shall not grow old those we love don’t go away they walk beside us every day sleeping where no shadows fall at the going down of the sun and in the morning remember with pride

Ár Tae Will Come

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Sınn Féın representatives Paul Maskey (above), Gerry Adams, and Martin McGuinness are photoshopped into these beverage-themed, Irish-language puns outside the ‘Falls Rolls’ bakery: Ár tae will come, Tıocfaıgh [sic] ár látte, and Mocha-ra.

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X03829 X03830 X03831 X03832 falls rd sıopa báıceareachta na bhfál

A Mother And Father Of Ulster

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Billy Moir, who died this past May (2016) was a central figure in the Glasgow flute-band scene. The board above, dedicated to Billy and his wife Anne, is in the lower Shankill estate. “Dedicated to a mother & father of Ulster: William (Big Billy) & Anne Moir, in appreciation for their Dedication, Loyalty, Support and Friendship to all the people of the Shankill Road and their beloved ULSTER. In Glorious Memory, Lest We Forget, Quis Separabit.”

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Victory To The Prisoners

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More ‘people should not inform’ PSNI posters (and a large board in Thames Street, shown below) from the IRPWA (Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association) including the arrest of Padraig McShane, along with one demanding “Political status now” with a raised fist grasping barbed wire.

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X03820 X03828 X03933 X03936 Divis St Thames St Divis St

No Excuse

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As a comparison of the first and third images – taken six weeks apart – show, a count of the days in prison has been added to the Tony Taylor board on the green in front of the H-Block memorial in Derry, reminiscent of the counts that were kept of the hunger strikers in 1981 (see, for example, Day 55 | Day 61 on the Peter Moloney Collection blog).

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UDA Flag-Bearer

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Rather than the Union flag that he carries in other murals and on the original Iron Maiden album cover (see The Trooper), in this version Eddie The Trooper carries a UDA flag (with the UFF symbol also shown). “AYM” is probably “Antiville Young Militants”.

See also Eddie’s Visual History page.

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The Poppy Trail 1916

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03645 2016-07-07 Poppy Trail 1916+

 JP Beadle’s Battle Of The Somme, Attack Of The Ulster Division is reproduced in the 1916 installment of the Poppy Trail in south Belfast. (For more on the painting, see belfastsomme.com.) In addition to listing local men lost in on July 1st – from places such as Roden, Matilda, Kitchener, Barrington, Blythe, Ebor, Rowland, Abingdon, and Combermere Street – it also features an individual from each community who served and died, in this case, Rifleman Paul Irvine from Lower Rockview Street and Private Patrick McGinney from Balkan Street (in the Divis area).

Launched on 2016-06-27; Tele report.

Here are the boards for The Poppy Trail 1914 and The Poppy Trail 1915.

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X03645 X03646 X03647 Pandora St shared history living legacies housing executive greater village regeneration trust King george V how nobly they fight and die

Where Is The Reconciliation?

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03690 2016-07-30 Historically Significant Artwork+

A fire was lit at the base of the John Henry Patterson mural (see Operation Lion | Godfather Of The Israeli Army) on Beverley Street, prompting the notice on the railings above: “Where is the equality? This historically significant artwork, was attacked & defaced by Irish Republican racists? Where is the reconciliation?”

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But Never The Revolution

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03781 2016-08-20 Neil McMonagle+

Derry INLA man Neil McMonagle – who died in February 1983 – is placed among the seven signatories of the proclamation of the provisional government of the Irish Republic.

For more information about his life, see previously McMonagle.

The board was launched on January 31st, 2016, just before the anniversary of McMonagle’s death (Derry Now).

Leafair Park, Shantallow, Derry

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X03781 killed in action 2nd february 1983

Pearse Surrenders To The Developers

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03704 2016-08-03 Seany+

In January (2016) a stencil like the one above appeared in Moore Street, Dublin. Moore Street was the place of the last stand of the Easter Rising after the GPO caught fire and campaigners were thus fighting to save it from redevelopment (Irish Times). (Moore Street’s future is still uncertain at this time, late summer 2016.)

The stencil is based on a photograph of Padraig Pearse and Elizabeth O’Farrell surrendering to the British General Lowe. The piece was ‘signed’ by Banksy, though it was immediately suspected to be not by Banksy, as he had not signed any pieces for some years, and indeed, Banksy denied that it was his (e.g. Irish Times) and Will St Ledger wished that the artist had had the confidence to claim it as their own (RTÉ).

The artist was in fact Short Strand man Séan “Seany” McVeigh, who then died in June. In honour of his life, a fellow Short Strand resident (see second image, below) produced this version of McVeigh’s piece, with the name “Seany” proudly attached. (For his other “Banksy” see a Belfast version of Banksy’s Palestinian “peace” wall stencil.)

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