Each republican group has its own commemoration(s) of the 1916 Easter Rising. (For a list of this year’s commemorative marches, see Republican News.) This is a poster for the RNU’s ceremony in Milltown on the morning of Easter Sunday.
For the RNU memorial stone in Milltown, see An Attitude Of Rebellion in the Paddy Duffy Collection.
Antrim Road, north Belfast
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“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”” Isaiah 43 continues: “When you pass through the waters I will be with you … When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched.” Thus, although the text is addressed to Jacob/Israel and the lion is a symbol of Jacob’s son Judah, whose eponymous tribe later gives its name to the Jews, Christians interpret it more generally as a promise to all believers.
In this way, this new board at Rehoboth Evangelical Mission in Mount Vernon is perhaps in the same tradition as the previous board, with its quote from John 11 (in the New Testament) promising that believers shall never die (X04693).
The inclusion of the flag of modern Israel which dates back to the Zionist movement in the late 1800s, however, gives this board a political edge, seeming to make it a token of support for Israel in its current conflict with Hamas and attack on the Gaza Strip. (The roaring lion and the lightning also give a sense of physical power.) As such, it would be (to our knowledge) the first printed board in support of Israel and an advance over the more typical flying of the Israeli flag.
Hill & White (2007 – paywall) begin their article with a survey of newspaper articles (including this free piece in Salon) about the flying of Israeli flags in Northern Ireland in 2002, explaining the practice as a response to the flying of Palestinian flags during the Second Intifada (p. 33) and an expression of admiration for Israeli’s use of physical force against its minority population (p. 37). The first appearance of an Israeli flag in the Peter Moloney Collection is from 2006, at a republican bonfire site.
If the Rehoboth board is counted as religious rather than political, the most sophisticated graphical expression of PUL support for Israel is the small paste-up seen in Ulster Supports The People Of Israel. (There is also implicit support for Israel in the board in Peter’s Hill to John Henry Patterson, which includes amongst his other exploits – including Operation Lion – his role as Godfather Of The Israeli Army.)
See also: PUL swastika graffiti 1985 | 1993 | 2008 | BelTel 2015
See also: Rehoboth The Well
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In this graffiti outside the Royal Victoria Hospital, west Belfast, a person in a white coat faces a tank bearing an Israeli flag. Israel’s renewed bombardment of Gaza on March 18th killed more than 400 people (Independent), including an OB-GYN specialist in Rafah (Al-Jazeera); on the 23rd, an airstrike on Nasser Hospital killed five (Reuters).
Detailed figures of casualties among health-care workers in Gaza can be found at Healthcare Workers Watch.
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Derry native Nell McCafferty was commemorated by a new mural in the Maiden City, launched on International Women’s Day (March 8th), 2025, and the annual Femme Sesh event was also dedicated to McCafferty (ig | Derry Journal).
McCafferty died last year (2024) after a long career as a journalist and activist (BBC). “Goodnight, sisters” was her parting phrase at the end of her segments on The Women’s Programme, which aired on RTÉ between 1983 and 1986 (Journal).
Here is RTÉ footage of Nell and Marian Finucane on the Late Late in 1991 and in 1980.
The mural was painted by Peaball (web) on a gable in Lisfannon Park and is visible from Lecky Road. The portrait of McCafferty appeared on the cover of (the Penguin Ireland edition of) her autobiography Nell.
For the mural on the low wall (in the wide shot, below), see Two Nations One Struggle.
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“Show Israel The Red Card” is a campaign to suspend Israel from UEFA and FIFA competitions (Haaretz).
Supporters of various teams around the world (Quds News | Combat Antisemitism) have been displaying the slogan at games, following the lead of Celtic ultras in a match against Bayern Munich (youtube).
On March 8th, various groups, including RSYM (Fb), held a protest at Free Derry Corner (Fb video).
In smaller letters below the main slogan is “#LajeeCeltic” – Lajee Celtic (web) is a football academy in a camp in Palestine.
For the small posters see Boycott The White House.
Free Derry Corner has its own Visual History page.
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Copyright © 2025 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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“Boycott St. Paddy’s Day at the White House. Sign the petition!” The petition (at ActNow) is sponsored by twenty different Palestine-solidarity groups, headed by Derry IPSC (Fb), and calls for politicians not to shake “hands soaked with the blood of Palestinians” (and wearing a sleeve with US stars-and-bars and an Israeli-flag cuff).
Taoıseach Mıcheál Martin spent two days in Austin (Texas) before travelling to Washington DC for meetings and St Patrick’s Day celebrations (itinerary from Irish Central), including a meeting with President Donald Trump, who told him that Ireland is cheating the US economically, because “Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies” (AP).
Among northern politicians, First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sınn Féın did not travel to the States but Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP did (RTÉ) and gave Trump a flag from Royal Portrush golf club (Irish Times).
On Free Derry Corner, Bogside, Derry
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At the heart of this east Belfast homage to the healing power of soccer are German and British soldiers shaking hands over a ball in ‘no man’s land’ on the Western Front, on Christmas Day, 1914. The image is not from a contemporary photograph but a modern one of a 2014 sculpture depicting such an even by Andy Edwards (TruceStatue) (who also did the Pat Jennings sculpture in Newry – seen in Pat Jennings). For more images of the WWI soccer statue, see WWI Cemeteries.
It’s not clear that matches between opposing forces – rather than simple fraternisation – were actually played; see Wikipedia for a review of the evidence.
Dee Street, east Belfast.
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“With voice, pen or hand we will defend our land.” David (Davy) Patterson (12-10-1955 – 03-01-2019) was a member of the 1st East Belfast Rangers Supporters Club (Fb) and Albertbridge Glentoran Supporters Club (Funeral Times).
This memorial board is the side-wall to the Somme Society mural (see Their Name Liveth Forevermore) and the Red Hand Commando memorial garden in Hunt Street, east Belfast.
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These three cars are by DanK (ig) in Bank Square, Belfast city centre, on the wall of Crown Jesus Ministries (Fb) (in the Berry Street Presbyterian building), replacing the ‘Creation’ mural painted in 2012. Dan calls the piece “Hope” (ig) after the church’s ‘Hope Mission Centre’ (ig); this is the same title he gave to the geisha on the Shankill. This piece does not feature any of the kanji street-signage that would place it in Japan (compare with Night Taxi in the Woodvale), though there is some on the pink car, left.
The middle car has the license plate “OUTATIME” which was the plate on the DeLorean in ‘Back To The Future’ (see also: You Built A Time Machine … Out Of A DeLorean?)
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“”Not for EU” label. Some items in this store are only for sale in Northern Ireland. Individual product labels and shelf markings showing ‘Not for EU’ will identify the products to which this applies.”
The labelling is part of the Windsor Framework’s attempt to facilitate trade between Britain and Northern Ireland, given that products moving from Northern Ireland to the Republic are also subject to EU regulations for meat, dairy, and plant products (Irish Times).
Also included is a “plant passport” from 2022.
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Extramural Activity 