“This memorial is in honour of the men from our neighbourhood who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War. The handmade ceramic poppies were created by the GVRT [Greater Village Regeneration Trust] Well Women’s Group.”
The Poppy Trail: 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917
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The first blanket man, Kieran Nugent (obituary at An Phoblacht), is back in the first spot of the Divis Street wall, where he has resided, with brief interruptions, since 2005. Most recently, a board with the same image as this one was replaced by part of the 1916 centenary mural (see Young Ireland); before that, he was moved further down the wall to the hunger striker mural (along with Mairéad Farrell) to make way for a pro-Catalan mural.
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“First round” Brexit negotiations between Europe and the UK required an agreement in principle on the land border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (a member of the EU). President of the European Council Donald Tusk went to Dublin at the beginning of December to declare that as a member Ireland (and prime minister Leo Varadkar) would have a veto over whether “sufficient progress” had been made (Irish Times), which the the Sınn Féın board above urged him to use. The DUP objected to any “special status/stádas speısıalta” for NI, rejecting the wording proposed on December 4th. An agreement was reached on December 8th which would (somehow) both preserve Northern Ireland’s similarity to the rest of the UK without requiring a “hard border” with the Republic.
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Reflections on culture from (probably) TLO in the form of a statue with the eyes sprayed blue and red (Culture?) and from ANCO (Culture is a disease).
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Two pieces of UDA on the shop shutters on Sandy Row. Above, “S[andy]/Row – Quis Separabit” (who will separate us?) and “UDA”. See also: Wee Ruby’s from 2013.
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The UVF mural to number 4 platoon, A company, 1st Belfast battalion has been augmented with a plaque (shown below) that includes Shankill Butchers “L[enny] Murphy” d. 1982 (who lived in the adjacent Brookmount Street), his brother “J[ohn] Murphy” d. 1998, “A[rchie] Waller” d. 1975, “J[ohn] Townsley”, and “R[obert] Bates” d. 1997 (also known as “Basher Bates”); William Moore, Sam McAllister, Arthur McClay (from Antrim), David Bell, Eddie McIlwaine (still alive), Norman Waugh, and Benny Edwards do not appear to be included. Small wooden crosses in a fenced-in box bear the names of various volunteers.
Glenwood St, Shankill, Belfast.
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Here are eight images of the new Ardoyne mural featuring (from left to right in the image below) Ardoyne Youth Club, Ard Eoın Kickhams, and the John Paul II Youth Club as alternatives to bullying, racism, homophobia, addiction and other social ills. In addition to Irish dancing, soccer, and Gaelic games, there are also images of young people practicing martial arts, DJing, and boxing.
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The poppies and the downcast soldiers come from the first World War but the names are all of modern UVF and RHC volunteers, from 1976 to the present day. Included on the list is John Hanna (junior): the new board is next to the recent John Hanna memorial, as shown in the wide shot, below.
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Two tags (by OINK?) in the city centre, one photoshopped, one in all its messy glory.
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Extramural Activity 