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”.
In addition to the seven signatories of the Proclamation of an Irish Republic, 9 other leaders of the Easter Rising were executed in the wake of the rebellion. The portraits of all 16 are part of the — newly refreshed — mural of Walter Paget’s painting The Birth Of The Irish Republic. The mural now includes a bright red phoenix. (For the original mural, and Paget’s painting, see the painting’s Visual History page.) In order of appearance, the 16 (with links to their WP pages) are …
Five images of the St. James Youth mural on Rodney Parade across from the farm: “Music is our drug – R speaker is R dealer” and “Mates do hugs, not drugs”.
This republican graffiti in Rathmore Crescent in London-/Derry is unusual in that it is a re-paint — the slogan shown above (“Free All POW’s IRA”) is what was on this fence previously.
“RNU stands with hunger striker Bilal Kayed”. For more information on this Palestinian prisoner who recently ended his hunger strike, see Administrative Detention. Update: released 2016-12-12.
The centenary of the Easter Rising, 1916 – 2016, serves as a touchstone for the painters of this mural in Derry who hold that the work of the rebellion is incomplete: “Unfinished revolution, unfinished business”. The same slogan and image of a hoodied volunteer appears in two murals both entitled Resistance, one in Belfast, one in Derry.
Update: In the last 24 hours, the papers are reporting that “Join the IRA” has been added to the board, which has been condemned as a hate crime by local DUP politician Gary Middleton. For more, and a pic, see Derry Journal.
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).
Shown above is the first of three new boards at Casement Park in west Belfast, named for Roger Casement. Working for the British Colonial Services, Roger Casement wrote extensive reports on the abuse of indigenous people in Congo Free State (1904) and in Peru (1910).
In Congo Free State, King Leopold II of Belgium was using a private force to suppress the locals while extracting rubber; Casement’s report (archive.org) led to the Belgian government taking over Leopold’s operation and creating the Belgian Congo.
In Peru, Casement investigated abuses against the Putumayo indians at the hands of the Peruvian Amazon Company. As a result of his report, the PAC gradually lost business and folded. (WP) Casement was knighted in 1911 for his human rights work, though this title would be stripped shortly before his execution.