Another UVF mural in the Westwinds estate (Newtownards) in which the traditional motto of “For God and Ulster” has been replaced by “Armed And Ready”. As can be seen in the shot of the whole just below, there are two masked figures, both armed, and one points his weapon directly at the viewer and at pedestrians walking up the footpath, as can be seen in the final shot.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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An owner, with Ireland’s Saturday Night (which ceased publication in 2008) tucked in his coat pocket, shows off his greyhound.
The words of the poem read
“In the east of the city, isolated alone, is a dear little place we like to call home.
Old strengthened by new, the homes and the streets, looking out for each other, a broad smile when they meet
The once terraced streets, some narrow, some wide, behind so many faces a story there lies
In the east of the city by the lagan’s fair side, looking back at its history our hearts fill with pride.”
Next to No More in Edgar Street, Short Strand
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A message from the local UVF in the Westwinds estate: “Our only crime was to serve you the COMMUNITY and protest ‘OUR COUNTRY.’ Now times have changed. As FORCE our belief is not only FOR GOD AND ULSTER but to you the COMMUNITY, HELP US TO HELP YOU.”
A close-up of the flags and emblem on the right hand side can be found below. There’s a flag of the 1912 UVF and YCV, and a rose and thistles and shamrock in the background, in addition to a poppy.
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“I don’t mind being called a dissenter, I’ve been a dissenter all my life”. Mural to, and quote from, Brendan Hughes, IRA volunteer and leader of the 1980 (first) Maze hunger strike (WP).
Painted by Rebel Rebel of Gael Force Art in October, 2013. Previously at this location: End Internment.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The union flag “flies” every second of every day in this painted version in the Westwinds estate in Newtownards. Ards Borough council also flies the flag every day (source), unlike Belfast city council which now follows the ‘designated days‘ policy: see previously Union Jack – Donegall pass | And So This Is Christmas | Imagine | Banned | The Essentials and various posts about the Twaddell Protest Camp).
The central (St. George’s) cross widens as it rises, which makes the flag seem to loom over the viewer.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The final large spot on (republican) Northumberland Street wall has been claimed, we know not by whom. A small, bookmark-shaped, span of wall also remains further down the road. See the Visual History page for Northumberland Street for details.
“Watch this space”, as they say. Or, as in the piece (below) on the Cliftonville Road (first seen last year), “new mural loading”.
The piece in the centre-left is one to O’Neill & Beattie.
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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Scrabo tower (or possibly Helen’s Tower/Thiepval tower) and the Union flag appear alongside a football, a heart, a bird and the handprints of local children in this board in the Bowtown estate in Newtownards. The wide shot, below, shows a Bowtown Youth Club board higher up and in the background the Somme mural featured a few days ago.
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A boy — Dylan Wilson from east Belfast, grandson of loyalist community worker Jim Wilson —shakes hands with a girl – Dearbhla Ward, granddaughter of Short Strand Sınn Féın councillor Joe O’Donnell (sources: Al Jazeera | NewsLetter | The Scotsman). The centre was left for locals to make their mark on.
A gable-wall version of this image — without the word “síocháın” (peace), with the girl in green, and with Wilson’s poem ‘No More’ — can be found about half a mile away in Wolfe Close, just across the Newtownards Road. See No More, Again. This mural was part of the re-imaging effort of 2010.
No more bombing, no more murder
No more killing of our sons
No more standing at the grave side
Having to bury our loved ones
No more waking up every hour
Hoping our children, they come home
No more maimed or wounded people
Who have suffered all alone
No more minutes to leave a building
No more fear of just parked cars
No more looking over our shoulders
No more killing in our bars
No more hatred from our children
No more. No more. No more!
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Above is a detail (wide shot below) of a new (June, 2013) mural in Newtonards’s Westwinds estate presenting a familiar UVF theme, that the Ulster Volunteers are an independent body, armed and ready to fight against whatever enemy is present, whether it be London’s decision to grant Home Rule (see Carson in the apex of the building and the figures in militia-style clothing) or the Germans in WWI (as represented by the uniformed figures and Thiepval tower) or any threat to Northern Ireland as a political entity (the Northern Irish flag flies in the top right).
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image of gates T02194 courtesy of Paddy Duffy 2023
Welcome to Newtownards mural with pro-environment message and flute band drum.
locationunknown. Presumably by Blaze FX.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 