Maradona Good, Pelé Better, George Best

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From the age of two-and-a-half George Best lived in Cregagh and played football on the pitch at the centre of the estate, where Cregagh Boys played their home games. After playing for Lisnasharragh Secondary he went to Manchester United at age fifteen – in 1961 – and from there to international stardom. When he died in 2005, he was remembered in the estate by a mural (that replaced a UFF mural). It stood for about ten years and now been updated with the mural shown in today’s images, along with the family home that has been returned to a 1960’s appearance – complete with George Best memorabilia – and is available to rent on AirBnb. The home and playing fields are also the starting part of the George Best Trail.

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Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Greed Has Poisoned Men’s Souls

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Chaplin’s first “talkie” was The Great Dictator in 1940, a satirical condemnation of Hitler (Adenoid Hynkel) and Mussolini (Benzino Napaloni). Towards the end, the Jewish barber impersonates Hynkel and gives a speech (youtube) in favour of liberty and democracy:

“To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed. The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish. [Soldiers, don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder.] Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! [You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate. Only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers, don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” – not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power – the power to create machines, the power to create happiness!] You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. [Then, in the name of democracy,] let us use that power. Let us all unite!”

India Street, Belfast, replacing the murals of George Michael and Prince.

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Charlotte Despard

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Today’s images come from London but there is an Irish and a Belfast connection. Charlotte Despard was a novelist, suffragist, socialist, pacifist, vegetarian, and Sınn Féın advocate in the years around the Lock Out, the Rising, and the War Of Independence.

She moved from London – where she worked to alleviate poverty among the children of the Battersea area – to Dublin after WWI and was classed as a “dangerous subversive” by the Irish Free State. The image above (which is a panel from a mural celebrating political radicals of Battersea, below) reproduces a photograph of Despard addressing the crowd at an anti-fascist/Communist rally in Trafalgar Square on June 11th, 1933 – four days before her 89th birthday.

At the end of a very long of activism, she moved to Whitehead, County Antrim, where she died in 1939, and was buried in Glasnevin (WP).

A Battersea street is named after her – Charlotte Despard Avenue; the plaque is at 177 Lavender Hill – the offices of the Labour Party in Battersea.

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The Bould Bhoys

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Carling last sponsored Celtic FC in the 2009-2010 season, which means that the heroes shown in this 2009 mural are another decade in the past. In the apex are Charlie Tully (of Belfast and Glasgow Celtic), Willie Maley (the first manager), Br. Walfrid (founder of the club in 1888), Billy McNeil lifting the European Cup in 1967, Jock Stein (player 1951-1957 and manager 1965-1978), while on the field are former players Henrik Larsson (1997-2004) and Jimmy Johnstone (1962-1965).

In the centre of the image, the team is “doing the huddle”, which is also practiced by Cliftonville.

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Ad Vera Petenda

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Here are panels from the long Factory Community Forum mural along the Old Glenarm Road in Larne.

From left to right it features: Larne-born sports stars, footballer Gareth McAuley – who gained 80 caps with Northern Ireland (#GAWA)– and boxer Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley – IBF flyweight champion; scientist Albert Einstein (who does not seem to have any connection to Larne); ‘If you dream it, you can achieve it’; DJ Fergie from Larne; Peace begins with a smile (with a map of the counties of South Carolina, USA – Larne is twinned with Clover, SC); a tall ship and Chaine Memorial; the emblems of Larne High School (motto Ad Vera Petenda, which it translates as “we seek truth”) and Moyle Primary School flanking “Factory Community Forum” (Fb).

With support from the International Fund For Ireland.

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Though Absent You Are Ever Near

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“Talents have been robbed by addiction, suicide, mental illness” – the shoes of the dead form part of an installation on Stewart Street, around the perimeter of the Markets. The RNU banner off to the right contains the numbers for Pieta House, PIPS, Samaritans, Teen Line, Lifeline, and Breathing Space.

“I am here – a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, partner, lover, cousin, friend, grandfather, family. Why, why, why??? Are you okay? Our love[d] ones. Every day in some small way memories of you come our way. Through [sic] absent you are ever near, still missed, still loved, and ever dear.”

“The families[‘] pain continues!! They continue to struggle in silence: each loss has had a ripple effect throughout our community! Through the travel of time the pain remains the same!!!”

“It’s OK not to be OK – mental health illness is an invisible illness – breathing space – open up when you’re feeling down”

Below the shoes: “Dream big – smile – be thoughtful – respect – caring – love – be you – support – family”

The final image is from the nearby Friendly Street: Believe in yourself – Be kind – Something inside so strong – Positive mental well-being

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The Loyalty Of Northern Ireland

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Two final pieces from Lower Waterloo Road, Larne: above, Winston Churchill, and below, Rangers. The Churchill quote comes from a letter to NI Prime Minister John Andrews when he stepped down in 1943. In full it reads “But for the loyalty of Northern Ireland [and its devotion to what has now become the cause of thirty Governments or nations,] we should have been confronted with slavery and death, and the light which now shines so strongly throughout the world would have been quenched.” Had the board been been erected more recently, it might have quoted another line from the letter: “During your Premiership the bonds of affection between Great Britain and the people of Northern Ireland have been tempered by fire, and are now, I firmly believe, unbreakable.”

Below is Walter Smith, two-time manager of Rangers, who died in 2021. See The Gaffer.

This post completes the set from Lower Waterloo Road in Larne – the wide shot shows Mephedrone to the far left; then Rangers, Duke Of Edinburgh, NI Centenary, and Churchill; Women Are A Whole Community is out of shot to the right.


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#BreakTheBias

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Crossed arms are the symbol of the #BreakTheBias campaign, which is the theme of this year’s International Women’s day (IWD) and people all around the world are striking the pose on social media to show their support (e.g. tw) including this large mural in Belfast, which has been painted off Corporation Street.

By Visual Waste (web | ig), with support from Children In Crossfire (web) (see previously Derry Lama).

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Ukraine Has Suffered Enough

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After amassing roughly 200,000 troops along the border, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th; yesterday thus ended the tenth day of fighting. Perhaps 10,000 soldiers (both Ukrainian and Russian) and 2,000 civilians have died, and roughly 1.4 million people have fled the country. “Слава Україні!” [Slava Ukraïni!] is the salute of the Ukrainian armed forces but has become a rallying cry in the mouths of people and nations around the globe in support of Ukraine, amongst which are artist FGB (ig) and the Sunflower bar in Kent Street, Belfast.

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Freeze Derry

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Night falls over Free Derry Corner and temperatures head down, reaching freezing before dawn this morning. To heat your home with oil currently costs roughly 460 pounds or 500 euro for a delivery of 500 litres in the area (Derry Journal). In Belfast, prices have increased 36% in two months (Belfast Live). The council characterises a household as suffering “fuel poverty” if it spends more than 10% of its income on home fuel (Derry & Strabane). To protest and demand action, the group Derry Against Fuel Poverty (Fb) is holding its second rally this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Waterloo Place.

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Copyright © 2022 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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