“It is not for glory or riches that we fight but for our people” (based on the Declaration Of Arbroath) is familiar in loyalist murals – see e.g. For Freedom Alone) but “As poppy petals gently fall/Remember them who gave their all” here makes a very infrequent appearance. It comes from The UDR Soldier, by John Potter. The mural thus links together the UDR (1970-1992) and D Company of the North Down Red Hand Commando.
Young Newton is the Newtownards Road division of the Ulster Young Militants (UYM) and formerly a Tartan Gang. This mural, however, is in Kilcooley estate, Bangor, indicating the close connection between the UDA in the estate and in east Belfast.
The wall to the right reads “Freedom Corner II” – again a connection to east Belfast and the series of walls called “Ulster’s Freedom Corner“. See J0475 for a wider image.
Three panels portraying the importance of women to the republican movement, though the first seems to be a generic ‘mother and son’ image.
The second shows Molly Childers and Mary Spring Rice aboard the yacht, Asgard, with about 900 of the 1,500 rifles that were smuggled into Ireland on two boats. Asgard docked at Howth on July 26th, 1914; the other rifles eventually came ashore two weeks later at Kilcoole. (Here is a tcd.ie collection of images of Asgard’s journey; image #53 is the one reproduced in the mural. Rice kept a diary of the trip; extracts are included in this RTÉ History Show video. See this RTÉ article for an account of their tortured journey.) The off-loading took place during the day but when the police and army met the marching volunteers at Clontarf they were able to capture only 19 rifles. As the army regiment involved returned to barracks it was pelted with stones or fruit by a crowd and killed three (with a fourth dying a week later). The vintage Mauser rifles were received by members of Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann and Na Fıanna Éıreann.
This mural for the 200th anniversary of the 1798 rebellion by “Na hÉıreannaıgh Aontaıthe” (the United Irishmen). The United Irishmen used the Maid Of Erin harp as a symbol. Out of frame to the right is the motto of the French Revolution: “Liberté, égalité, fraternité”.
There are seven names listed on the right, none of which is Andrea Redmond (Fb), who is the painter of record. The list was later painted out – see M02183.
The IRA’s Joe McDonnell was the fifth of the 1981 hunger-strikers to die, on July 8th, after 61 days. McDonnell’s portrait is superimposed upon a sketch of a photograph of the funeral volley fired while his coffin was en route to Milltown cemetery (An Phoblacht).
This is a display to republican dead, with a black flag, Easter lilies, and (on the main board) a funeral volley being fired over a coffin draped in a Tricolour, with a printed poster of the ten deceased 1981 hunger-strikers. The board was later moved to Clowney Street.
Among the posters below we see “Release Josephine Hayden”. Hayden was General Secretary of Republican Sınn Féın when she was sentenced to six years in jail in 1996 for weapons’ possession. She would be released in 2000. (Irish Times)
“The two face of British imperialism: In Belgrade we bomb because they would not sign the Peace Agreement … In Belfast we merely try to re-write the Peace Agreement”.
Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a statement on Britain’s participation in the NATO bombing of Serb targets in Yugoslavia after Slobodan Milosevic rejected an agreement with the Kosovo Albanians – this, Blair said, was only the latest in a series of bad-faith actions on Milosevic’s part; the targets included Milosevic’s house, the Socialist party’s headquarters, and a TV station (BBC | Guardian).
“We demand the truth! International investigation into the death of Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.” Finucane and Nelson were both solicitors with nationalist and republican clients. Finucane was shot by the UDA in front of his wife and three children in 1989; RUC collusion was immediately suspected (and the weapon came from a UDR armoury) (WP). Nelson was killed by an LVF (“Red Hand Defenders”) car-bomb in March, 1999 (WP); the report of the eventual inquiry into her death can be found at CAIN. The allegation in the illustration here is that when the mask of loyalist “murder gangs” is lowered, the Orange Order and RUC are found behind it. “Disband the RUC”
Londoner Stephen Lawrence was murdered by stabbing in 1993 and, although arrests were made, no charges were brought. A 1998 public inquiry found that the London Metropolitan Police Service was “institutionally racist”. (In 2012, two of the original suspects would be found guilty of the murder (WP).)
Catholic Robert Hamill was beaten to death by loyalists in Portadown in 1997 while police in an RUC land-rover looked on (WP).
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere …” “If colour, religion or political opinions do make us different, misery, oppression, unemployment and exploitation make us the same – Martin Luther King” The first quote comes from Martin Luther King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail; the source of the quote is unknown.
Paddy Duffy Collection 