When All That Was Solid Melted Into Air

At its peak, the Harland & Wolff shipyard employed 35,000 people (IndustriAll) and the flat-capped worker became a symbol of east Belfast, along – much later – with Samson and Goliath, the two gantry cranes at the shipyard that were raised in 1974 and 1969 (WP) and which have become the symbol of Belfast.

The title of this entry is the first line of Martin Mooney’s poem ‘Launching The Whaler Juan Peron.

The silhouetted workers and cranes are on a mobile office in Fraser Pass, Newtownards Road, Belfast, at the end of the Pitt Stop next to the Belfast Bikes racks.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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The Swifts

St James’s Swifts (web) are a west Belfast club playing intermediate level soccer with Donegal Celtic Park on the Suffolk Road as a home ground.

The three pieces shown here are in St James’s Crescent, at the Park Centre on Donegall Road, and St James’s Road. The mural in progress (shown last) is in St Katherine’s Road

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Saturday Morning Stop Shop

Here are three banners/posters spotted along the Falls Road during the Easter Rising parade on April 5th:

Above: “Sainsbury’s supports Israel! Don’t shop there. Easter Sat 4th [April, 2026].” For background see the post and reel on the BDS Belfast Fb page.

Below: “U.S. military not welcome in Ireland! Not in Shannon, not in Aldergrove.” For background, see Al-Jazeera | ShannonWatch. April 13th: a person was arrested for taking a hatchet to a C-120 Hercules (Democracy Now).

Last below: “PSNI target Catholics at much higher rate for stop-and-search. Source: PSNI stop-and-search data. Do not join the RUC/PSNI. Same aim, different name. IRSP [web] – the party of Connolly & Costello.” The data in question might be from the 2020-2021 period (PSNI | TheDetail) as the current (2025) data do not appear to report on sectional identification.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Lıle Na Cásca

“100 years. Lıle na Cásca. Wear your Easter lily with pride. Tabhaır ómós do laochra na hÉıreann. [Pay respect to Ireland’s warriors]”

Shown here are Sınn Féın (web) and Lasaır Dhearg (web) invocations to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. The lily as a symbol of the 1916 Easter Rising was introduced by Cumann Na mBan in 1926 as a fund-raising device. For a history and vintage posters from across the century, see An Phoblacht.

Falls Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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We Demand The Truth

This is a new information board below the Ballymurphy Massacre board at the Glenalina Road corner with the Whiterock Road.

The first panel (on the left) reads, “On Monday 9th of August 1971 Internment Without Trial was introduced by the British Government. The policy was directed and implemented by the British Army with the stated aim to “shock and stun the civilian population”. Between 9th and 11th of August 1971 eleven people were killed in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast. All eleven were murdered by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment. All eleven were unarmed civilians. One of the dead was a parish priest and another the mother of eight children. Fifty-seven children were left without a parent. There was No proper criminal investigation. The Royal military police were assigned as sole investigators. Not one member of the British Army was held to account. It is believed that had justice been administered and those held to account charged, the events of Bloody Sunday would not have happened.”

The remaining panels give a day-by-day account of the eleven deaths, of Father Hugh Mullan, Frank Quinn, Noel Philips, Joan Connolly, Danny Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Eddie Doherty, Joseph Laverty, Joseph Corr, Paddy McCarthy, John McKerr.

Glenalina Road, Ballymurphy, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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So Glad You’re Here

Here is a gallery of images from the nineteen new pieces of art around the perimeter of Grand Central station at Durham Street and Grosvenor Road, called “When Walls Speak Welcome”. Commissioned by @translinkni @daisychaininc and @emicartist

Durham Street:
1 Pointing Child – emic (web)
2 Thinking Angel – Wee Nuls (web)
3 Bees – Friz (web)
4 Mech Head – NOYS (ig)
5 Helmet Sprayer – KVLR (web)
6 Three Flowers – FGB (web)
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7 Raven – Conor McClure (ig)
8 Head With Swallows – emic (web)
9 Hands And Birds – Zippy (web)
10 Schoolgirl Holding Tree – ?Razer?

Durham Street/Grosvenor Road junction:
11 Nature – Kerrie Hanna (web)
12 Let’s Go – Lost Lines (ig)
13 Flamingo – Imogen Donegan (ig)
14 Blossoms – Alexandra (ig)
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Grosvenor Road:
15 Floating Guy – Jam2 (ig)
16 Cockerel – Ana Fish (web)
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17 Tandem Bicyclists – David McMillan (web)
18 “Nocturne Flow” – Karl Fenz (web) and Rob Hilken (web)
19 So Glad You’re Here – HMC (web) and Danni Simpson (web)

Entrance to Grand Central Station

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Comóradh Na Cásca

The main (Sınn Féın) Easter Rising commemoration in Belfast takes place today (Easter Sunday). A full list of commemorations over the holiday, including those hosted by anti-Agreement groups, can be found at Republican News. See also, for the IRSP/RSYM commemoration, To The People Of Ireland.

“Dé Domhnaıgh, 5ú Aıbreán, Comóradh Na Cásca Bhéal Feırste. Caınteoır: Deirdre Hargey MLA. Cruınnıgh ag Ascaıll [Ard] Na bhFeá 1.00 i.n., ag fágáıl ar bhuılle 1.30i.n. Cuımhnıgh ar Thírghráthóırí Marbha Na hÉıreann. Caıth Lıle Na Casca. Cumman Uaıgheann Na Laochra Gael.”

[Sunday, 5th April, Belfast Easter Commemoration. Speaker: Deirdre Hargey MLA. Assemble at Beech[mount] Avenue 1:00 p.m., departing at 1:30 p.m. precisely. Remember Ireland’s Dead Patriots. Wear an Easter Lily. Gaelic Heroes’ Grave Association (= National Graves Association).]

At the Felons’ Club, Falls Road, Andersonstown, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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