An Architect Of Peace

The UVF boards at the junction of London and My Lady’s roads in east Belfast have been completely replaced (compared to 2022). The hooded gunmen on the short side have been replaced by “Joy, peace, love” while a tribute to David Ervine now replaces the lettering reading “East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force”. Ervine was a UVF member from 1972 to 1980 before turning to a career in politics. “He asked the question “why can’t I be an Irish citizen of the UK?” … “An architect of peace. An inspiration to us all.” Always remembered by his family, comrades, colleagues and friends.”

Next to Ervine is a UVF roll of honour in which Roy Walker joins Robert Bennett, James Cordner, Joseph Long, and Robert Seymour, who were previously portrayed (Ulster’s Brave). Walker was killed in a feud with the UDA in 1976. And around the corner the UVF emblem has been replaced by a board to the Ulster Volunteer Force Regimental Band, containing a controversial photograph of the band marching past the site of the 1992 Sean Graham bookies massacre (Crime World). Update: the photograph has been replaced – see the parallel entry in the Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection.

The largest panel remains a tribute to the dead of WWI, for which see again the parallel entry in the Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection.