Belfast north

Times Bar

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A memorial service was held at the Times Bar on Friday (June 5th) (News Letter) to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on the Times Bar in 1976, in which Edward McMurray and Robert Groves were killed by a republican bomb. (An image of the bombed bar can be found on Xitter.)

Three plaques were added to the memorial garden where the service took place, to William Haddock, James Smyth, and William Flynn. (Compare to 2019.)

As the images from May 10th, below, show, a painted mural was originally planned for the spot.

May 10th:

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Gormley

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Cliftonville striker Joe Gormley has been honoured with a new mural in his native Ardoyne. He is Cliftonville’s all-time leading goal-scorer, with more than 300 goals. He has recently signed for the forthcoming (2026-2027) season, which he says will be his last (BBC).

Velsheda Court, Ardoyne. There was previously a board to Joe The Goal in Berwick Road.

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Clann Lır

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This scene from the story of Clann Lır (the Children Of Lear) appears to be the moment that Aoıfe casts a spell that turns her four step-children into swans on Loch Daırbhreach.

Painted by Loretta Lizzio (web) at the same time (2023-09) as her Dark Dreamer on the Oldpark Road, just below the first Cliftonville roundabout.

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Liberation

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Saoradh describes itself as an all-Ireland, revolutionary, socialist, republican party (web) with the IRPWA (web) as its “prisoners’ welfare” department and Éıstıgí as its youth wing. The “revolutionary” is perhaps in reference to its (alleged) association with the New IRA.

Brompton Park/Havana Way, Ardoyne, north Belfast

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Respect

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“Service workers – Community – Environment – Diversity”. The “#GoodForNothing” campaign, launched in 2015 (youtube), aimed to change common perceptions of young people by highlighting their volunteer work.

The piece is by emic (web) working with pupils from Wheatfield Primary school (Alternatives).

Glenbryn Gardens, north Belfast

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Don’t Look Up

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Smile … you’re on CCTV. A “peace line” or “war wall” divides the CNR Newington and PUL Tiger’s Bay along the top of Hallidays Road, and ends with an abandoned building at the junction with the Limestone Road. In 2002, in response to persistent rioting, rather than closing off the road, five cameras were installed on the Limestone Road at the point where the two areas meet (BBC | Community Relations pdf). Once installed, the range and power of the cameras were pre-emptively demonstrated to local youths (Guardian).

According to Forss 2018 (p. 53), the concrete bases were painted by a local youth-group (pdf) circa 2015. These jaunty images, and the mural in the background of the fifth image (When Young People Are United), attempt to present a different vision of the interface to young children going to Currie Primary and the Sunshine play-group.

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North Belfast Supports The Hunger Strikers

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Many of the Palestine Action hunger strikers have called off their strikes, most recently Heba Muraisi, who resumed eating on the 14th (of January) after 72 days (BBC).

Umer Khalid stopped taking solids on January 9th (Al Jazeera) reduced has now begun refusing water. His life-expectancy is measured in days, if he does not reverse course (Guardian | Amnesty).

This washed-out banner is on the Antrim Road, north Belfast, on the railings of the Waterworks.

Update: Khalid ended his thirst-strike after two days (Al Jazeera).

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