This is work by Ona Salvador (ig) on the shutters of Skull And Bones Tattoo Society (web) in North Street, replacing the sign for the tattoo convention (see Inkology). Salvador also did a piece in Union Street for HTN25.
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Roden Street was divided in two when the Westlink was built along the path of the Blackstaff to join the M1 at Broadway with the Grosvenor Road. (This portion of the Westlink opened in 1981; a Klaus Fröhlich photograph of a blocked-off Roden Street on the CNR side, looking towards Divis, is included at the end of the post.) The vintage mural in the top left of the first board (above) was in Clifford Street and is now on the Grosvenor Road (CNR) side of the motorway. (The mural can be seen in Visual History 01.)
From the second board, the “RSD” (Roden Street Defenders [private Fb]) red hand was in Iverna Street, and the King Billy was in Rockland Street.
In the fourth board, the red fist in the top right (which famously had five fingers and two thumbs) was in Roosevelt Street, which is the location of these boards. Immediately below it is the A Battalion mural at the south (Donegall Road) end of Roden Street.
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“Defend the right to protest”, specifically to protest the treatment of Palestinians in Gazan.
The UK government introduced legislation in 2023 to prevent and tackle protests that might cause “more than minor disruption” to the community (Reuters), in contravention, according to Amnesty International, of Article 11 of the Human Rights Act. The High Court ruled against the government in 2024 and its appeal was rejected by the Appeals Court in May, 2025 (Reuters). The latest (late July 2025) Crime And Policing policy paper can be found at gov.uk.
Specifically related to protests about Gaza, in June the group Palestine Action was declared a terrorist organisation by UK government, because of the group’s “criminal damage in support of a cause” – specifically, its attacks on the facilities of the RAF and various weapons’ manufacturers; the group’s initial appeal was heard in the High Court last week (BBC) and the judge yesterday (July 30th) ruled that the group could challenge the designation (Independent).
Shown above is a hand-painted cloth sign on the railings of the Waterworks in north Belfast.
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“How cool is it that the same God that created oceans and mountains and galaxies looked at you and thought the world needed one you too”, “Be the light”, “God is love”, “Let your light shine”.
Uplifting religious messages in Sixmilewater Park, below Main Street, Ballyclare.
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The memorial wall in Erskine Park, Ballyclare, marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day – May 8th, 2025 – with a pair of printed boards wrapping around the corner of the low wall.
For views of the gable and the low wall with armed-forces emblems and plaques to Girvan and Erskine, see The Men From Ballyclare.
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Modern UVF volunteers in balaclavas stand with heads bowed on either side of the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, standing among orange lilies and red poppies.
On the left the 10th Scottish Rifles (AWM) commence a raid, below the emblem of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and on the right, the Royal Fusiliers appear to march off to war in a press photograph (Flickr), below the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
In Grange Drive, Ballyclare, on the same as wall, and using part of the frame from, a previous UDA board: Young Guns.
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RJ “Mickey” Wilson (d. 2022) joins Robert Bennett, Joe Long, Milky Cordner, and Squeak Seymour in the UVF memorial garden in Fraser’s Pass. Wilson is also remembered in Ballybeen – see Armed And Ready Again. The other four are remembered in an adjacent mural – see East Belfast UVF.
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Sightings of seals in the Lagan go back to the late 80s (DCTours) and became so much a part of the city’s culture that they (under the singular familiar ‘Sammy the seal’ standing in for multiple individuals and generations) have been celebrated in a set of three sculptures on Donegall Quay near the Big Fish (geograph | Belfast Live). Joining the sculptures is a new piece of street art by HMC (web), painted for Hit The North 2025 on an exterior wall of the Laganside bus centre.
In-progress images … May 3rd:
May 2nd:
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Six memorial plaques to members of the UVF’s 1st battalion (West Belfast), D company (Ballysillan) have been re-instated and two new one added alongside the 100 Years Of Conflict boards at Carr’s Glen. The plaques to Bingham, Phillips, McEvoy, the “officers and volunteers”, Stewart, and Taylor were on the old UVF mural on this wall (see the Peter Moloney Collection); the two new ones are to Kenny Howie and to Scottish supporters.
Left:
“Lt Col John Dowey Bingham killed by the enemies of Ulster 14th September 1986. Remembered by officers and members of the 1st Batt D Coy Ballysillan. Lest we forget” [(WP)]
“In memory of Major Patrick McEvoy. Lest we forget”
“In memory of Kenny Howie 21.4.1977 – 8.4.2013. Lest we forget”
“In proud memory of the officers and volunteers of D Company 1st Battalion Ulster Volunteer Force. For God and Ulster”.
Right:
“In memory of Major Thomas Stewart. Lest we forget” [d. 1996 in a dispute over money (Irish Times | BelTel)
“In memory of Martin Chin Taylor. Lest we forget” [d. 2000 killed by the LVF (BBC)]
“In proud memory of Volunteer David (Davey) Phillips, taken by cowards Sunday 12th July 1998. Sadly missed by his friends and comrades of ‘D’ Company Ballysillan. Lest we forget” [possibly d. 1998 (BelTel)]
“In memory of fallen volunteers 1st Battalion D. Company Ulster Volunteer Force Scotland”
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“Óglach Kevin Hannaway, Irish Republican Army, hooded man. Unbowed & unbroken. Ar dheıs Dé go raıbh a anam.”
Kevin Hannaway died in January (2025), aged 77. In 1971 he was interned (Belfast Media) and subjected, along with thirteen others, to the “five techniques” – deprivation of food/drink and of sleep, subjection to noise, prolonged stress positions, and hooding (WP) – as well as being beaten and dropped out of a helicopter (Irish Times). The ‘five techniques’ were found to constitute torture in 2021 (RTÉ) and the PSNI apologised to the victims in 2023 (BBC | Irish Legal News).
Hannaway remained a republican throughout his life and was anti-Agreement in recent years (BBC). The board in Hannaway’s honour was launched on Sunday July 13th (Fb video). The panels of the board were siezed by the PSNI during a drug raid on a home in St James’s on the 11th but returned the next day (BelTel).
“IRPWA [web]. Republican prisoners still exist! Unfinished revolution. Unbowed, unbroken.”
Hugo Street, west Belfast. For a close-up of the Pearse Jordan plaque on the left, see the Peter Moloney Collection.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 