“Keep CQ tidy”. Here are two tidiness-related pieces in the Cathedral Quarter: above and immediately below, Karl Fenz (web) uses the catchphrase “ya filthy animals” from the films Home Alone and Home Alone 2, and (last below), “I’ve got 99 problems but a bin ain’t one”, though the stencil is on a junction box and not on a bin. A 99 is an ice-cream cone with a (half) flake, perhaps purchased from Mackle’s (web) in Hill Street.
Marcus Keeley (on instagram) took a walk around the area and made a map showing bins on the street bordering the area but none in its middle. Business-owners in the area asked for more bins in May (Belfast Telegraph Fb reel). The bin in front of McCauley Culkin’s Kevin McCallister is newly placed (CQ Belfast’s ig).
Hill Street and Commercial Court, Belfast city centre
“Our future, our voice”, “We are the future. Stronger together”. These messages of “equality, belonging, respect, friendship, inclusion” are aimed at youth in the New Lodge, north Belfast.
In the background (of the image below) is a mental health mural also aimed at young people – see Space To Breathe, which also shows the INLA graffiti this mural replaces.
“There is no strength without coming together.” Cork singer and fiddler Clare Sands (web) will be in An Chultúrlann in Derry tonight (October 16th) and at the Empire in Belfast on Sunday night (18th) promoting her new album “They Tried To Bury Us” (Bandcamp).
The phrase “they tried to bury us; the didn’t know we were seeds” was briefly used in a Crossmaglen mural where it was attributed to Bobby Sands, but probably goes back to Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal in 1961.
This new mural is on the back of Madden’s bar, in Berry Street, Belfast city centre
“Re-route Garvaghy Road. Marching back to the 19th century. No going back/Níl dul siar ann!”
NI Secretary Chris Bryant decided (on October 9th) to ban the Orange Order from marching past the Garvaghy estate (Guardian | Irish Times | Independent), though a legal challenge is being lodged by the Orange Order against it and a rally in support of the Portadown lodge is planned for the 24th (Belfast Live).
An application has been made for a November march on another contentious route, the lower Ormeau Road. Residents are monitoring the application (Belfast Media), and perhaps this mural on the International Wall (Visual History) will be re-purposed.
These mental health messages – “It’s OK not to be OK”, “It’s OK to talk … speak up” – and the number for Lifeline (web) were painted by young people participating in a Springboard Opportunities project called Gener8 (web), which in 2019 brought together 24 youths between 18 and 24 from across the city (Belfast Live).
‘The greatest Belfast story never told!” ‘The McGurk’s Bar Tragedy’ is a new play by Martin Lynch (WP), being put on in the Waterfront in November by his production company Green Shoots, which is dedicated to telling working-class stories and involving actors from the community, including The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary.
On the left of the banner, the quotation, “Everybody else had a daddy growing up; I didn’t.” is a paraphrase of Mary Kane, whose father Eddie died in the attack.
“Welcome to Titanic People, a celebration of the intelligence, creativity and courage of people who define this legendary Belfast neighbourhood. The spot where you’re standing may seem like a rather unremarkable part of Belfast, but it’s the epicentre of some of the city’s most remarkable citizens and their fascinating life stories. Some famous, other relatively unknown, but each born or employed within the sound of the shipyards’ riveters’ hammers and all with compelling personal histories that continue to reverberate locally and internationally. Westbourne Presbyterian Church whose grounds play host to this exhibition, is known locally as the Shipyard Church due to its proximity to Belfast’s famous docks and the home of the world-famous ship builders, Harland & Wolff. Opened in 1880, many of the workers who helped to build RMS Titanic would have brought their families here each week for Sunday Worship. It still serves a local congregation today and the pews inside haven’t changed. When you’ve finished reading about Titanic People, you are more than welcome to come inside and take the same seats occupied by those shipyard workers more than a century ago.”
The installation surrounds the front entrance of Westbourne Presbyterian, the “Shipyard Church”, which was built in 1877 (Stone Database). To the right is a new WWII memorial (City Council planning application), shown last below.
The German Luftwaffe blitzed Belfast on four occasions in April and May of 1941, targeting especially the industrial yards of east Belfast, including H&W shipbuilding and Short Brothers. Nearby streets were hit in the attacks (see Belfast Blitz), and some suffered very heavy damage, including Thistle, Tower, and Westbourne streets. Westbourne Presbyterian church was hit during the war, but survived.
The mural to the left (in the image above) is at the end of a long panel featuring the word “community” in large letters (see 2023’s Cultural Expression) and so it’s possible that it should be taken together with the new panels (shown below) reading “stands” and “together” to give “Community stands together”.
The joining panel (shown above and immediately below) shows new and old buildings of Charter Youth Club (Fb), which has been “serving our community [for] 50 years+”. The building pictured below is the building of the old Linfield Junior Public Elementary (ig) which was later used for the youth club.
Also shown between the words are the emblems of (professional soccer club) Linfield FC (web) and (intermediate club) Sandy Row FC (Fb).
Bly Blaze FX in Blythe Street, Sandy Row, south Belfast
This is a new version of the Hugh Smyth board in Canmore Street, in the upper Shankill. It is very similar to the previous version (see Third-Class Citizens), with the main difference being the addition of the OBE medal that Smyth was awarded in 1996 for ‘services to the community’. There is also explicit mention of Smyth’s titles, as “The right honourable, alderman, and Lord Mayor of Belfast [city council] 1994-1995”. The small, inset, picture has also changed slightly – it is closer-up and in colour – though from the same photo-shoot by Bobbie Hanvey.
“Historically, Unionist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were first class citizens… and without question people believed them. Historically, Republican/Nationalist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were second class citizens… and without question the people believed them. In reality, the truth of the matter was that we all, Protestant and Catholic, were third class citizens, and none of us realised it!”
In-progress images of the board being mounted are included below. The mural that briefly re-appeared is 90 Years Of Resistance. The UVF A company mural to the left has also appears to have been refreshed, though it is not known exactly when. Originally, there was no platoon 3. Platoon 4 has its own board, in the nearby Glenwood Street. “This mural is a memorial to the volunteers of A Coy 1st Batt who served the Shankill community so bravely during the years of conflict. Gone but not forgotten. Here lies a solder.”
