This is a pair of small paintings at the Raven Social club in east Belfast. Above, a silhouette of David Ervine – see An Architect Of Peace. A lounge in the club is named after Ervine. And below, a small version of a mural in Londonderry, depicting the interaction between John Meeke of the 36th (Ulster) Division and Willie Redmond of the 16th (Irish) Division on Messines Ridge in 1917 – see Comrades In Arms. 1st Raven Somme Association holds an annual Battle Of Messines Parade (Raven Fb).
‘Step Up For Change’ was a two-year “youth development” programme that “graduated” fifteen young people from east Belfast in July, 2026 (Phoenix Education | International Fund for Ireland).
“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 one-man play about the life and evolution of David Ervine – from UVF volunteer and prisoner to PUP representative and ceasefire negotiator – returns for a short tour starting this evening, September 29th, at the Roddy’s in west Belfast. Dates for other locations can be found on the Fb page of Green Shoots productions. The play was performed at the Lyric in 2023 and 2024 and toured in 2025 (Green Shoots web page).
This poster is at the Skainos Centre in Ervine’s home area of east Belfast, which will host the production on October 6th.
“Loyalist culture – unbowed, unbroken.” The Sydenham Bonfire is constructed annually on the Inverary playing field and there is now a mural announcing the group who build it, to go along with the bonfire’s Facebook page. The phrase “unbowed, unbroken” has been frequently seen in CNR muraling, beginning with a 1996 mural in Lenadoon.
There is a memorial plaque in the top left: “Dedicated to Reece (Leeper) Leeman. To our friend that we hold dear, hard to believe that your [sic] not here. Thankful our memories won’t disappear. Always on our minds throughout the year.” Leeman, aged 21, was stabbed to death in 2019 (BBC) when he and a friend attempted to raid cannabis from the Kyle Street house of an aquaintance (ITv | News Letter).
Inverary pitches and bowling green, Sydenham, east Belfast
This entry updates An Architect Of Peace, which includes an image (partially obscured by bins) on a small UVF flute band board comprising three photographs of the band over the years. The second image was of the band parading past the Ormeau Road branch of Sean Graham’s bookies, where five people were killed by the UDA in 1992 (WP). Family-members of the victims objected to the display of the image (Crime World) and the photograph was replaced with the one shown above, of the band outside the Longfellow bar.
The final two images show a small vertical banner outside the Longfellow Bar in tribute to Alan “Alio” McKenzie, a barman who died in 2013, one of twenty or more people who died from taking an unregulated drug (BBC | RTÉ); the lounge of the pub is named in his honour.
Street artist emic (web) visited Titanic Men’s Club (Fb) in 2024 to give an indoor tutorial on painting art on walls and the group moved outdoors in 2025 to paint this mental-health message on the wall of the Connswater Community Centre.
The group also has a large board on the Greenway – see This Is the Crew.
These UVF boards can be found in Inverary Street, Gardens, and Drive, in the Sydenham area of east Belfast. They mix a memorial with symbols of an active organisation: an emblem (of the YCV) and a hooded gunman above the slogan “armed and ready”.
The memorial presents photographic portraits of four UVF members – Robert “Squeak” Seymour (east Belfast commander, shot dead by the PIRA in 1988), Robert Bennett (killed by the British Army during a riot in 1973), and Joe Long and James Cordner (killed in a premature explosion in 1977). “At Ulster’s call, they gave their all, a different war, on a different day, a bloody sacrifice, was the price to pay.”
McMaster and Lendrick streets – part of a conservation site of Victorian terraced houses (Dept For Communities) – were the epicentre of last week’s anti-immigration riots, with cars and houses in the street set ablaze and families evacuated to safety by the security forces (BBC video).
