Belfast

Stop The Games

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A rally took place in Belfast on Saturday (September 5th) (reddit) to call for the cancellation of Ireland’s pair of Nations’ League soccer matches against Israel, which are due to be played on September 27th and October 4th. Rather than taking place in Dublin, the Ireland “home” game will in fact be in Serbia, and the other game will be played in Hungary, where Israel has played most of its “home” games since late 2023 (Irish Times), and both games will be mostly without any fans (RTÉ).

For a tarp in Belfast, see Stop The Game. For boards near Derry, see Stop The Genocide. The campaign has its own web-site.

This tarp, which features an image of Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu, is in Marquis Street, Belfast city centre, next to Madden’s.

The car-door riddled with holes is a tribute to five-year old Gazan Hind Rajab (Guardian), who called emergency services for three hours after her family car with struck by 335 bullets with the loss of everyone inside, including, eventually, Hind herself; the ambulance had also been attacked and its two paramedics killed. She told the emergency operator, “I’m afraid of the dark” (Guardian) and the words appear on the door in Arabic. The piece is by Spicebag (ig) and Council Baby (ig) and was originally displayed as part of the Dlúthphaırtíocht (solidarity) exhibition.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Coınnıgh Saor!

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Dual-language (Irish and English) traffic signs and road-markings have been mounted/painted on the Falls Road in the Gaeltacht Quarter (specifically, between Springfield Road and Whiterock Road) by the Department Of Infrastructure/An Roinn Bonneagaır.

Shown in this entry are signs and markings reading, “Tacsaıthe atá ceadaıthe,” “Lána bus”, “Glanbhealach uırbeach, Luan go hAoıne [agus] ın am ar bıth ar an chosán”, “Deıreadh an lána bhus”, “Coınnıgh saor”, “Ceamaraí lána bus”.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Relax The Tax

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“Not until the last pint of beer has been poured, and the last plate of food has been cooked, will the government realise we can’t eat VAT! It’s time to relax the tax on food. (paraphrased from Cree wisdom …)”

This statement is on the side wall of the Ginger Bistro. VAT on restaurant food was temporarily reduced to 5% during COVID, and this summer the same rate was used for children’s meals, but as of today are now back at the standard rate of 20%. Four famous chefs have called for the tax on restaurant food to be reduced to 10% (BBC | This Is Money).

Hope Street, Belfast, replacing the quote about creativity seen in A Bigger Picture.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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More Culture, More Colour

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Here is a selection of painted junction boxes in Belfast city centre Soda.jpg x2 (ig), Kilian x2 (ig), Nine Glens Art (ig), Rob Hilken (web), and Hana Abri Smith.

Waring Street, Donegall Street, Dunbar Link, High Street, Bedford Street, York Street, Dunbar Street

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Outside The Longfellow

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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.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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The Park Of The Dead

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“The Park” is the name of the new beer garden/courtyard at the Hatfield on Ormeau Road in south Belfast. “Mex” (web) is a brand of flavoured tequila-based cream liqueurs, which had its Belfast launch in Thompson’s last week (Aug 8th) (ig). Mex’s symbol is the skull-painted face worn for the Day Of The Dead, on November 1st/2nd – see La Calavera Catrina.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Fleadh Cheoıl 2026

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Fleadh Cheoıl ended on Sunday (August 9th) with a third and final day of competition and a finale by the winning céılí band at the Gig Rig (main stage) next to City Hall (BBC | Fleadh). The city centre was pedestrianised and various murals were painted, including this one by KVLR (web) in Waring Street, Belfast city centre. The event has been declared a success; over the course of the eight days, the city saw more than one million visitors (RTÉ).

August 2nd:

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Fight Racism, Not Races

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The chalk grid-lines are still visible but work appears to have ceased on the latest Kneecap-sponsored mural in Hawthorn Street (though an apostrophe was later added – see SMC). It joins the four that have been added to the facing walls, one in each of the last four years and all at the time of Féıle (see T07533 and T00841). The new addition likewise accompanied this year’s performance, at the Uppa Falls concert in the Falls Park on Thursday (August 6th) (BBC).

For the Gibraltar 3 board, see T00840; for the plaque see the Peter Moloney Collection.

Hawthorn Street, west Belfast

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