Belfast

What A Shower!

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Covid-era graffiti on a construction hoarding in College Street/Queen Street, Belfast city centre:

“They can’t even govern themselves! What a shower! Make them give up the emergency powers before it’s too late!“,
“Van Morrison was right! Modern governments are dangerous to free speech!”,
“The new bivalent vaccines – safe for mice, so take their advice?”,
“‘Safe for most people’ – would you take even a fish supper on that basis?”,
“Wuhan flu over the cuckoo’s nest and landed in a street near you!”,
“The first casualty in war is the truth!”,
“Monkeys, bats, and mice — are used to give us sleepless nights! – Worry worry!”,
“The ‘marriage’ between government and big tech/co[r]porations is — fascism!”,
“The truth always gets white-washed”.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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We Are What We Believe We Are

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Like “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream another dream” in east Belfast, “We are what we believe we are” appears to be another of those inspirational quotes attributed to – but not actually by – CS Lewis. The quote appears alongside Belfast landmarks the Titanic centre, Aslan, the Big Fish/Salmon of Knowledge, an unidentified cupola. Part of a piece by Faigy (ig) in Wilson’s Entry, Belfast.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Civilisation Has Its Roots In The Soil

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“Civilisation has its roots in the soil & without soil there will be no future life – Tá an duıne fréamhaıthe san ıthır, gan í ní hann dó” by Ed Reynolds (web | tw) and Tancredi Caruso. Together they put on an exhibition and painted a mural for the Belowground Visions Of Life project (Soil Security Programme). The mural is outside Bunscoıl Mhıc Reachtaın (hence the Irish translation) in the old ‘Little Italy’ area of Belfast. Sand or soil has been added to the mural to give it texture.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The Friend At Hand

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Easter marks the unofficial start of the PUL marching season, with many marches today by various Apprentice Boys bands. The season runs until the end of August, with a high point around July 12th (Parades Commission | CAIN calendar). The painting above (by Ciaran Gallagher (ig) in the Dark Horse courtyard for a nine-part series called The Friend At Hand) packs in many familiar tropes: King Billy on a banner, kerb-stones painted red-white-and-blue, the Israeli flag flying from a lamp-post, and a bottle of Buckfast lying in the gutter. Decorating the skin, however, is rare, and the use of Irish – “an cara ıdır lamha [lámha]” [“in aıce láımhe” or “ag an láımh”] – on a Lambeg drum is unknown.

The other panels in the group of three show a boxer being attended to in his corner at the King’s Hall and a masked man leaving the EU and heading for Mexico off with an ATM in the bucket of an excavator.

Six more are included together, below: a fisherman is rescued from drowning; a medic attended to an injured player; the Samaritans helpline; a firefighter carries two people from a burning building; a surgeon operates; a chaplain reads to troops.

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Copyright © 2022/2023/2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Dark Horse

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Here is a gallery of many of the pieces in the courtyard of the Dark Horse bar in Belfast city centre, presented in clockwise order from the entrance on Commercial Court.

Above and immediately below: the scene in the Klondyke Bar. Links to additional pieces can be found at their appropriate places in the “rotation”, below.

Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley in the clouds

Belfast Stripped Bare – a view into people’s houses by Ciaran Gallagher (web); many of the painted pieces in the yard are by Gallagher.

McBride’s

[The Friend At Hand x7]

Middle/Back Wall

The Hill Street Bar Band by Glen Molloy (Fb) and various famous faces in upstairs windows by Gallagher

Broo Queue

Middle Wall, lowest level

Titanic

The Rapparees

George Best

Right wall

Stephen Nolan

A variety of vintage advertisements from the late 1800s and early 1900s: Lloyd & Yorath’s stout (Newport, Wales), Hall’s paints (Hull), Guinness, Gold Flake tobacco (in both English and Irish: Sásuíonn sıad!), Batey’s ginger beer (London), Gilbey’s wines, Mew’s brewery (Isle of Wight).

“Ourma says if you stick t’herown diet of land-an-dairy prod you’ll be firmanna an’trim down” – a saying in which the names of all six Northern Irish counties are (phonetically) included.

[The Friend At Hand x3]

Entrance Wall:

[Happy Halloween]

Poets And Authors

[Four Horsemen]

Warehouses

Poems:

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Copyright © 2022/2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Sacrifice Remains The Same

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“Time changes! But the sacrifice remains the same.” The board shows, in black and white, a WWI soldier, who is comforting another solider, in modern gear and in colour. The emblems of the 36th (Ulster) division and Royal Irish Rifles are also shown. Sponsored by the EU and the Cosy Somme Association. This is a repainted version of the original (late 2013) board which had faded badly.

The same board, at smaller scale, can also be found on Whitehead Orange hall.

Ogilvie Street, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Together The Possibilities Are Endless

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This east Belfast mural showing hands of many colours holding up a heart-shaped earth was produced last year in tandem with a diversity night in memory of the Pakistani-born owner of the Spar on whose side it is painted (Belfast Media).

Replaces the Lagan Village BMX mural in Dunvegan Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Bang Up To Date

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The previous UVF mural in Carrington Street (Volunteering | On Your Side) was paint-bombed in October, 2020, (Keep It Local) but was quickly replaced by this computer-generated board showing the Harland & Wolff cranes, a Long Kesh watch-tower, and a hooded gunman from the UVF’s East Belfast Battalion.

Carrington Street, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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