Prokick kickboxing (web) has moved from Dundela to Connswater, a bit closer to town; the new digs were formally opened on September 12th, 2022, the anniversary of founder Billy Murray’s first world championship (Sunday World). The mural in honour of Murray (in Dundela) was designed by Stephen Hackett and painted by Glen Molloy (ig) (Belfast Live).
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This is Wee Nuls’s (web | ig) street art celebrating the success of the ‘menstruation matters’ (ig) campaign for free period products and the passage of the Period Products Bill.
The piece is perhaps a “gremlin” self-portrait in the style of Mr Blonde/Vic Vega. It was painted for HTN22 in the spot below Transport House where her original version of Free Period Items was painted and blacked out. (It was then repainted at Artcetra.) To the left is Claire Prouvost’s tribute to women workers of the world and to left is a Unity (union) hoarding: Workers Of The World Unite.
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This is an end-of-life image of a piece of street-art by irony, painted in 2015. To the left, now completely obscured by a tag, was a painting of corals.
Bank Square, Belfast city centre
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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This is work by emic (ig) – with two “f”s in the title – inspired by Ciaran Carson’s Belfast Confetti, itself inspired by “a public notice from the corporation of Belfast (1678) which highlights a growing problem of Butchers and Tanners mastiff dogs attacking livestock, people, and even young children in the city” (Belfast Walking Tours). The wide shot (below) shows “3D printed floating orbs were created from recycled ocean plastics suspended over the central courtyard” (BCC).
Winecellar Entry, Belfast city centre
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Here are two pieces at White’s Tavern. The piece above is by Danni Simpson (ig).
Winecellar Entry, Belfast city centre
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On February 21st, 1988, 23 year-old Aidan McAnespie was shot in the back by 18 year-old Grenadier Guardsman David Holden at a British Army checkpoint in Aughnacloy, Co. Tyrone as he (McAnespie) walked to the nearby GAA club. In November (2022), Holden was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence (BBC | Belfast Live) and he was sentenced yesterday to three years, suspended for three years, thus avoiding jail unless he is sentenced for some additional crime (BBC | BelTel | UTv | Irish Times). He is the first British soldier convicted since the Agreement of a Northern Ireland killing; he might be the only one, as legislation is pending in Westminster that would end prosecutions (RTÉ video | Sky New video). The legacy legislation was discussed previously in Was This Lawful? | Soldier A-Z | Come For One, Come For All | Paras Fight Back | Stop The Witch Hunt.
The banner shown above was hanging on the railings at Laganside Courts, Oxford Street: “Operation Banner supporters group, Belafst and Scottish branch. Our veterans are heroes, not criminals. Leave our Operation Banner veterans alone and stop appeasing Sinn Fein/IRA terrorists.” “Operation Banner” is the name given by British forces to their operations in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007; since then, the deployment of British forces in Northern Ireland has been known as “Operation Helvetica” (Irish News).
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Artist Raymond Henshaw undertook a series of six collages of photographs of the Markets area of south Belfast (in 2008): Social, Bars, Industry, Social History, Sport & Culture, and – shown in this entry – Portraits of locals, such as snooker player “Joe Swales” (Joe Swail) and familiar buildings, such as Loughran’s Shop. The boards were part of the 2008 re-imaging campaign and sponsored by the Arts Council.
Cromac Street, Markets, south Belfast
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Citizens’ Assembly is a group of 99 randomly-chosen Irish citizens, plus a chair, that considers large-scale issues over the course of months. It began in 2016 by taking up the Eighth Amendment on abortion, the “pensions timebomb” fixed-term parliaments, voter turnout and referendums, and climate change – it is not restricted, like its predecessor the Constitutional Convention, to constitutional issues (WP). The 2020-2021 Assembly considered gender equality and biodiversity loss.
Sınn Féın called for an Assembly on Irish unity at its November (2022) Ard Fheıs (Irish Examiner | Derry Journal | youtube panel) and Belfast City Council passed an SDLP motion to recommend that the Taoıseach form an Assembly (News Letter); in December, the Dublin City Council approved a measure calling for an Assembly to consider the topic (SF).
“The Irish government should establish a citizens’ assembly on Irish unity/tıonól na saoránach ar aontú na hÉıreann.” Sınn Féın’s preferred outcome of such a process is given at the bottom of the board: “#Time4Unity/Am d’Aontacht”. The images show the board in south Belfast (Cromac Street).
Also included (below) is a large tarp reading “Homes now! Social housing, not social cleansing”.
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This is a tribute to the impact women have on industry in Cubist style from French, Dublin-based, artist Claire Prouvost (web | ig) outside Transport House in Belfast (around the corner from Workers Of The World Unite) in the courtyard of the Ulster Sports Club.
High Street Court, Belfast city centre
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