physical force

So I Always Looked The Other Way

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A cartoon by ‘Cormac‘ (Brian Moore) is turned into a mural on Belfast’s Whiterock Road by Mo Chara Kelly. The mural satirizes the ad included below, which urges people to call the confidential telephone to report terrorist activity. Instead, the protagonist can no longer ignore the violence of the British Army (and RUC) and calls the Sınn Féın office.

1 When the Brits were having a go … “Who cares?” I thought.
2 And when something really rough happened I just trained harder to forget it … [Speech-bubble:] Anything for a quiet life, see.
3 But where’s it got me? What have these brave lads in khaki done for me? [British Army soldier:] We’re not here to do things for you; we’re here to do things to you.
4 [RUC commander:] Hey, don’t forget us. We’ve done our share of wrecking homes, harassing people. We’ve murdered and tortured and …
5 And when I saw their kind of justice I thought “There’s got to be something better than this.” [Judge:] You may think I’m a corrupt Orange bigot. But I know that I’m a very well-paid corrupt Orange bigot! And the only justice you’re going to get is British justice.
6 So I made up my mind. I wanted these thugs off our backs. [Thought-bubble:] Is it any wonder that the British tourist is the most despised person on earth?
7 You see I want a decent future, and it’s not going to happen while these “hero[e]s” are doing the dirty work of British imperialism. And it’s not going to happen if you’re waiting for someone else to do something.
8 622112. Hallo? Is that the Sınn Féın office?

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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
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Éırí Na Gealaí

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Bobby Sands’s prison diary (web) ends, on March 17th, 1981, with the words “Tıocfaıdh lá éıgın nuaır a bheıdh an fonn saoırse seo le taıspeáınt ag daoıne go léır na hÉıreann – ansın tchífıdh muıd éırí na gealaí.” [A day will come when this desire for freedom will be exhibited by all the people of Ireland – then we will see the rising of the moon].

The phrase “the rising of the moon” comes from the poem/song of the same name composed by fifteen-year-old John Casey in 1865 about the 1798 Rebellion. “Full bitter was their fate” but the desire for freedom was not extinguished with them: “… e’en still are beating/Hearts in manhood’s burning noon/Who would follow in their footsteps/At the rising of the moon.”

In this mural, just off Lenadoon Avenue, a larger-than-life prisoner stands in silhouette, with first defiantly raised, over the watch-towers of Long Kesh.

“Chífıdh muıd éırí na gealaí” – “chífıdh” and “tchífıdh” are variant spellings.

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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
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Behind The Mask

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Here is an instance of the ‘masked skull’ design produced by prisoners in Long Kesh (according to Mo Chara Kelly), seen also in Britains Death Squads. This version is simpler: it does not have any writing and there is no UDR emblem on the UDA-style hat.

The small boards above the mural declaring west Belfast an “apartheid-free zone”/”ceantar saor ó apartheıd” were mounted in 1986 along with the ANC mural.

Beechmount Avenue, west Belfast – this wall has its own Visual History page as it is the most-often painted wall in Belfast.

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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
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Striking At Republican Targets

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Hooded UVF volunteers from “1st battalion, B company” armed with an assault rifle and an Uzi take aim at unspecified targets.

On the side-wall to the left it reads, “The UVF reserve the right to strike at republican targets where and when the opportunity arises” – see also the Peter Moloney Collection.

Ohio Street, Woodvale, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Beıdh Ár Lá Lınn

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This mural shows nine hooded republican volunteers employing an assortment of weapons – rifles, RPG launcher, drogue bomb, machine gun – against a rising sun. “We will have our day.” The trio in the bottom right corner are familiar from other murals, such as this one in Strabane.

South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Final Salute

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Volunteers in simplified clothing fire a funeral volley over an unseen coffin. The mural was later made more complex – see Slán Go Fóıll in the Peter Moloney Collection.

For the side wall, see Long Kesh in the Peter Moloney Collection.

South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00085

Turf Lodge Martyrs

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“In proud memory of those who gave their lives for Ireland’s freedom” (and out of sight to the left) “Also to all civilians murdered by the British crown forces” (and out of sight to the right) “Also to all civilians murdered by pro-British elements”. The Celtic cross bears three republican flags: Tricolour, Sunburst, and Starry Plough.

The volunteers (and one Sınn Féın member) listed are (on the left) “Martin Forsythe, Martin Skillen, Gerard Fennell, Terence O’Neill, John Dempsey” and (on the right) “Sean McDermott, Tom Magill, Sean Savage, Kevin McCracken, Paul Best”.

For a complete shot, see the Peter Moloney Collection.

Norglen Gardens, west Belfast, next to the 1916 Cú Chulaınn.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Tiger’s Bay UVF

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UVF volunteers in balaclavas take aim other across a free-floating Northern Ireland with an Uzi and an assault rifle. The emblem supported by flags on the right is unusual for its inclusion of a ?large daisy? and pink ribbon.

The location of this wall is unknown, which suggests the site of the Community Centre – please get in touch if you know where it was.

Tiger’s Bay, north Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Shutting The Gates Of Derry

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“West Belfast Brigade UDA C Company”. UDA/UDF/LPA/UFF mural on the Shankill. (For a similar quartet of names and explanation of “UDF”, see Sans Peur.)

The title “First Ulster Defence Assoc.” is an attempt to tie together the defenders of Derry in 1688 (300th anniversary) with the modern Ulster Defence Association. This is an early attempt to give the UDA historical roots, beyond the Shankill and Woodvale Defence Associations. To this end, the group would adopt Cú Chulaınn (beginning in 1992 – see the Visual History page) and (beginning in 2007 – see UDU-UFF-UDA) the 1893 Ulster Defence Union as ancestors.

Canmore Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00118

Ballysillan UVF

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“Always remembered, never forgotten”. This mural is unique in providing the length of the sentences being served by various members of the “B + D” company of the Ballysillan UVF: Kerr, Tarr, Bill, Watt, and Beattie are serving “Life”, while others – Courtney, Gilliland, Campbell, and Smith – are serving “stip” sentences (stipulated minimums) of twenty years or more; Stewart is being held “S.O.S.P”, that is, at the “Secretary Of State’s Pleasure”, presumably because he was convicted as a minor; the rest (Addley, McKay, McClure, McKinney, Murphy) are serving ordinary terms, except for Boreland and Suitters who are marked as “murdered” and Rollins who is “deceased”.

Here is a pamphlet from the Committee On The Administrative Of Justice on the “life” prisoners in NI prisons in the years prior to 1988 (pdf).

Suitters was shot by the IRA in 1975 at his shop (Sutton) not far from this mural in Legann Street.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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