political – Page 4 – Paddy Duffy Collection

Winky Rea

2025-01-312025-02-13Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

A portrait of Winston Winky/Winkie Rea has been added to the gallery above the Red Hand Commando board in the upper Shankill, taking the place of a pesudo-Mark Twain quote that has been reproduced in a horizontal format above the quartet. (See the previous iteration.)

Like the other three, Rea was a RHC (or UVF) member who then became a member of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). On the basis of his interview with the Boston College project, he was charged with crimes including two murders and two attempted murders (BBC | BBC). The trial was still on-going when he died in December of 2023.

“With courage and vision you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. – Mark Twain [Keshavan Nair].”

Glenwood Street, upper Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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Our Community Transformation

2025-01-262025-02-23Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Ivan Davis was a DUP and then UUP politician who was a Lisburn borough councillor (and mayor 1991-1993) and member of the Assembly for Lagan Valley from 1998 to 2003, before being ousted in favour of the anti-Agreement Jeffrey Donaldson (BBC). He died in 2020 (BelTel). The stone in his memory is in the garden at the top of Old Warren: “In memory of Ivan Davis O.B.E. Freeman of the city of Lisburn, a dedicated honourable public servant who worked tirelessly for the entire community of Lisburn.”

The boards on the wall were seen previously in 2023’s Conflict To Peace – which includes a colour photograph of the old UDA mural – and 2024’s Faith, Blood, Service, Sacrifice.

Avonmore Park, Old Warren, Lisburn

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When It Blows Full Blast

2024-12-122026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

In addition to taking out the top of the UVF mural in Mount Vernon (see Taken By Storm), Storm Darragh (on the night of Friday 6th/Saturday 7th) also knocked down part of the long wall on Northumberland Street (Visual History) between the two sets of security gates, taking with it most of the extended “Imagine” board (see Hope And History; the original portion was mounted for International Peace Day (“[2]1st September” visible in the final image) in 2011 – see Imagine).

The piece on the right, with the Seamus Heaney quote, is partly gone, revealing (in the image above) the old mural supporting (Manchester) United’s Big Lily.

For the art on the gates, see Ambassadors For Peace.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Memory Of Our Dead

2024-11-172026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Beır bua – It is the responsibility of the living to keep alive the memory of the dead.” This is the second ‘Working Class Heroes’ piece in Ballymurphy. The other, from 2014, features Tommy “Toddler” Tolan, who appears here to the left of the phoenix.

The plaque on the right reads “This mural was unveiled by Johnny Doc and Maureen Tolan, 5th November, 2023.” There is video of the launch on Facebook, which contains a reading of the names of all the people pictured from the 1m 57s mark onwards.

Glenalina Crescent, Ballymurphy, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Courage, Dignity And Determination

2024-10-042026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“They gave their lives for their comrades in the struggle for Irish freedom. They did so with courage, dignity and determination.”

The previous piece in this location – A Letter To The 22 – included ten dead hunger strikers from the before the Troubles; this new piece includes only the twelve Troubles-era strikers: Michael Gaughan from 1974 and Frank Stagg from 1976 (on the left and right in the image above) and the “ten men dead” from the 1981 strike: Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Ray McCreesh, Patsy O’Hara, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Tom McIlwee, Michael Devine, and – in pride of place – Joe McDonnell, who was raised on the Falls but lived as an adult in the nearby Lenadoon area.

“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.”

Shaw’s Road, west Belfast.

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Whitehead Temperance

2024-09-202025-06-21Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Benjamin West painted The Battle Of The Boyne in 1778 and his composition – with William moving from left to right on a white horse and Marshal Schomberg dying in the bottom-right corner – has become the standard representation in loyalist culture, perhaps due to versions of it appearing on the covers of songbooks for the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys soon after (Belinda Loftus 1982 Images In Conflict). It appears here on the wall of Whitehead Orange Hall, along with a board connecting service by Irish soldiers in British forces in WWI and Afghanistan (see previously: The Sacrifice Remains the Same in east Belfast).

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Fare You Well – Your Suit Is Cold

2024-09-132026-08-29Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

According the Antrim & Newtownabbey Council press-release, the new statue of Queen Elizabeth (and two corgis) unveiled on September 6th next to last year’s statue of Prince Philip in Antrim Castle Gardens “captures Her Majesty in a dignified pose, reflecting her grace, steadfastness and lifelong service to public service”. Others are not so sure that it captures Elizabeth at all, including the A&N’s own councillor Vera McWilliam, who told the BBC that “it does not resemble the queen in any shape or form” (BBC); the controversy was reported on as far afield as Australia, India, and the US.

Both pieces were “sculptured” by Anto Brennan (NVTv profile), who also did the bust of Mary-Ann McCracken opposite Clifton House (seen in The World Affords No Enjoyment Equal To That Of Promoting The Happiness Of Others).

See also Artnet for this and other recent controversies over the paintings of UK royals.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Stop The Boats

2024-08-182026-08-31Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

A small but significant addition has been made to the repainted territorial marking “Loyalist Tiger’s Bay” – “Stop the boats”, the pledge given by Rishi Sunak in January 2023 after almost forty-six thousand people entered the UK in small boats in 2022 (BBC). This resulted in a media campaign in March of 2023 (gov.uk). The slogan was also seen on signs during the anti-immigration riots this (2024) summer (Mirror | Telegraph | NPR | Reuters) and heard chanted by rioters (SMH).

“Stop the boats” was for a time paired with “start the flights”. Since 2022, the Conservative government under Boris Johnson had planned to “start the flights” of some asylum seekers to Rwanda, but this required a protracted legal and legislative campaign involving a bill declaring the “Safety Of Rwanda” (January 2024) after a Supreme Court block on the programme (Human Rights Watch | BBC Explainer).

Sunak called a snap general election in late May, 2024; Labour took power and the Rwanda programme was scrapped (CBS). The language of stopping the boats, however, remains on the Labour website.

In the background of the wide shot, below, the main gable wall, it appears, is being painted to honour King Charles III in the same style as inside the estate – see I Will Plant Them.

For the meaning of the pre-existing “Genesis 38:28”, see Pro-Testant Reformation. It might be applied to the context of immigration in that it concerns the order of succession among twins.

Limestone Road, north Belfast

Update 2024-09-12: the words have been ?partially? whitewashed

Elizabeth, Queen Of Orange

2024-08-132024-08-26Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

William III is the only member of the (Dutch) House Of Orange to rule the UK, as his marriage to Mary did not produce any offspring, and the crown passed to Mary’s sister Anne after both Mary (1694) and William (1702) had died (WP). Queen Elizabeth II was from the Saxe-Coburg And Gotha ‘house’ (changed during the Great War to “Windsor”) via her great-great-grandfather Prince Albert (of Victoria & Albert) but she symbolises Orangism to Northern Irish Protestants and in the portrait shown here she wears an orange jacket and an orange hat which has a band of orange lilies; the portrait is framed by a Union Flag and two clusters of orange lilies.

The plaque on the right reads “This mural is a tribute to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Funded by the loyal people of Portadown. To God be the glory.”

Youtube video of the launch on June 8th.

Brownstown Road, Portadown, replacing the George Best mural that re-imaged the Billy Wright mural c. 2007.

The “Crisis” Is Capitalism

2024-08-042026-08-29Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here is a gallery of boards and flyers from on and around the green-spaces adjacent to Free Derry Corner.

“The “crisis” is capitalism – this is a war on the working class. Don’t fall for their lies. Fight back, join RSYM [Fb]”

“Evict greedy landlords, not struggling families. Rates of housing benefit for private renters in Derry and Strabane … landlords should not be charging working class families more than these rates. Don’t let them rob you! Drop The Rents North West [Fb]” (on top of Cosaın Ár Neodracht)

“Remember our hunger strike martyrs – IRSP [web]”, “Stand up! Fight back! Join Éıstıgí [web]”, “Sovereignty, not Stormont www.32csm.org“, “Remember the ten” [hunger strikers]