banner/tarp – Paddy Duffy Collection

Always On Our Minds Throughout The Year

“Loyalist culture – unbowed, unbroken.” The Sydenham Bonfire is constructed annually on the Inverary playing field and there is now a mural announcing the group who build it, to go along with the bonfire’s Facebook page. The phrase “unbowed, unbroken” has been frequently seen in CNR muraling, beginning with a 1996 mural in Lenadoon.

There is a memorial plaque in the top left: “Dedicated to Reece (Leeper) Leeman. To our friend that we hold dear, hard to believe that your [sic] not here. Thankful our memories won’t disappear. Always on our minds throughout the year.” Leeman, aged 21, was stabbed to death in 2019 (BBC) when he and a friend attempted to raid cannabis from the Kyle Street house of an aquaintance (ITv | News Letter).

Inverary pitches and bowling green, Sydenham, east Belfast

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09805 T09804 T098026 T09807 T09808

Stop The Games

2026-08-282026-09-11Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

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.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09744 T09745 T09746

Believe In Your Dreams

2026-06-272026-07-26Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Ryan McBride was a Derry City FC defender and captain who died suddenly in 2017 at the age of 27 (BBC). The stadium was renamed, and the Ryan McBride foundation (web) was established, in his honour.

The piece above (by Ray Bonner) is at the Brandywell stadiums; the banner below is in Lecky Road.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09364 T09413

Stop The Game

2026-06-212026-06-23Extramural Activity1 Comment

The Irish men’s soccer team is scheduled to play Israel in the Nations’ League, on September 27th and – at home – on October 4th, 2026. A campaign was launched to “Stop the game” in Dublin as a form of protest and disengagement, most prominently in the form of an open letter (instagram) sent to the FAI signed by footballers and various musicians.

The FAI instead appealed to UEFA to have the game played behind closed doors in a neutral country, saying that while it was “deeply conscious” of the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, it did not want to forfeit the points or be disqualified from the competition (FAI).

The large tarp shown above has been added (on June 18th) on top of the long Painting For Palestine mural on Divis Street.

The various placards reading “No to hate”, “Fight racism”, and “Yes to all!” were added last week (June 17th) in response to the rioting in east Belfast and elsewhere – see McMaster Street Remembers. (These additions are reminiscent of the ‘Free Marian Price’ additions in 2013 – see Scaoıl Saor Marian Price in the Peter Moloney Collection.)

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09298 T09299
T09297 T09300 T09301

Pride Of Lord Street

2026-06-142026-06-18Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The association of lions with the English monarchy goes back to Henry II and his sons Richard (“the lionheart”) and John (WP). Why they were represented by lions is unclear; it perhaps stems from the prominence of lions in the Bible and the Lion Of Judah from Genesis 49:9.

These lions, somehow carrying Union Flags, are in Lord Street at Lord Street Mews, east Belfast

Saturday Morning Stop Shop

2026-04-052026-04-22Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here are three banners/posters spotted along the Falls Road during the Easter Rising parade on April 5th:

Above: “Sainsbury’s supports Israel! Don’t shop there. Easter Sat 4th [April, 2026].” For background see the post and reel on the BDS Belfast Fb page.

Below: “U.S. military not welcome in Ireland! Not in Shannon, not in Aldergrove.” For background, see Al-Jazeera | ShannonWatch. April 13th: a person was arrested for taking a hatchet to a C-120 Hercules (Democracy Now).

Last below: “PSNI target Catholics at much higher rate for stop-and-search. Source: PSNI stop-and-search data. Do not join the RUC/PSNI. Same aim, different name. IRSP [web] – the party of Connolly & Costello.” The data in question might be from the 2020-2021 period (PSNI | TheDetail) as the current (2025) data do not appear to report on sectional identification.

Lıle Na Cásca

2026-04-052026-04-14Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“100 years. Lıle na Cásca. Wear your Easter lily with pride. Tabhaır ómós do laochra na hÉıreann. [Pay respect to Ireland’s warriors]”

Shown here are Sınn Féın (web) and Lasaır Dhearg (web) invocations to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. The lily as a symbol of the 1916 Easter Rising was introduced by Cumann Na mBan in 1926 as a fund-raising device. For a history and vintage posters from across the century, see An Phoblacht.

Falls Road, west Belfast