printed board/placard

Norah McCabe

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Norah McCabe was shot in the back of the head by a plastic bullet fired from an RUC land rover at around 7:45 a.m. on July 9th, 1981, the day after hunger striker Joe McDonnell died. (Danny Barrett would be killed by a British Army sniper in the evening.) The new boards were mounted to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of McCabe’s death. In 1981, a mural was painted at the same spot (in the old Linden Street) to protest the use of plastic bullets: see Plastic Death.

“Norah McCabe, 1947-1981, murdered by an RUC plastic bullet on 9th July 1981, aged 33 years.” With a poem “Peace” by daughter Áıne McCabe, who was three months old when her mother was killed (Irish News).

(old) Linden Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Don’t Play England’s Game

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“No extradition! Don’t play England’s game” – after years of legal wrangling, Liam Campbell was extradited to Lithuania on charges of procuring weapons for the Real IRA (BBC | Saoradh). See previously: Silence Is Complicity. Cıarán Maguire was handed over to the PSNI by Gardaí in April 2021 (Donegal Daily).

Braemar Street, west Belfast, with a 40th anniversary hunger strike board below.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Don’t Join

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“Don’t join the PSNI” – This Lasaır Dhearg board takes the “poster officer” from the 2021 recruitment campaign and puts them against a backdrop of riot officers firing plastic bullets. “17 people have been killed by plastic bullets, including 8 children.” “It is believed that the PSNI retain a stockpile of over 50,000 deadly plastic bullets.” The British state does not use plastic bullets anywhere but occupied Ireland.” “The PSNI is not a normal police force.” Here is the 2021 Amnesty report on the use of water cannon and “Attenuating Energy Projectiles” in the north. In November, relatives of Carol Ann Kelly went to Stormont to call for an end to the use of plastic bullets (BelTel).

Iveagh Parade, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Ban Plastic Bullets Now!

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The United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets organised a march on July 16th, from Divis to the middle Falls, ending in Islandbawn Street with the launch of a new mural commemorating 17 victims of rubber or plastic bullets (Irish News). (Belfast Media has a gallery from the march.) Amnesty International last year released a report on the continued use of Attenuating Energy Projectiles (AEPs).

“Seeking justice for victims of rubber and plastic bullets. Plastic bullets = murder, main & mayhem”

For the previous plastic bullets board in Islandbawn Street, see Plastic Death.

Francis Rowntree, Tobias Molloy, Thomas Friel, Stephen Geddis, Brian Stewart, Michael Donnelly, Stephen McConomy, Paul Whitters, Julie Livingstone, Henry Duffy, Carol Ann Kelly, Norah McCabe, Peter Doherty, Peter McGuinness, John Downes, Keith White, Seamus Duffy.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Alternative Transport, Alternative Location

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Pieces of the long Beechmount Avenue wall have moved to different locations due to the construction of new fencing and other improvements. The WBTA Alternative Transport board is now above the longest-surviving mural in Belfast, the Clowney Street phoenix.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Beechmount Remembers

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This board was mounted in AMCOMRI Street for the fortieth anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, with photographs from the area in the background, including the Revolution mural at the bottom of Beechmount Avenue in 1996-1997.

“Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something.”

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Let No Man Pull You So Low As To Hate Him

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This Sınn Féın Youth/Maıréad Farrell Youth Committee banner uses Martin Luther King to advocate for non-violent protest (featured previously in Always Avoid Violence). Below is a call to attend a 41st-anniversary commemoration of the 1981 hunger strike.

Beechmount Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The People’s Queen Is Dead

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Upon news of Queen Elizabeth’s death, the platinum jubilee mural at the bottom of Crimea Street became a memorial, with hundreds of bouquets being laid before it and a “wall of condolences” set up. (For the mural itself, see The People’s Monarch.) In addition, to the right-hand side has been added a small commemoration of her passing, with a quote from her son, the newly acceded King Charles:

“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world”; “Long live the king!”

The fifteen commonwealth “realms” (previously called “dominions”) share a monarch – formerly Elizabeth II and now Charles III – while the commonwealth comprises 41 additional nations, including some which are now republics: Barbados, for example, became a republic on November 30th last year (2021) but is still in the Commonwealth (WP). Additional countries might take the passing of Elizabeth as a suitable juncture at which to sever ties (Edinburgh News has a round-up | for the Bahamas see Caribbean National Weekly | for Canada see Toronto Star).

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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State-Sponsored Killings

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The victims of the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 and of plastic and rubber bullets throughout the troubles receive particular attention among galleries of “murdered” people.

“11 people in west Belfast from the Greater Ballymurphy neighbourhood were murdered by the British Army as internment without trial was violently carried out on August 9th, 1971. Proper police investigations were never undertaken and no one has served a day in prison for causing these deaths. The familys [sic] of those murdered deserve and demand the truth be told by the state about its policies and actions of those who carried them out.” The 11 are (clockwise) Eddie Docherty, Joseph Corr, John McKerr, John Laverty, Joan Connolly, Fr Hugh Mullan, Danny Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Paddy McCarthy, Frank Quinn, Noel Philips.

“This mural is dedicated to the memory of those killed and maimed by rubber & plastic bullets fired by the police & British Army. Not one member of the security forces ever served a day in jail for the deaths, many of them children, despite the courts ruling on the innocence of the victims. Plastic bullets are still being used on the streets of the north of Ireland today.”

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Copyright © 2010 Paddy Duffy
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Stevie McKeag

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“In loving memory of military commander Stevie ‘Top Gun’ McKeag, born 1970, died 2000. Sleeping where no shadows fall.” The plaques and the photograph in the centre are new (see previously 2007).

McKeag was the top assassin in the UDA during the 1990s, claiming at least 12 victims. Both his WP page and this Guardian article describe his career and his – sometimes contentious – preeminent standing within the UDA.

The upper plaque reads “This mural is dedicated to the memory of Stevie (Top Gun) McKeag from the officers & members of C Company 2nd Battalion UFF. Gone but not forgotten. Quis separabit.” The lower plaque reads “In loving memory of our big brother Steven McKeag from Jackie, Mary & Melissa. Simply the best.”

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
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