This new piece – placing a cosmetological beauty in a jungle scene of exotic plants and a black panther – was painted for 2026’s Hit The North street-art festival by HMC (web) in Nelson Street (near Great Patrick Street).
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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“Sorry it was all for nothing – It’s on each and every one of us to save what our forefathers fought and died for.”
According to this Facebook post, the perceived threat being warned against here is “Communistic Islamification”. The “Islamification” is represented by a partial flag of Pakistan (an Islamic republic) being carried by yelling Caucasian figures in long black robes, advancing through a graveyard, in which an elderly man – perhaps King Charles – kneels in front of a headstone bearing a red Christian cross. That the cemetery is a military one is indicated by the medals on the mourner’s chest and the line from Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen’, which provides a referent for the apology and the word “forefathers”.
How the “communistic” threat is conveyed is less clear.
Two men were cautioned by the police for displaying offensive material (Sunday Life). The Cloughfern Young Conquerors declined to play at the launch and family fun-day (Sunday Life), but the event went ahead (on May 8th) (youtube). Additional changes were made to the site in the days prior to the launch; see What Our Forefathers Fought And Died For.
Doagh Road, Cloughfern, Newtownabbey
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Frankfurt-based artist Case Maclaim (ig) was one of the international guests for Hit The North 2026 and painted this upside-down face outside Lanyon Place train station.
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Here are two pieces by artist Silver Formz (ig) painted for this year’s (2026) Hit The North. The clown above and immediately below is in Dunbar Street; the distorted bust is in Union Street.
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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There is a ‘blue plaque’ outside the Trident bar in Bangor’s High Street, to commemorate its role in the punk movement of the late 1970s (BBC | Guardian). The bands listed on this painted electrical box are Ruefrex (web), Stiff Little Fingers (web), Rudi (Something Hard), The Doubt (Irish Rock), The Androids (Spit), The Outcasts (Faster & Louder).
The bar is referenced in the SLF song “Alternative Ulster” (lyrics). Despite the claim that “there’s nothing for us in Belfast”, there is a plaque remembering the punk scene outside the Harp Bar – see Belfast Has The Reason.
By Cha Cha (ig), one building up from the Trident (Wolsey’s), High Street, Bangor
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Cherry blossoms along Drumhirk Drive, Kilcooley, Bangor. For the UVF board to McCosh And Hamilton to the left of the wide shot, see The Pride O Oor Land Lie Cauld In The Clay.
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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These UVF and UDA board are on adjacent walls at the entrance to the Glen estate, Newtownards; above and directly below, a North Down UVF and graffiti, while directly above it (final image) two UDA hooded gunmen take aim at the viewer on the pavement.
Also in Glen: a UVF hooded gunman at the bottom of the estate – Neighbourhood Watch – and UDA gunmen at the top of the estate – Hope That It Will Get Better.
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Hamilton House in Joy Street, Belfast, (former) home of Hamilton Architects, has a small statue of Charlie Chaplin on its fourth floor parapet to commemorate the fact that he briefly lived in Joy Street while he appeared at the Palace Of Varieties (the Grand Opera House) in 1908.
There are also reliefs of four famous architects above the first-floor windows. The four are Alvar Aalto (perhaps shown with a folding screen), Frank Lloyd Wright (Guggenheim Museum), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Glasgow Rose), and Carlo Scarpa (Brion Tomb). The four were created by Claire Sampson (web).
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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This scene from the story of Clann Lır (the Children Of Lear) appears to be the moment that Aoıfe casts a spell that turns her four step-children into swans on Loch Daırbhreach.
Painted by Loretta Lizzio (web) at the same time (2023-09) as her Dark Dreamer on the Oldpark Road, just below the first Cliftonville roundabout.
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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