Higher

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“Dream. Love. Strength. Achieve. Life can take you higher than drugs.” New (May 2026) figures from the NI Statistics And Research Agency show 251 drug-related deaths in 2024 in Northern Ireland, most of which (219) are from drug abuse (NISRA). This new wall-painting in the New Lodge encourages young people to turn their backs on drugs and engage in activities suc as aerosol art and mountain-climbing.

By Blaze FX (Fb) with support from New Lodge Arts (Fb) and the Housing Executive.

Duncairn Parade, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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The Fallen Comrades Of The INLA

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Christopher “Crip” McWilliams has been added this new version of the INLA memorial on Northumberland Street (Visual History). McWilliams was a long-time member of the IPLO and was present at the Lenadoon shout-out with the RUC in Lenadoon in which Bonanza McCann died. He joined the INLA while in prison for the 1991 killing of a snooker-hall manager (Independent) and in 1987 was the gunman in a team of three that killed the LVF’s Billy Wright in the H-Blocks (IRSN | Cory Report (pdf) | MacLean Report (pdf)).

The info board in the final image was originally mounted in 2014 to accompany the version painted on a board which featured Loughran, McLarnon, McCann, and Gallagher, and updated in 2019 for the printed version which added McElkerney.

For images and video from the launch on May 17th, see El Norte De Irlanda.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Here’s A Health To The Company

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Society of United Irishmen was formed at the Crown Tavern in 1791, with founder members including Thomas Russell, William Drennan, Samuel Neilson (also host to Olaudah Equiano), Henry Joy McCracken, and Wolfe Tone. The building – now called Crown House – is visible upon entering Crown Entry from High Street. These painted windows are on the side of the building, as one proceeds towards Ann Street.

The first pair are by JMK, the second pair by Wee Nuls (ig), painted in 2020, at which time FGB also painted pair that have now faded.

Crown Entry, Belfast. See also the Visual History page on The Belfast Entries.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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An Ideology Of Hate

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Here are four flags from “Ulster Carrickfergus Loyalists [Fb]” attached to the fencing at the top of Woodburn Avenue in Carrickfergus. For (limited) background on the UCL, see No Illegal Migrants.

First, “Ulster loyalist – unite and fight.” with a fiery-eyed skull (reminiscent of Eddie The Trooper).

Second, “We are united as one & united we shall remain. Never surrender.” with the flags of the “four nations” that make up the current United Kingdom.

Third, “Christ is king. Stand up to radical Islam. Islam is not a race – it’s an ideology of hate.”

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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The Making Of America

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“The Ulster-Scots and the making of America” is a new mural in Carrickfergus celebrating the impact of Ulster-Scots (or, Scotch-Irish) emigrants to the colonies that became the United States.

On the left and right of the main gable (above), the arrivals are shown expanding the territories as they travel in a covered wagon and as embodying Appalachian culture in the form of “old time” (fiddle and banjo) music. (For the Ulster-Scots as frontiersmen, see Ulster Sails West in Ballymoney.)

In the centre are images of space travel, the rocket (perhaps the Saturn V) is heading to the moon (shown in the apex of the wall), upon which Buzz Aldrin walked in the 1969 mission on Apollo 11.

(These are the same themes as deployed in the new mural for the 250th anniversary of the United States in the Shankill – see We Lead Across Time And Space.)

The tartan pattern is called “Ulster Scots” (Tartan Register). The emblem combining a thistle and two red hands within a circle of shamrocks appears to be original work. The Great Seal of the United States was designed by Charles Thomson from Maghera; his contribution is commemorated in his home town.

For the UDA mural to the left (in the final image), see None Shall Divide Us.

Woodburn Avenue, Carrickfergus

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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An Architect Of Peace

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The UVF boards at the junction of London and My Lady’s roads in east Belfast have been completely replaced (compared to 2022). The hooded gunmen on the short side have been replaced by “Joy, peace, love” while a tribute to David Ervine now replaces the lettering reading “East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force”. Ervine was a UVF member from 1972 to 1980 before turning to a career in politics. “He asked the question “why can’t I be an Irish citizen of the UK?” … “An architect of peace. An inspiration to us all.” Always remembered by his family, comrades, colleagues and friends.”

Next to Ervine is a UVF roll of honour in which Roy Walker joins Robert Bennett, James Cordner, Joseph Long, and Robert Seymour, who were previously portrayed (Ulster’s Brave). Walker was killed in a feud with the UDA in 1976. And around the corner the UVF emblem has been replaced by a board to the Ulster Volunteer Force Regimental Band.

The largest panel remains a tribute to the dead of WWI, specifically now the “3rd battalion (Mountpottinger)” of the East Belfast regiment of the Ulster Volunteers who “marched to the old town hall in Victoria Street accompanied by the Duke Of York Pipe Band and around 270 members volunteered”. The long text explains the negotiation between Kitchener and Craig over the formation of the 36th Division; the East Belfast volunteers joined the 8th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles; “training took place at Ballykinlar in County Down and the Battalion became known as “Ballymacarret’s Own””.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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