Signpost Of The Times

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The centenary of Northern Ireland and the Our Story In The Making Project (web) provided an occasion for towns to revisit their pasts. Despite the title of the piece – Northern Ireland 100 Commemoration Mural – much of the mural pre-dates the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland. Blackhead lighthouse opened in 1902; the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway company was founded in 1860 (web); Berkeley Wise, who helped develop the village of Whitehead into a tourist destination, died in 1909.

“Whitehead: Diverse, Welcoming, Forward Thinking – Northern Ireland 100 Commemoration Mural – Supported by the Northern Ireland Office, as part of the Our Story In The Making project, this mural was commissioned by Mid And East Antrim Borough Council. The mural came about following consultation with groups in the town and has been designed and painted by Dee Craig of Belfast Mural Arts, November 2021. The symbolism of the mural is detailed below … Berkeley Deane Wise … The Trees … The Steam Train … The Spitfire … The Signpost … Blackhead Lighthouse … The Town Of Whitehead … The Colourful Houses …”

At Bentra golf club, Whitehead. Also included (last below) is the emic (ig) piece “Time Waits For No One” at the club after beginning life in Larne (ig).

Also from “Our Story”: My Irish People | NI Beyond 100.

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Craigyhill Bonfire 2024

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Bonfire builders in the Craigyhill area of Larne (Fb) are once again attempting to build the world’s tallest bonfire, a record held unofficially by their 2022 effort (see Commonwealth Handling Equipment) and officially by an Austrian bonfire in 2019 (Guinness Book Of Records).

This year’s pyre is now finished and was tall enough for a base-jumper to parachute off it on July 9th (BBC). The builders are hoping that the 35′ beacon on top of the 363-pallet base will take the total height over 210 feet and towards 220 when it is measured professionally (Belfast Live). Update: the tower was measured at 205′ (BelTel | News Letter).

The final two images were taken on the 28th when the pyre was 150 feet (280 pallets) in height (BelTel).

See also: Craigyhill Bonfire 2023.

June 28th:

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Ulster freedom fries

You Have The Power

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“You have the power to say “No!” to drugs.”

Carla Hodgson (ig) and kids from the Carrick Hill community centre (with support from the University Of Ulster) painted this mural at the junction of Trinity Street/Sráıd Na Tríonóıde and Regent Street/Sráıd An Leasrí, in Carrick Hill, a spot which is reportedly used by dealers to sell drugs (Belfast Media | 2018 BelTel | 2018 Belfast Live).

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Crying, Sighing, Breathlessly

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“Ruby Murray (March 29, 1935 – December 17, 1996) was a popular singer born in Moltke Street and brought up in the village. Her characteristic hoarse voice was a result of an operation on her throat in early childhood. She toured as a child singer, and first appeared on television at the age of 12. Her first single was ‘Heartbeat’ [youtube], which reached the UK top 5 in 1954. The next, ‘Softly, Softly’ [youtube], reached number 1 in 1955, a year in which Murray achieved the rare feat of having five singles in the top twenty at the same time. Ruby still holds the record for the most hit records in the Top Twenty at the same time; beating Madonna and the Beatles.” “Our thanks to Donegall Road Primary School & especially all the pupils, whose images comprise this Photo-Mosaic.”

This is a copy of the board (or perhaps even the very board) that used to be in Maldon Street. It is (now) in the Village green, which cuts Moltke Street in two.

Other Murray boards: The Village Songbird | Top Of The Pops

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Sweet Rockall

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Nigel Farage yesterday had a banana milkshake from McDonald’s thrown over him by a protester in Clacton (Guardian) as Farage launched his own and the Reform Party’s campaign for the Westminster election on July 4th. It was not Farage’s first milkshake – he was doused by a banana-and-caramel shake from Five Guys in Newcastle in 2019 (BBC).

He is shown here (above) in a Ciaran Gallagher painting in the courtyard of the Dark Horse bar in Belfast city centre (at the end of the Ship Of Fools saga), with pint and cigarette in hand, looming over the UK’s most recent (and perhaps final) territorial expansion: the annexation of Rockall in 1955 and with it a claim of a 12-mile exclusion zone of sea and airspace; it is also claimed by Ireland, Iceland, and Denmark (WP).

Included below are other ethno-nationalists on display in the courtyard, portrayed as the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Donald Trump (famine), Vladimir Putin (death), Kim Jong Un (pestilence), and Ruhollah Khomeini (war).

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Love Will Keep Us Alive

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“Love transforms”. In Chinese (Daoist) mythology, Lan Caihe, one of the Eight Immortals, is a sexually ambiguous character who carries a basket of herbs and flowers (depicted on the right of the image above) that symbolise or promote longevity (WP).

Electrical box by Ellymakes (web) in Carmel Street, Holylands, south Belfast.

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Women Carry The People

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Palestinian artist Taqi Spateen’s (web | ig) second piece in Belfast is in Palestine Street in the Holylands of south Belfast, where he worked with Artists Against Genocide (ig) to produce a piece showing the strength of Palestinian women, carrying the land from which Palestinians have been evicted in the Nakba of 1948.

For the first piece, in Kent Street in the city centre, see Anatomy Of Oppression.

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