Belfast Murals Visit the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (Click "Links")
The first thing I wanted to see in Belfast was the mural of Bobby Sands, whose quotation on the wall reminds us all, "Republican or otherwise" to get involved and help Ireland. The barely visible person beside the car is me! Click here for larger view. (This will open a new browser window).
This mural calls for the release of all POWs, in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement. A big step in that direction was taken on Friday, July 28, 2000 with the closure of Long Kesh prison and the release of 46 POWs. |
 In
Brendan Behan's play, "The Hostage," the onstage action is overshadowed
by an unseen protagonist known only as "the boy in the Belfast jail."
That boy was Tom Williams, hanged at the age of nineteen by the British
in 1942. His body lay in an unmarked grave at Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast
for 57 years, until it was moved to Milltown Cemetery in 1999.
 Okay, so this isn't a mural, but it's certainly a sign of the times--an illustration of Belfast's growing reputation as a multi-cultural European city. The shop has an Italian name, serves Irish fish & chips, "famous" Mexican tacos, and the owner is a recent immigrant from Palestine! |
