Old images reborn

I was going to use the blog today to lament the sad news of the separation of this blog's patron saint, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver. The timing of which shows an eery prescience to the beginning of this blog. I'm not saying I'm a prophet to be worshipped. I'm just saying.

What's knocked me off this irreverent train of thought? A wall mural on the Newtownards road area of Belfast. A bloody wall mural.

To those of you who have visited Northern Ireland, the wall murals in and around the traditionally loyalist and republican areas of Belfast (and other towns) have become a tourist attraction, which thousands of visitors coming to take pictures of the ominous, shadowy figures clutching their machine guns tightly whilst proclaiming fealty to their particular religio-political cause. For a generation it's been almost impossible to drive anywhere in Belfast without passing a handful of these, as each mural signified the affiliation of that area to a particular terror group, or the presence of its members within it.

Since the IRA and UVF/UDA ceasefires in the late 90s and throughout the (comparatively) peaceful 2000s, many of the aggressive murals depicting gunmen and celebrating the violence of 'the troubles' have been replaced by many inoffensive, pro-active, cross-community designs hinting at a brighter future ahead for the province.

One such mural celebrated the victory of local Irish League club Glentoran, over the Detroit Cougars in 1913, winning the Vienna Cup. I've passed this mural countless times in the last 6 years, and have always thought it a very positive celebration of the football club, which has deep roots in this part of east Belfast.

It ain't pretty but consider the subtle shades around the Goliath crane

Coming home today I noticed that the design of this mural has changed somewhat, with less emphasis on international football, and more focus on blokes with guns.

I'd have got a better picture if it hadn't been for those pesky masked loyalist painters!

On the opposite side of the road, two masked men were busy painting another wall with a similar 70s gunman motif, on top of a gantry, in broad daylight, on a busy road. This may not ultimately be significant. It's just a wall after all, and what's two new murals depicting a show of strength to a loyalist group in the grand scheme of things.

It's just with the recent rise of violence in Northern Ireland, with high profile killings and attempted murders of policemen and rumblings or internecine violence within republican and loyalist circles, this is a simple but stark reminder of the savage tribalism that has blighted this country/province/piece of ground with soil and trees (delete as per political stance) for too long.