Mural musings

I took a 3-hour walking tour of murals today. One of the themes was how positive images are replacing sectarian murals in Protestant West Belfast--the Shankill area.

The mural above replaced those shown below, with hooded gunmen in one of the murals. There are still plenty of sectarian murals, but the tour guide wanted to highlight where communities have approved change.

West Belfast has a peace wall dividing the Protestant Shankill from the Catholic Falls Road area. On the Catholic side, the peace wall is decorated with images celebrating Fidel Castro, Catalonian independence, imprisoned Kurdish leader Ocalan, the PLO and others. Also, of course, the IRA.

The one above highlights leaders from D Company of the IRA and from the PLO. And of course, Bobby Sands, one of the IRA prisoners who died on hunger strike.

I'm not a fan of glorifying the IRA or the Protestant militias. I understand why the IRA came into being--Catholics were getting it from all sides. But like all "freedom movements" led by men with guns and runaway egos, they became a pariah in their own community--literally tarring and feathering people accused of being British informants.

As informed people say when discussing Northern Ireland's history, it's complicated. Lots of bad guys and dirty doings on both sides, with the British seucrity forces making matters worse by procuring and then protecting informants responsible for some of the worst atrocities.

March 30