This is a new UDA mural in memory of John Gregg, “The Reaper”, who waged a campaign of terror against Catholics in south-east Antrim and was reputedly associated with British neo-Nazi groups. Gregg was gunned down in 2003, while returning from a Rangers match, as part of the power struggle with Johnny Adair.
Nearby red-white-and-blue poles on Knockenagh Ave, Newtownabbey, are also shown.
Genesis 35:11 reads (NIV) “And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.” The flags of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England are joined in the mural above by those of Australia and (a simplified version of) the Falkland Islands (on the left) and New Zealand and Canada (on the right). The flag flying in the centre is the Royal Standard, flown on the building or vehicle where the monarch is.
The adjacent mural of army badges around a burial scene from the first world war features some lesser-seen items. On the left, alongside the Royal Irish Rifles (top left) and the (modern-day) Royal Irish Regiment (at the time of WWI the harp was plain and there was no garland), we see the emblem of the North Irish Horse, a cavalry unit in the Territorial Army. On the right, the emblem of the Royal Irish Rangers (which was folded into the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992) is joined by the star of the Irish Guards (above) and the emblem of the Ulster Special Constabulary or B-Specials (below). Only the Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Guards remain as regiments of the British Army; “The Horse” now forms squadrons of other units. Of the six, four served in WWI; the B-Specials were formed in 1920 and the Rangers in 1968.
Above is King William III at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
The murals along east Belfast’s “Freedom Corner” (on the Newtownards Road) were repainted over the course of several months in 2015. These images are from a variety of dates in July and August; the ‘red hand’ piece is incomplete – for the finished work, see The Strangest Victory In All History.
The new pieces reproduce the previous ones in terms of theme: UFF/Young Newton at the ends, with the Past (Specials and UDR) and Present Defenders (UDA) in the middle – compare with the 2009 entries Freedom Corner | Ulster’s Present Day Defenders | Young Newton.
The ‘Relief Of Derry‘ bonfire stands ready for burning, flying Irish Tricolour and Starry Plough flags, and decked with an IRSP hunger strike board – perhaps stolen from Rossville Street.
In this modified ‘School’ safety sign in the Lower Shankill estate, a mother and child with Orange Order collarettes go to school (under the watchful eye of the trio of UFF, UYM, and UDA boards seen in Loyalist Lower Shankill.)
(In 2000, a board reading “Drumcree” was placed over “School”. See J0585)
The [Sergeant] Lindsay Mooney Memorial Flute Band was formed in 1973 after the St. Patrick’s day death of Lindsay Mooney, a UDA member killed by the premature explosion of a bomb near Lifford, County Donegal (Sutton).
The band dissolved in 1993 but commemorative nights are still held. The board above is in the Lincoln Court area of Londonderry, from where Mooney and the band both hailed. “To those of us who criticise, to those who cannot see, just remember in a foreign land feel a better man than me.”
This small board is (probably) a successor to the two boards seen in 2005’s UFF/UYM both of which had disappeared by 2014 (or perhaps a temporary replacement for the UWC mural before the anti-drugs board).
The Parades Commission (web) ruled in 2013 – and in 2014 and now again in 2015 – that the Orange Order could not parade past the Ardoyne shops. A legal bid to reverse the decision was rejected by.a High Court judge (BBC).
In protest, a giant Tricolour with the words “These are the colours of the Parades Commission” have been added to the side of the Sandy Row bonfire (in the Days Hotel car-park) that is due to be lit this evening – Eleventh Night.
The new Museum of Orange Heritage in Schomberg House opened at the end of June. It features a stained glass window with the words “faithful unto death”, commemorating the 330+ (countsdiffer) members of the Orange Order who were killed during the Troubles.
The museum is at the south end of Cregagh Road; the advertising hoarding is on the Upper Newtownards Road, east Belfast
