London-/Derry

He Sowed That We Might Reap

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These two boards are on either side of the Fıanna Éıreann roll of honour in Racecourse Road, Shantallow, Derry.

First (left): the Derry branch of the 1916 Societies (Fb) is named after Sean Dolan, an IRA volunteer interned at the outbreak of WWII on the prison ship Al Rawdah (WP | saoırse32) before being moved to Crumlin Road gaol. He was released on grounds of ill health shortly before dying in 1941 at age 28 in Derry. The title of today’s post comes from Dolan’s gravestone, which is in Ardmore (findagrave).

It was the 1916 Societies that hoisted an Irish tricolour from the roof of Stormont in June 2015 (BBC).

Second (right): two hunger-strikers from Derry, Patsy O’Hara and Michael Devine, were both members of the INLA; the third INLA hunger-striker was Kevin Lynch, from nearby Dungiven. The seven others who died were members of the IRA, whose political wing was Sınn Féın, while the IRSP (web), who sponsored this board, serve as the political face of the INLA.

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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Isolation

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The dilapidated Rebel’s Rest is being used as a notice-board, first by Sınn Féın and their campaign to extend voting in the Irish Presidential election to the north – “Vótaí do gach saoránach Éireannach”, “Paul Maskey supports #pres4all – Uachtarán do chách/President for all” – and secondly by the IRPWA (web) and their campaign to “End British internment! End Maghaberry torture”.

Falls Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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The Courage And Sacrifice Of The Hunger Strikers

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Here is a close-up of the the middle of the Hunger Strike board above the Clowney Street phoenix (which is the Oldest Mural in Belfast) seen previously in 2013.

For an image of the writing – “Bobby Sands murdered 1.17 am. 5th May 1981. ‘My position is in total contrast to that of an ordinary prisoner: I am a political prisoner.”” – see the Homer Sykes collection. The quotation is from Sands’s ‘The Lark And The Freedom Fighter’ (pdf).

For “Thirty thousand can’t be wrong” see this episode of Thames TV’s ‘TV Eye’ (youtube).

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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You Cannot Kill Ideas

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A week before he was assassinated and his government overthrown, Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara asserted: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” Sankara gained power of Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) in a 1983 coup and launched an ambitious programme of literacy, feminism, public health, and agricultural self-sufficiency, in addition to launching a drive against corruption and of nationalizing natural resources. He attempted this all without the assistance of foreign aid or the IMF or World Bank. However, he wielded power outside the jurisdiction of the courts and controlled the press. He and twelve colleagues were killed in October 1987.

Beechmount Avenue, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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Sarcoma Awareness

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For a second year, Free Derry Corner is painted yellow as part of “Paul’s Campaign” for “Sarcoma awareness” – named after Paul Coyle who died of the disease at age 26 in 2011.

In the bottom left is a short poem: “Wear the colour yellow/Wear it proudly on your breast/Brightly show the bystanders/Our campaign it will not rest//Our fight is to highlight a disease/So harmful and so vile/To ignore it is to encourage it/To rid our face of smiles//So brightly wear that yellow/Don’t turn your face away/Raise awareness of sarcoma/Consign it to yesterday!”

Free Derry Corner has its own Visual History page.

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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End British Internment

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“End the torture in Maghaberry Gaol – Smash Stormont – www.irpwa.com – Irish Republican Prisoners’ Welfare Association – strip searching – isolation – controlled movement.”

IRPWA board on the rear of Free Derry Corner.

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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Britain’s Involvement In Torture In Prisons

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“Cogús [Fb] presents ‘Britain’s Involvement In Torture In Prisons, Past And Present’. Speakers: Joe Clarke & Jim Auld, Gerry Brannigan, Moazzam Begg. Sat. 8th August, Conway Mill 7 pm – 10 pm. Free admiss[i]on”

Northumberland Street, west Belfast, taking the place of Leonard Peltier.

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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Lindsay Mooney Memorial

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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.”

Lincoln Court, Londonderry

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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