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Is it time to whitewash Northern Ireland's paramilitary murals?
Monday, 12 April 2010
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They were used to promote political propaganda, glorify paramilitaries and mark out territory.
But that was during the Troubles when they were designed to be deliberately off-putting.
Ironically, in more recent years, loyalist and republican murals — or ‘murials’ as they are often wrongly labelled in the Ulster vernacular — have become one of Northern Ireland’s top tourist attractions.
While many of the ferocious images have been ‘re-imaged’ in recent years, there are still many walls across the province proudly displaying militant images and glorifying violence and paramilitarism.
In this new Northern Ireland with the terror groups largely redundant, political stability at Stormont and an influx of foreign nationals, the debate has re-opened over whether these stark reminders of our violent past should be consigned to the history books.
Is it time to whitewash disturbing images of guns, Armalites and balaclavas from our streets for good?
Since 2006 many of the more overtly violent images have been significantly toned down with the help of a £3.3m pilot project through which the Arts Council ‘re-imaged’ 143 murals. This project saw masked gunmen replaced with the less sinister sights of historical figures and sporting icons.
But with funding for this ‘Re-imaging Communities Programme’ due to run out this month there are still hundreds of militant images splashed across gable walls in almost every working class estate. At present the Arts Council has 96 “active inquiries” from communities wanting to change their image.
The organisation reckons it needs around £5m and a further five years to complete the project which has been heralded by the Government and those at the grassroots as an essential step towards a completely shared future.
“Nobody wants to whitewash or sanitise our troubled past and yes, there is a recognition that there are benefits from cultural tourism and that does generate income for the city,” said Roisin McDonagh, Arts Council chief executive.
“But there’s a new kind of cultural expression in the city which is not only about the troubled past but one which is more forward looking and more positive.
“The programme is under threat if it doesn’t receive more funding. We are pledged to put in some of our Lottery funding but we won’t be able to put that amount of resource in it. In the current fiscal climate, however, it is very, very tight.”
Ms McDonagh said: “When I think of places like Ardoyne, the lower Shankill, Tiger’s Bay, Mosside, the Village and in Derry, there have been a lot of projects — some which are a real tribute to the desire that there is within those communities to want to move on and not be associated with those divisive symbols of the past.”
Not everyone is convinced that murals have no place in a modern, peaceful Northern Ireland.
Former Lord Mayor of Belfast and keen historian Tom Hartley believes the murals are an important part of our heritage adding “colour and vibrancy”, giving a sense of identity as well as being a tourist draw.
He said: “I think murals are part of us now. They tell the story and I have noticed that down the years murals change on the wall. We really shouldn’t be too frightened about the murals,” he said.
PUP leader Dawn Purvis, whose constituency includes working class east Belfast, also believes total removal of murals is out of the question.
“They are part of our culture. They have always been there and they are used to send out a powerful political message,” she said.
“The case has been made, and is being made in my own constituency for some time now, to change murals and I would be happy with that.”
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Comments
66 Comments
30 years ago who would have thought that NI would have progressed to the political position we are in today. The greater majority of people in NI are intelligent and peaceful. Let us get rid of the everyday memories of the past. Let us go forward and be proud of what has been achieved. The murals, though artistic to those that see them as belonging to a particular group have no place in the future
Posted by catherinep | 18.04.10, 07:05 GMT
no way should whitewash be used on these historic "murials " this has become the "excepted " way to tone down anything that" might show it like it was" which might show up a politition trying to tell us what it was like this applies to a lot more than the troubles the renameing of the RUC comes to mind and i am sure there are lots of other whitewash jobs folks can remember so lets stop here nomore buckets
Posted by hillock | 16.04.10, 01:56 GMT
Well try as I might I can't fathom why anyone would think that Belfast has little to offer if the murals were gone. What a fabulous city! It's alive and vibrant. Absolutely chock full of history and architecture, blended beautifully with progressive modernity. Well done, I would return there in a heartbeat.
The Murals? History shouldn't be whitewashed, but can't it be moved to somewhere less dominant in the lives of the coming generations? There is a fine line between remembering history to learn from it, and remembering history to perpetuate its hatred.
Tourists seem to love them. OK that does bring in money, but tourists are just that. They take their photos and hear the spiel and then go on their merry way, never giving the impact of living with these images another thought. Would they want the more violent ones painted on their gables? I think not. Moving forward away from violence is always a good thing.
Posted by Ulster Fry | 14.04.10, 22:55 GMT
I was over in belfast last yr and the murals are a powerful image for those too young to understand the 'troubles'. Leave them they stand as areminder of how useless violence is!
Posted by Dympna | 14.04.10, 01:56 GMT
Take away our murials? Wiseabop Its our history and heritage and something in common tween both sides. And its all good laugh too - specially when you take a fotie of the foriners aginst the walls. Away an play in the road would yee Lesley?
Posted by john | 13.04.10, 16:43 GMT
No way. As an ex-patriot living in Australia and regularly returning to Ulster, it's a favourite tourist attraction visiting the murals of all sides. Leave them as is. It's part of history.My Aussie mates enjoyed the tour of Belfast immensely. Highlight? the murals.
Posted by Bert | 13.04.10, 12:54 GMT
No. We need the reminders.
Posted by Patrick J. Corr | 13.04.10, 11:59 GMT
Not sure what to think, like, sometimes they promote a good message like the one up in free derry corner, in recent years it changed to incoprate, community spirit, gay rights, equality.
but the murals with (as someone said earlier on) guns bearing down on you, what are the kids in that area meant to think?
auk i don;t know!
Posted by Marlowe | 13.04.10, 11:58 GMT
they are a great tourist attraction. you can't deny your history. The problem lies not with a set of murals on walls but with the people that are still filled with this sectarian hatred.
Posted by Mrs G | 13.04.10, 10:21 GMT
In all honesty, Belfast is a very dour city, with little of note to see, either architecturally or culturally.
Take away the murals and you'll be losing even more tourists to Dublin, Cork and the South-West of Ireland than you already are. It's one of the principal reasons why the city gets any tourists at all.
From an economic point of view, Belfast must keep them, but the City Council should try and remove them from near schools or areas where young children congregate.
Posted by Gaillimh | 13.04.10, 10:12 GMT
I'm an Australian who lived in East Belfast last year. I could not believe that they had big paramilitary murals - in this case UVF - almost directly opposite our local primary school. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that having young children looking at balaclava clad blokes pointing assault rifles at their heads is not healthy in any way. Seriously, what a joke.
When we toured the Shankill and Falls, the murals are very interesting, great for tourism, but I feel sorry for the kids whose impressionable minds are exposed to this negative imagery every single day. Surely it is only contributing to the cycle of division and hate..
Posted by Steve | 13.04.10, 09:51 GMT
I am from Dublin and many of family and friends have come to Belfast and the first thing they want to see are the murals.
They are a serious tourist attraction. They make Belfast unique in the world. In my opinion the murals and other attractions are not marketed properly if at all.
Posted by Reg | 13.04.10, 08:22 GMT
Yes take them down and promote a normal peacful society. The bottom line is there are no better people in the world than the Belfast people.
Promote our positive side, our new begining. Both of our communities need a fresh start and a chance to mix without the reminders of our black past.
Good luck Belfast
Posted by Jimmy J | 13.04.10, 07:08 GMT
Oh Com Mon People they are a great Tourist attraction and do keep some people in jobs. The Bus Tours are wonderful for Belfast and the Murals are all part of that, along with the History of Belfast. (Maybe more of the local people need to go on a tour, then they would be more appreciative of them).
The Murals are all part of our History and we cant airbrush the past. Ann
Posted by ann womersley | 13.04.10, 01:22 GMT
Oh Com Mon People they are a great Tourist attraction and do keep some people in jobs. The Bus Tours are wonderful for Belfast and the Murals are all part of that, along with the History of Belfast. (Maybe more of the local people need to go on a tour, then they would be more appreciative of them).
The Murals are all part of our History and we cant airbrush the past. Ann
Posted by ann womersley | 13.04.10, 01:19 GMT
As a tourist in Belfast a year ago I enjoyed the historical churches & buildings, Titanic shipyard, the pubs and the great people. I found the murals extremely disturbing. Because there still exists animosity between your people, having such frightening reminders can only fuel fires.
As Dawn Purvis puts it-They do send out a powerful message --how long do you want this type of message? If you're worried about tourism, recently renewed violence which is depicted in these murals certainly won't keep tourists flowing in.
Posted by Robbie C Ohio | 13.04.10, 01:14 GMT
is it not funny that we have to show violence to get people to come to norn ireland they should come down
was it not violent men who had them put up what chance of real peace
when people want to remember the violence just by showing these murals
Posted by hugh forbes | 13.04.10, 01:03 GMT
it is not the murals that need changing but the way northern ireland people think and act that is why so many of us live in canada
Posted by hugh forbes | 13.04.10, 00:56 GMT
I say leave them all up. It is dangerous to whitewash history and futile if hatred is alive in the hearts of the people anyway.
Posted by Bridget | 12.04.10, 23:08 GMT
The murals are a natural expression of what the Peoples feel and think deep down and this has been in their blood for hundreds of years. Given time the generations to come will respect eachother's culture and history. But to achieve this milestone they must be able to face up to and absorb the other People's differences. This is one reason why the murals, including the violent ones, are an important means for reconciliation. The old ones should be put back. For some of the old mural pictures (since disappeared) visit www.republicofnorthernireland.com - you are welcome to click on the pop-up pictures and download. Cheers, Phil H-D
Posted by Philip Holdway-Davis | 12.04.10, 23:06 GMT
66 Comments