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Pressure grows for Northern Ireland murals to be scrubbed out
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
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The writing could be on the wall for Northern Ireland’s world famous murals after politicians said it could be time to have them whitewashed.
As the Belfast Telegraph revealed yesterday there appears to be growing support for the landmark paintings and drawings to be replaced by non-political messages.
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley, who sits on the culture, arts and leisure committee at Stormont, said many murals were displayed without community support.
“I think it’s time we removed all aspects of paramilitarism from society, and that includes murals,” he said.
“Many of these murals were foisted on communities whether they wanted them or liked them, and do not reflect the views of local people. While there may be some artistic merit in them, it’s time that these areas were unbranded and the murals removed.”
Mr Bradley believes they should be replaced with non-political images reflecting Northern Ireland’s culture.
UUP MLA Ken Robinson, who also sits on the committee, said the murals’ relevance had declined in recent years.
“We are seeing these murals phased out and I think it represents the times we live in,” he said. “Soon there will be no place for them other than as a historical record. However, you have to remember that 30 years of our history is encapsulated in some of these murals, regardless of what you think about the content.”
Last summer the Lower Shankill Community Association was involved in a project to replace 10 paramilitary murals with new images of culture and heritage. The Association’s Ian McLaughlin said there had been a positive feedback from the community.
He said: “It was a community-driven initiative and among the replacement murals were boxers from a bygone era and an A to Z of the greater Shankill area. None of the new murals have been damaged or attacked.”
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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