Is it time to whitewash Northern Ireland's paramilitary murals?

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.”

Belfast Telegraph