The nature and subject matter of wall murals in Belfast has changed in the past number of years. This is Golfer Rory McIlroy as portrayed on a gable wall at the junction of Rugby Avenue and Damascus Street in Belfast. The painting was done by Danny Devenny probably the most prolific mural painter in Belfast and who’s work can be seen in many parts of the city. Many of the political murals in west Belfast are Danny’s work including many of those on the Falls Rd which have become something of a tourist attraction. Not everyone in this part of Belfast approved of this mural of Rory the golfer. This part of the city is known as the “Holylands” and is seen as mostly a student area. However there are many permanent residence of the Holylands who weren’t happy. This article below appeared on the Belfast Media website.

SOME Residents of the Holyland area in South Belfast say they are “upset and angry” at the appearance of a Rory McIlroy mural on a gable wall in the district. Landlord Declan Boyle went ahead with a personal attempt to “brighten up the area” by commissioning the noted mural artist Danny Devenny to paint the gable wall at the end of Damascus Street.

But local resident Carole Phillips said students are once again being giving preferential treatment at the expense of people from the area.

“The mural provides nothing positive for the residents or the area, it just glosses over the on-going problems. We are a lost community struggling to survive and murals are not going to make us feel any better. Would this mural be welcomed with open arms if it were on a house on the Malone Road? I think not.”

But Declan is at a loss to understand why anyone would be angered by the mural.

“The mural idea was discussed with residents a month and a half ago and no objections were made then. I’ve been speaking to a group of Americans who have been taking pictures of it and think it’s great. It has definitely brightened up and enhanced the area,“ he said.

Ray Farley of the Holyland Residents’ Association said the landlord should have gone through the proper procedures to discuss the plan. And he has balked at plans to put up more murals.

“It appears to be some sort of charm offensive, but it was done without asking if anyone wanted it. They could have brought it up in a PACT meeting. I don’t think murals of any kind are the sort of thing we want in the Holyland, and I hope there’s no more of them.”

Another Holyland resident, who did not want to be named, thinks the mural has no relevance and believes local people should have the last say on what’s good for the area.

“Residents simply do not want these murals in the Holyland. What right have landlords, who do not live in the area, to decide what residents want? Murals on gable walls are laughable given the state of many houses and front gardens in the Holyland.

“Rory McIlroy was chosen as a personal preference but the guy has nothing to do with the area. If the landlord likes murals so much why doesn’t he paint them where he lives and then ask his neighbours what they think?”

This is Lindsayville Row, a group of listed cottages named after the Lindsay family who lived in the manor house in the nearby Loughry Estate in the townland of Desertcreat to the south of Cookstown Co Tyrone. A frequent visitor to the Lindsays of Loughry in the early 1700’s  was Dean Jonathan Swift the writer who’s most famous work was “Gulliver’s Travels”

The space between the headstones is the site in Belfast City Cemetery where an underground wall was built to divide Protestants and Catholics even in death. Before the cemetery opened, a nine-foot deep underground wall was meant to divide consecrated and non-consecrated ground and separate the Catholic and Protestant sections of the new graveyard.   However, the ground was never used for Catholic burials because of a dispute between Belfast Corporation and Bishop Dorrian over who had ultimate burial rights for those buried in the Catholic section. The dispute was eventually resolved when the Corporation bought from Bishop Dorrian, for £4,000, the right to bury Protestants in the ground allocated for Catholic burials. The bishop then purchased, for a cost of £4,200, 15 acres of land on the other side of Falls Road for a new Catholic cemetery Milltown.

These are my colleagues from the Craic Theatre Coalisland who have just completed a basic first aid course under the very experienced eye of John Pat O’Donnell from Coalisland Order of Malta. I feel very safe now! Well done to Brian, Seanan,Alice, Collette, Sarah Jane, Micky, Bronagh and Colleen.

My three companions at the hurling final Tom, Ronan and Jim. We were supporting Galway so went home somewhat disappointed but it was a good day out and in fairness Kilkenny were the better outfit on the day as they very often are in Croke Park on final day.

This is the view from the Upper Deck of the Cusack Stand in Croke Park just before the start of the game where I watched as Kilkenny ruled supreme over Galway by a score line of 3-22 to 3-11 in the All Ireland Hurling Final replay 2012. It wasn’t as exciting as the drawn game a few weeks ago but there is a unique atmosphere to an All Ireland Hurling Final which is hard to beat. I can aways say I was there the day Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny (the greatest player of the modern era) won his record breaking ninth All Ireland medal.

This is Ramone Building which is part of the Craigavon Area Hospital Complex. My father Alphy has had to spend a few days in this isolation ward.  Happily he was only there for a two days and is now back in Ardboe. Based on the trend to name other buildings on the hospital site after local town lands such as Bluestone, Thorndale and Mandeville, this building was called Ramone.

This is the modem for BT infinity fibre optic broadband which we had installed today. I know I know!!

I was in Portadown yesterday for the first time in over a year. I was struck by the number of shops and businesses that were closed down and several of them had notices like this one in their windows. This was Peacocks who are now in administration with the loss of many jobs. Definitely a sign of the times.

Actors Micky Carolan and Jim McKeown in a scene from “Banshee” A Women In Black which is currently in rehearsal at The Craic Theatre Coalisland. It opens on Thursday October 25th and will run for eight nights 25th-28th Oct and 1st – 4th November @ 8pm nightly. It’s a revival of a show that we first produced twelve years ago (where have the years gone?)  This production will be directed by Shane O’Neill with lighting design by Damian Ryan both of whom make a very welcome return to the Craic Theatre after an absents of too many years. It’s the ideal scary show for Halloween.