Belfast murals

Paul took me up the Falls Road in Belfast to see the Republican murals.

Paul, showing me the 'Solidarity wall', which is covered in paintings reflecting Republican sympathies with other freedom fighters around the world, many of whom have been dispossessed by the Americans. Not to get political or anything. One of the murals is an advert for a taxi company, which just goes to show that American imperialism is felt everywhere.


Next up was the Bobby Sands mural on the side of the Sinn Fein office. This one is proper famous, it's even on Wikipedia. In the picture here is another Belfast landmark, a taxi - very similar to a London cab, with the subtle difference being that this one is in Belfast, and not London.

Beechmount Avenue, colloquially known as RPG Avenue, because apparently the street offered a line of sight for IRA RPG attacks on a security base in Springfield Road. Incidentally, RPG stands for "Reaktivniy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot" (from the Russian: реактивный противотанковый гранатомёт), or "Reactive anti-tank launcher", war fans!

We then drove across the Peace Line to the Shankhill Road, a Protestant heartland. The Peace Line is a massive wall topped by a giant mesh fence, segregating Catholic and Protestant areas of Belfast. It was designed to stop people chucking things like bottles and mortars over to the other side. Nowadays, you can drive from one area to the other with no hindrance, and the murals and propaganda are tourist attractions as much as political statements.

I don't know what James Buchanan ever did for Ireland, but this mural made a change from the Union flags and AK's up the rest of the Shankhill Road.

Paul is a Liverpool fan.

After looking at the murals we drove north. I didn't take any photos because it was bucketing down in true Irish style. We stopped in Carnlough for fish and chips, and for a treat, Paul bought me a bag of dulce, a delicacy in these parts. Dulce is dried seaweed, harvested in the dead of night by salty sea dogs. It's possibly the most revolting thing that has ever passed my lips. You need to drink about a gallon of water to wash it down because it's so salty. It has the texture of thin rubber, and tastes like something that has been sloshing around in rancid seawater for a couple of years. Much as you'd expect, really - I can't imagine why anyone would think of eating it. Presumably that's got something to do with the Potato Famine.

Giant's Causeway



I finally got some film developed from a trip to Northern Ireland. We went to the Giant's Causeway which, geology fans, is part of the Thulean Plateau. Word is that it's going to sink soon, due to sea level rises caused by global warming, so get there quick if you want to see it and keep your feet dry.

Some hexagonal basaltic columns. Clearly man made, possibly by the Phoenicians.

As is standard at World Heritage sites, we spent the majority of our time in the gift shop and the queue for the bogs, and paid scant regard to the actual rocks. This is partly due to the fact that they were a) largely obscured by packs of rabid foreigners, who seemed intent on breaking pieces off, and b) it's a bloody long walk down the hill from the car park to the Causeway. There is a bus, but it's only for the weak - hence was rammed with jabbering Italians and wide-eyed Americans.

Bronach, giving the Causeway a glamorous edge.

The film I used was Velvia 50, which I would like to say publicly is a damn fine film. Sharp as razors and über vivid colours. And to my surprise, Peak Imaging have done a passable job of scanning it. It's not the best film for skin tones, making them a tad reddish, but selective editing with the GIMP makes a bit of a difference. The picture of Bronach above used the onboard flash of my EOS 5 to provide a bit of fill and underexpose the background. When I say it like that it almost sounds as if that's what I meant to do.

Immigrants battling their way into Europe. There was an armed standoff, but after a tense gunfight the interlopers were sent packing.


Apparently this bloke's idea of a hot date is to drag his girlfriend to some 65 million year old rocks and spend the whole time checking the football results on his phone.

Another close up. Ooh, hexagonal.

Not on the Giant's Causeway. A flower in Bronach's garden. An illustration of the awesome colours you get from Velvia.

Next time I'll show you another side of Northern Ireland; some war murals from Belfast. I bet you can't wait.