wfn.org | Peaceful images replace violent themes on Belfast murals

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 20, 2003  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
ALL-I{497}

NOTE: A UMTV segment, photographs and two related stories, UMNS #498 and
#499, are available with this report.

By Kathleen LaCamera*
	
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (UMNS) - For years, it has been almost impossible
to get to a worship service at the East Belfast Mission, attend a seniors
lunch or go to a youth group meeting without confronting images of violence
and terror. 

They are literally painted on the walls. Paramilitary murals, as they are
called, can cover the whole side of a house and often pay tribute to those
who have used guns and bombs to make their opinions heard during 30 years of
violence between Catholic and Protestant. 

But the view in this neighborhood is changing. The Rev. Gary Mason, a
Methodist pastor, and his colleagues have spent more than a year negotiating
with local Protestant paramilitary groups to replace militaristic murals with
new ones celebrating local culture and human achievement. So far, eight are
finished. They include tributes to writer C.S. Lewis, who grew up here, and
the Titanic, which was built in the local Harland and Wolff shipyard. One new
mural even honors Methodism founder John Wesley along with Martin Luther and
John Calvin.	

"Imagine a 6- or 7-year-old child who gets up every morning, opens the
curtains, and the first things he sees are two hooded gunmen painted on the
side of the building across the street," Mason says. "Is that healthy? Now
imagine that same child is getting up and is seeing scenes from the C.S.
Lewis children's classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

Mason suggested replacing some of the local murals as part of a larger effort
to regenerate the area, which ranks fifth out of 560 electoral wards as the
worst place to live in Northern Ireland. It was a suggestion local
paramilitaries initially reacted to with "extreme caution - capital letters!"
he confesses. The East Belfast Mission eventually applied for and received
government funding for the murals program, officially called, "The Writing is
Not on the Wall project." 

This is not some simple "spruce-up-the-neighborhood" effort. The old,
traditional paramilitary murals mark out territory. Whether painted by
Catholics or Protestants, they are meant to intimidate the "other tribe" and
remind their own community who is in charge. The murals most often appear in
economically struggling Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods where people
feel isolated and marginalized. Replacing these symbols of power signals a
willingness on the part of those some would label "terrorists" to move beyond
the violence and brutality of the past. 

"It's time to do away with all this now and get on with our lives," explains
Paul Hoey, who served time in the infamous Maze prison for his involvement
with the Protestant paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force. "I have
children myself. I have a young lad who is actually older than I was when I
joined UVF. I want a more stable life for him and my daughter."

Hoey has been supervising a group of local "lads" working on a replacement
mural. When finished, it will pay tribute to both Catholic and Protestant war
heroes from the two World Wars.  

But Hoey's favorite among the new murals is one featuring George Best, a man
who was both a soccer superstar and a friend of the Beatles during their
Liverpool days. Best grew up in East Belfast. 

Mason says people are approaching him on the street to say how pleased they
are about the new murals. He has also received phone calls from Catholics
outside the area offering him a "quiet 'thank you.'" The mural project even
prompted a group of Catholics to request a "listening" meeting with
Protestant paramilitaries to better understand their perspective. 

Father Stephen McBrearty, whose Catholic church in a nearby neighborhood has
suffered its share of sectarian attacks, says the new murals are making the
area less intimidating. 

"It's taking away that blatant hatred, and hopefully it's not just from sight
but also from mind and from heart," McBrearty observes. "And if it can go any
towards doing that, it's progress and warmly welcomed."   

"It's a small step, but there's been an awful lot of work getting to this
baby step," says missionary Linda Armitage, who serves on the East Belfast
Mission staff and is funded by the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries. She hopes the mural project means people from outside the
community will see this part of East Belfast in a new light. Mason echoes
Armitage's hopes, explaining that the new murals give him an opportunity to
tell others "there are possibilities in this area. Don't write it off."  

"It's wonderful to see things go up on the walls that relate to the history
of the area rather than the violence of the area," says Lilian Watt, a member
of Mason's church for 28 years. The new C.S. Lewis mural around the corner
from her home is her favorite. She, like so many in the congregation, is
delighted to see fewer "gunmen" on the streets and walls of her community. 

# # #

*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England.
	

 
 

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org