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Harryville Mural Replaced
No, it's not an April fools joke; a UDA mural near Harryville chapel, has been replaced by an Ulster Scots mural, while Tricolours were removed from the north end of Ballymena. Red, white and blue paint on railings around Harryville church was also painted over.
The gestures come as the result of a deal brokered by the Harryville Ulster Scots Society following cross-community talks. Father Paul Symonds from the Harryville chapel was present at the unveiling of the new mural. Both Fr Symonds and Geoff Calderwood of the Harryville Ulster Scots Society claimed the new mural represented a positive step for the area.
Maybe I'm feeling unusually positive today, but I'm inclined to agree, and it has the potential to represent a positive step for Northern Ireland as a whole, not just Harryville and Ballymena. I only hope the move isn't seen as some sort of appeasement by hardcore fanatics. The simple truth is nobody will benefit more from this a decline in the dominance (both symbollically and physically) of loyalist paramilitaries will be the ordinary decent folk living in their own communities.
Follow up:
Even the symbolic gesture of painting over the mural should demonstrate to young people in the loyalist/unionist/protestant/Ulster-Scots community that they have something positive to offer beyond the militarism that seemed to be the ideal as little as 6-8 years ago (and in many cases still does). If we're lucky it might even encourage them to engage with their history and learn about where they come from, beyond just 1690 and the World Wars, actually delving specifically into their own culture.
Long may it continue.
