Murals of Short Strand

Immediately east of the Lagan River and south of the industrial port district is an area known as Short Strand. This social housing complex is inhabited by primarily low-income Catholic families adjacent to a loyalist community along Newtownards Road, which I will show you in my next post. The first sign that this neighborhood is Republican can be scene on the entrance gate pictured above, where English and Irish are side by side.

A community center, sports facilities, and a youth empowerment scheme seem to be efforts to move the residents of this neighborhood in the right direction, but the facilities are run down and the area remains isolated between Loyalist communities and multi-lane roads. 

Politically motivated murals cover walls around the housing complex supporting the vote for a Sinn Fein and the paramilitary organizations that once controlled the area.

Murals of peaceful times and atrocities committed against the population can also be seen on the walls. The Palestinian flag in the image below represents the nationalist feeling that British control over the north is an occupation, just as Israel is to the Palestinian territories.