Art and Music : A weapon against the Troubles

The “murals” are in Northern Ireland, an old form of art that exist for more a century. They were painted, at the origin, in commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne. But this form of art is quickly became a form of propaganda for the republicans against the censure. After the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the murals became much more cultural and historical than political. So, there are three kinds of murals, the loyalist, the republican and the cultural murals. We can see lot of them in Derry and in Belfast especially in the Bogside, a neighbour of Belfast. 

In memory of the troubles, some artists decided to pay tribute to the persons who death during the many attempts, gunfights or hunger strikes. For example, in Belfast, a mural pays tribute to Bobby Sand, a member of the IRA, who died following a too long hunger strike. In terms of music, the rock band U2 wrote “Bloody Sunday” in memory of the attempts, Tomy Sands wrote a message of peace in “There were roses”.

Listen to the songs here !

            Bloody Sunday by U2

            There where roses