YOUNG people from across the city were guests of honour in the Gaeltacht Quarter on Thursday as Fáilte Feirste Thiar unveiled its new signature mural.
Director of the tourism development organization, Harry Connolly, explained how they wanted to “transform the greyness of our existing building into colour and creativity”.
“Our building was an ugly grey and as a tourism development organisation and the fact that many of hundreds of thousands of tourists visit West Belfast every year to get their photo taken as many different iconic murals what we wanted to do was create an iconic location at our own,” explained Harry.
“The mural showcases all that is great and good about this part of the city. Already we see locals and tourists alike engaging with the mural and getting their photos taken at. It depicts some of our famous sons and daughters, we see the kids leading the Dream Dearg parade from 2017, we see our famous boxer Michael Conlan and Milltown Cemetery, City Cemetery and the Cultúrlann are all represented. What we set out to achieve when coming up with the idea was to have a snapshot of all that is great and good about West Belfast.
“We commissioned Micky Doc and Marty Lyons, who are well known, famous the world over, to work on the mural, to came up with the design. We worked with Active Communities Network and we would like to thank the Housing Executive for providing the funding for the project,” he said.
Colin Coates, the Housing Executive’s Good Relations Officer for the Peace IV Children and Young People’s Programme, said: “We were delighted to provide support for this stunning artwork which has undoubtedly enlivened this stretch of the Falls Road. We helped engage the local community, provided support for the artist, while young people from the Black Mountain Action Group also took part in the project through social history tours.
“An accompanying mural development will also be created on the electricity sub-station building in the shadow of Divis Tower, which will further enhance and create a welcoming feature along that stretch of Divis Street, which is the gateway to the Falls area.”
