King Billy's return an artistic bid to regenerate Belfast's Sandy Row
Loyalist Jackie McDonald (left) and artist Ross Wilson at the launch of a new mural in Sandy Row that has replaced a notorious depiction of a UFF gunman
Off the wall: The UFF mural is painted over on Sandy Row in south Belfast. It will be replaced by a new mural of King William of Orange Coln Lenaghan/Pacemaker
A Republican mural in West Belfast. 2009
The UVF in East Belfast have started to paint another controversial mural in the area of masked paramilitaries wielding guns.
The old mural didnt have any guns
UDA wall mural in the Shankill Road area.8/9/09
Wall mural Newtownards Road, Belfast, 1992
A UVF wall mural in the mount vernon area of North Belfast.8/1/09
A protestant loyalist mural in the Shankhill area of Belfast on March 14, 2009.
A Republican mural is seen on the side of a house in the Bogside are of Derry, the scene of the 'Bloody Sunday' shootings. 2005
UVF mural at Ballybeen.
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) wall mural in north Belfast. 2007
Republican mural in West Belfast. 1998
A loyalist mural in the Shankhill area on March 14, 2009 in Belfast
A republican mural in the Ballymurphy estate in Belfast on March 14, 2009
A loyalist mural in the Shankhill area of Belfast on March 14, 2009
A republican mural off the Falls road area of Belfast on March 14, 2009
The Bobby Sands mural, in the Falls Road area of Belfast
Belfast murals. A football mural on the Albert Bridge Road in east Belfast celebrating Northern Ireland's win over England in 2005.
Belfast murals. A peace mural on the lower Newtownards Road in east Belfast.
Belfast murals. A George Best mural on the Woodstock Road in east Belfast.
Belfast murals. A mural off the Newtownards Road dedicated to 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' author C.S Lewis who was from the area. 2010.
A Thomas Devlin murder appeal poster beside a UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) mural in the Mount Vernon area of North Belfast opposite the flats where one of his killers had lived.
Northern Ireland Football Heroes Mural
INLA wall mural
Artist Daniela Balmaverde with her mural in the Alliance Parade area of Belfast
Bernadette McAliskey as portrayed in a mural on the side of a house in the Bogside area of Londonderry
Republican mural
The new murals, designed to chart the social, cultural and industrial heritage of the lower Shankill
A mural at the top of the Whiterock Road
Free Derry Corner, which was dramatically covered by a mural on Saturday to mark the city’s annual Gasyard Feile
Writing on the wall for weapons: A woman walks past a loyalist paramilitary mural in Belfast
King Billy has returned to Sandy Row — and this time he means business, albeit of a more peaceful nature than his last visit in 1690.
A new mural featuring the loyalist hero has been unveiled just in time for the Twelfth, when King William III won his most famous battle on the banks of the River Boyne.
The £60,000 mural — which replaces a notorious depiction of an Ulster Freedom Fighters gunman — is a tribute to William of Orange, who passed through the Belfast area on his way to the Boyne.
The old paramilitary mural, one of the most photographed of the Troubles, was branded by local business people as “bad for investment”.
Its replacement is an ambitious bid to attract more visitors and business into the area. Appropriately, it includes a quote from King Billy — “Let ambition fire thy mind” — now the new motto for the loyalist heartland.
UDA leader Jackie McDonald admitted that the previous mural could have been regarded as “intimidating”.
After talks lasting around a year between residents and local businesses, work began in June to replace the UFF mural. Artist Ross Wilson explained: “The mural is a portrait of William III when he was 40 years old on the eve of the battle of the Boyne.”
Mr McDonald said he hoped the change would help regenerate the area.
“I see this as a new dawn, whether they come over the Boyne bridge and saw the mural, they might have felt intimidated,” he told the BBC.
“Hopefully that will encourage people to come into Sandy Row.
“What we need now is for somewhere in Sandy Row to spend their money, because there is very little there.”
The mural, funded by the Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Belfast City Council and the Housing Executive, was officially unveiled by DSD Minister Nelson McCausland.
“The Sandy Row area has suffered a lot during the Troubles,” Mr McCausland said.
“There is a new sense of urgency, energy, enthusiasm, a more positive attitude. I think that’s part of this process that we are looking at today.
“This is the culmination of a lot of soul-searching and tentative steps and marks a new chapter in the long and proud history of Sandy Row,” he said.
“This is a new and innovative approach to the delivery of neighbourhood renewal.
“They are sending out a loud and clear message that Sandy Row is an inclusive and progressive community, and I have no doubt this will help to stimulate not just social, but much-needed economic investment in the area.”
The new mural is part of a major project to give loyalist and republican communities in Belfast a new image.
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