Postcards from the edge: Reading political murals in the North of Ireland

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of political mural painting in the north of Ireland and analyses the political relevance of dominant trends and significant shifts in the mural painting practice, with particular reference to the post‐ceasefire period. Examining political murals as a body of work and the dynamic between mural painting and political developments reveals much about the prevailing ideologies and current moods of the two communities that produce them. This is especially the case at key points in the political events of the Troubles, including the proroguing of Stormont in 1972, the 1981 Hunger Strike, the Anglo‐Irish Agreement of 1985, the 1994 ceasefires, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.