Murals in Northern Ireland

Irish republican wall-paintings started in the late 1970s and can be seen in particular as a visual display of a social movement, which was radicalized after the IRA began to fight for a greater political voice and a United Ireland.

[3] Republican murals, while often drawing upon the likes of Bobby Sands and the IRA, are less squarely militrastic featuring a broader repertoire that extends to Celtic mythology and international revolutionaries; their scope includes style, ranging from "anti-fascist propaganda to commercial film posters".

[3][4] Murals are for the most part located in working class areas of Northern Ireland, primarily in Belfast and Derry.

Arguably the most well-known and easily identified mural is that of Bobby Sands, on the side wall of Sinn Féin's Falls Road office.

With many paramilitaries now involved in community work, there has been a move to decommission many of the hard-edged murals across Northern Ireland (although this trend is reversed in times of tension).