The latest murals to grace the walls of Belfast don’t deal with local politics, but instead tackle head on the human rights abuses associated with global poverty.

Two new murals, which will appear on both sides of Belfast’s ‘peaceline’, are the brainchild of Amnesty International’s Belfast youth group and have been completed with the assistance of acclaimed mural artists Danny Devenny, Marty Lyons and Mark Ervine.

One mural shows human rights campaigners blocking the path of bulldozers destroying homes in the developing world, while the other exposes the environmental damage done to local communities by some of the world’s biggest businesses.

The murals are part of Amnesty International’s current global campaign on poverty and human rights that focuses on human rights abuses in relation to corporate accountability, maternal health and slums/informal settlements and forced evictions. 

The murals will be launched as part of Feile An Phobail by Belfast Lord Mayor, Pat Convery in the company of young people from Amnesty’s Belfast youth group who carried out the painting.

'Our campaign goal is to end the human rights abuses that keep people poor,” says Grainne Teggart of Amnesty International.

'The murals designed by the young Amnesty activists are a brilliant way of conveying these complicated issues through simple and striking visuals. We want to thank the mural artists and Feile an Phobail for their help in making this project happen.'

Belfast Lord Mayor Councilor Pat Convery said: “Traditionally murals in Belfast have primarily focused on local political issues. It is brilliant that this same medium is now being used by young people to challenge global poverty and human rights abuses. Hopefully the murals will help thousands of local people, as well as visitors to Belfast, to think more about these issues.”

Date: Friday 30 July 2010
Time: 12.00pm - 12.45pm
Venue: ‘International wall’, Northumberland Street, Falls Road, Belfast (The ‘Forced evictions’ mural is on Shankill Road side of Northumberland St ‘Peace gate’, Belfast)
Who:  Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Pat Convery and AI Belfast Youth group (cross community) who have produced the murals with local mural artists

Contact: Grainne Teggart: 07928 042315 / 028 9064 3000