Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about with the removal of the Boyne Bridge in Belfast. I never gave it a second thought the umpteen times I went over it. It only dates from the 1930s and has minimal architectural merit in my eyes.
Most surprising of all is the reaction from some local residents. There are many things the good people of Sandy Row should be angry about. What was once a shopping magnet for people from all over Belfast is now in a very sad state. Even the famous Reids Shoes closed down a few years ago.
The main problem, of course, is the paramilitaries/crime gangs. If you wish to take advantage of the cheap rent, it will not be long before you get a visit from some guys looking for ‘donations’. New housing developments are also a target for protection money, and this limits the building of much-needed housing. Add in the drug problems in that area courtesy of the ironic ‘defenders of their community’ and you have the recipe for a pretty bleak social environment for the people who live there. To paraphrase Jay Z, Sandy Row has 99 problems, but the bridge ain’t one.
The latest twist in the saga is posters erected over the weekend threatening workers on the site.
On @BBCNolan today –
A sinister threat at the Boyne Bridge in Sandy Row – a union flag with a crosshair, inferring people who work to dismantle the bridge will be shot
📞 03030805555 | 📲 81771 pic.twitter.com/8aGrDXFJHn
— Stephen Nolan (@StephenNolan) October 14, 2024
Now, police have removed the posters. Yes, the same police who have been telling us for years it is not their job to remove offensive posters, flags, etc.
PSNI removes sinister poster targeting workers at Boyne Bridge https://t.co/DMKxe3gzWB
— The Irish News (@irish_news) October 14, 2024
This is the second time in a month that police have removed offensive posters. A few weeks ago, they removed anti-immigrant posters in Rathcoole. A shift in policy?
I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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