A NEW mural depicting the Troubles era in Ireland has outraged some residents who have called for its removal.
The mural, painted on a wall in Canvey Island in Essex, features IRA fighters in balaclavas shooting guns into the air beneath a banner reading “republican”.
It also depicts armed loyalist paramilitaries alongside the words “you are entering loyalist Sandy Row” and “Shankill”.
The artwork is painted on a sea wall at Concord Beach and has been branded “offensive” and “inappropriate” by some disgruntled locals.
Other residents have nevertheless been more supportive, claiming the mural is relevant to local history as the IRA made an unsuccessful attempt to bomb a kerosene container at Canvey Island’s Texaco Terminal in 1979.
Colin Letchford, of the Friends of Concord Beach, said he commissioned the painting and that it was not intended to be offensive.
But Conservative councillor Tony Belford said the mural is “irrelevant” to the local area.
“The whole reason we started painting murals on the beachfront was to depict Canvey’s local history, not Irish terrorism,” Mr Belford told The Irish Post.
“Personally I am not offended by it in any way, shape or form even though I served in Northern Ireland myself in the 1960s.
“But it’s totally irrelevant to the local area. We have a road here called Roscommon Way and that’s about our closest link to Ireland."
Canvey Island Independent Party councillor Martin Tucker expressed similar sentiment.
“What’s it got to do with Canvey Island?” he said. “There was an attempted IRA attack here in 1979 but the link seems tenuous at best.
“From what I’ve seen some local people have been offended by it but others don’t mind it all.”
Mr Tucker added: “Colin Letchford has done a wonderful job with the murals but they had always been about the local area.”
Mr Letchford said he commissioned the artwork as part of a series depicting the history of murals and because Troubles era murals are among the most iconic of their kind.
However, due to a number of British Legion veterans expressing “distress”, he said the section of the mural has now been painted over.
He added that it will be replaced with a different depiction of the Troubles.
“One of our talented artists, Richard Ashton, put in over 200 hours on the mural. He was very upset that his artwork was causing distress to the veterans and immediately said he would paint it out," Mr Letchford said.
“I regret any distress caused to any veteran who served in Ireland during the Troubles.”
The painting-over of the mural has been met with a mixed reception locally, with one resident saying they were “very saddened” to see it go.
Another wrote on Facebook: “It's a shame people can't see this for what it is, A History of Murals and NOT a history of Canvey. I hope they don't have to paint out any other sections.”
But one commenter said political murals have “no place” on Canvey Island’s seawall. “Canvey is about...fun...history...uniqueness...music legacy...Thames legacy...lots of things. But what it is not about...is Ulster/Irish politics,” they said.
A spokesman for Canvey Island Town Council confirmed that the mural at Concord Beach is no longer visible.
