Paramilitary murals glorifying loyalist terrorists are to disappear from west Belfast’s Shankill Road.
Belfast City Council will confirm this week an agreement has been reached with local community groups for 10 of the murals in the Lower Shankill to be painted over.
The initiative is being funded with government money through the Arts Council's Re-imaging Communities programme which has been helping to transform local communities across Northern Ireland to tackle the visible signs of sectarianism and racism.
The 10 murals going in the Shankill will be replaced with new ones charting the
social, cultural and industrial heritage of the area.
Over recent months, artists have been consulting with a range of community groups, including the Lower Shankill Community Association, residents, and community workers, to identify possible themes for the new murals.
A public meeting will be held in a community centre in the area tomorrow to outline preparation work and how the scheme will more to the next stage.
The meeting will be followed by a series of workshops to develop concepts for the replacement murals - which will use a combination of traditional mural skills and modern digital production techniques, said the council.
Funding from the Re-Imaging Communities scheme was used successfully in loyalist areas of east Belfast last year to remove a series of paramilitary murals.
They were replaced by paintings including portraits of soccer legend George Best and decorated war hero Blair Mayne, a picture of the building of the
Titanicin Harland and Wolff shipyard and local footballer David Healy scoring a goal for Northern Ireland against England.
A UDA mural in the hard-line Tullycarnet area was replaced with one of Catholic war hero James Magennis who was awarded the Victoria Cross.
PA