There’s a new style of mural at a Belfast peace wall – and it’s made of concrete

A Belfast artist has taken the unusual step of trading paint for concrete to create a new peace wall mural.

Debbie Hutchings (55) is a member of the New Life City Church, well-known for its cross-community work near the Cupar Way interface which separates the Falls and Shankill Roads.

At 45ft high, Cupar Way remains the tallest peace line in Northern Ireland.

Spreading thick concrete on the wall to create a paradise-like mountain scene with a religious message ahead of Easter, she hopes the mural will be a welcome change.

From a Catholic background, Debbie said the psychological effect of peace walls is still hard to shake off.

“Growing up, there was a lot of fear like anybody,” she said.

“I grew up as a Catholic and I never really went into other communities until I became a Christian,” she said.

“I have Protestant family, so I’ve always stayed out of politics. But we always did have a fear of the Shankill.

“I wouldn’t have come over too often. Don’t get me wrong, I would still be a bit nervous around the Twelfth.

“But the people are lovely, I meet them all in church and they’re the nicest.”

She recalls one moment of panic when her phone rang during a service.

“I actually had a ringtone with Irish music, not republican music, but a beautiful Irish melody,” she said.

“My ringtone went off in church and I nearly had a heart attack. So that fear is still there in me.

“I’ve spoken to (New Life Pastor) Jack McKee about it. During his annual prayer walk he calls into a few bars on the Shankill, but he still wouldn’t do it on the Falls.

“There’s a lot of people in there that know his history (as a former UDR soldier), so he would get a lot of stick. But he’s always trying.

“So people still have that fear, I think it’s going to take a few generations before that’s gone completely.”

As a “late bloomer,” Debbie graduated with a degree in fine art from Ulster University in 2007.

Three years ago, she took on a similar mural project to brighten up “a big ugly wall” in the Springfield Park.

On her latest canvas on Cupar Way, she said: “I saw this dilapidated wall, it was awful looking with writing all over it and it was peeling.

“I just thought that would be gorgeous to do something for the Lord and to help people see that it isn’t all about politics.”