One of the most instantly recognisable symbols of West Belfast, the Bobby Sands Mural at the corner of Sevastapol Street and the Falls Road, has temporarily disappeared. The mural which adorned the gable wall of the building which at various times housed Sinn Féin offices, an advice centre and the Republican Press Centre, is world famous, having featured in various feature films and countless news stories and documentaries on the Irish conflict.
The building was demolished on Saturday in a move to upgrade the Sinn Féin office facilities and the Bobby Sands mural will be replaced as soon as the new construction is completed.
The mural, which bore Bobby Sands's words ``Everyone republican or otherwise has his/her own part to play'', became a familar image on TV screens and in newspaper photographs in the years following the hunger strike of 1981 in which 10 republican prisoners lost their lives.
It was also the scene of the murder of Paddy Loughran, Pat McBride and Michael O'Dwyer in a crazed gun attack on the Sinn Féin advice centre by an RUC member.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)
