PORTRAITS

“Working in Equality and Diversity at QUBSU, a lot of the problems I see have roots in structural inequality and require huge radical solutions. Years of political inaction and institutional denial means the problems are ignored and allowed to worsen. This has real effects on the lives of everyone but especially young people in the north. ‘It won’t always be like this’ serves as a beacon of hope, while also recognising the work of the young activists fighting so hard for a new progressive society.”

“I think for me the words speak for themselves! So many campaigns for justice, equality or even simply policy are dripping with unnecessary nuance-which is shoehorned in to appease people who need to justify their own existence through the threat of violence. Northern Ireland has been paralysed by deeply socially conservative parasites on one side, and people who play pretend to be progressive for votes on the other. I think it represents the ability to articulate your opinions even against someone you're opposed to without having to call upon terrorists and their legacy to add legitimacy to your cause, and it represents a possibility for stifled communities to finally rid themselves of the cancer of paramilitary violence forever.”

“It won’t always be like this” to me is a campaign that expresses the purest core interest of the Irish people. A campaign that pushes to re-ignite hope amongst even the most a-political. It’s about waking us from our apathy and driving us with our empathy. “It won’t always be like this” is the simple reassurance we need to wake up every day and try again, to make this Island’s future, a compassionate one. ‘It won’t always be like this” implies that time is healing, and with recovery comes action. This campaign reminds the people that though we are still healing, there’s a future to strive for within our grasp and we must too, take action.”

“This poster is inspiring so many people to speak out about what they've always thought but never said for fear of being 'controversial.' It is a movement founded in the benevolent desire for everyone to be on the same page. It doesn't matter if you know everything or nothing about our political situation, if you want things to be better for us as a collective, then you can get behind this project. It gives me hope that in the not so distant future people won't think it's 'brave' to live in belfast.”