Belfast artist surprised at viral success of Tory leadership mural

Ciaran Gallagher began painting the image at Hill Street before knowing the hopefuls would be arriving in Northern Ireland

A Belfast artist has spoken about his surprise after his mural of the Tory leadership contenders went viral following their hustings on Wednesday.

Ciaran Gallagher began painting the image at Hill Street before he knew Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak would be arriving in Northern Ireland.

He thought it might have sparked a bit of local media interest.

However, the artwork has made its way into national press outlets around the world, including the India Express.

Ciaran has created several murals in the Cathedral Quarter of the city, many commissioned by the owner of the pub the Duke of York.

"We have worked together for years, on different murals, and we always start with brainstorming different ideas," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

"We had this idea of doing something for this campaign trial that is going on at the minute for the top job across the pond."

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Ciaran said that there had been a "tight deadline" for the work but this was moved forward "drastically" after hearing about the visit of the two contenders.

'Local pastie bap humour'

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss both attended a hustings event, at the Culloden Hotel outside Belfast on Wednesday,

"They have not been at it but I do know that [Rishi] Sunak has seen it and he thought that it was very flattering," said Ciaran.

The two remaining candidates have taken part in a series of hustings events as well as head-to-head debates

"It's amazing - I still can't quite believe it," he said.

Asked about the inspiration for his murals, Ciaran said that the work was "political with a joke".

"My angle on the Belfast tradition of political murals is really to inject a bit of local pastie bap humour into it, so local people can really relate to it."

The artist told people to "keep their eyes peeled" as he future plans for the artwork representing the "next chapter of this process".

You can listen to Ciaran's interview here.