Nelson Mandela's Facelift !

Pic - Nelson Mandela as he was after a paint-bomb attack (left) and as he is now following a makeover on the latest mural by The Bogside Artists at Columbcille Court in Derry's Bogside.

Text: Nelson Mandela has certainly benefited from a makeover, after a mural portraying the former South African president along with John Hume, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King by the world renowned Bogside Artists, was paint bombed less than a month after it was officially unveiled at Columbcille Court in The Rossville Street area of the Bogside. Derry/Londonderry. Northern Ireland.

Local residents turned out to show solidarity with the artists after one letter writer to The Derry Journal said, "The young people who paint-bombed it were surely protesting at the worst art work I have seen in years. John Hume looks like he is recovering after a night on the tiles. Mother Teresa has two red eyes and Nelson Mandela looked better when he emerged after 25 years in prison."

A spokesman for the Bogside Artists said "We seek approval from local people before using any space for one of our murals and today is about showing that the local people are fully behind our work".

One lady said "It's just beautiful; the guys deserve a lot of credit for all the hard work that they put in"

The Bogside murals attract thousands of tourists annually and the full collection of twelve paintings known as The Peoples' Gallery has become famous throughout the world.