Newsmedianews | comment from Limerick, Ireland

Friday, 3 July, 2009
Ireland, the EU and Lison
Back in 1996, Ireland stood poised on the brink of one of the most remarkable success stories of the century. It had risen from being an exceptionally poor state to one that suddenly found itself swimming in money.

The streets became filled with 4x4s, one car was deemed insufficient so people bought two, and all across the country property developers began throwing up shopping and housing estates by the score.

Banks began lending money practically to anyone who asked and to some who even didn’t—as if they were printing it themselves. But then the bubble burst. And the bottom of the bucket simply fell out.

The collapse happened not because of the global recession, although of course that had an effect. The straw that broke the celtic tiger’s back was plain and simple greed on a massive scale. Those elected into office to run the country and manage its finances did so to benefit themselves and no-one else.

There was no long-term view than incorporated the future. It was a case of get rich as much and as quickly as possible and the disease of greed was rampant.

The ordinary citizen was swept up in the melee. Indeed there was no-one to shine a guiding light as to how to adapt to suddenly having a deluge of cash instead of the shortage that the people of Ireland had known for so long.

Now, instead of providing a lesson to the world on how to build and maintain a country’s wealth and success, quite the opposite is apparent.

Now the country is being urged to vote to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum to be held later this year. The reality of that is that politicians, who have screwed up and wasted the nation’s finances, and the cash hungry conglomerates are looking to be bailed out by the EU. And yet it was EU cash that launched Ireland on its prosperity trail a decade ago.

Those who shoulder the guilt for the nation’s demise are now seeking to apportion the blame anywhere but upon themselves.

Monday, 17 December, 2007
Harris cast 'touristy kitsch', says artist
John Shinnors: Harris statue is an opportunity los
By Anne Sheridan
“TOURISTY kitsch" is how top Limerick artist John Shinnors has described the Richard Harris statue on Bedford Row. Mr Shinnors was speaking at the launch of a new collection of poetry by Mark Whelan, which contains a number of poems dedicated to the late Limerick actor.

"It is nothing more than touristy kitsch; an opportunity lost, an opportunity that was thrown away," said Mr Shinnors on the sculpture by Jim Connolly.

Artist Thomas Delohery, who provided the illustrations for Mr Whelan's book, 'Always Pushing the Pull Door', was commended by Mr Shinnors for capturing "Richard Harris' fine head", but he did not offer the same praise to Mr Connolly.

Mr Delohery was equally critical of the bronze sculpture, which depicts his role as King Arthur in the film Camelot, and which cost Limerick City Council in the region of €150,000.

"I think it's absolutely awful. Number one, it's too small - Richard Harris was six foot three. They should have built it higher. Harris was bigger than life.

"His grand-daughter said he was so broad she couldn't put her hands around him; this is what they should have had in mind. His nose is wrong - basic, simple stuff they should have gotten right," said Mr Delohery.

He added, "I think everybody is afraid to say anything about it, because the councillors wanted this for so long."

The full article contains 233 words and appeared in the Limerick Leader newspaper.

Previous items on topic
Richard Harris
Bedford Row — suitable or unsuitable location?
The bronze statue of Richard Harris has been unveiled in Bedford Row. The statue, depicting Harris in the role of King Arthur in the movie Camelot, shows him holding aloft a reversed sword and the words ‘Peace not war’ are emblazoned on the base of the statue. There are also small plaques commemorating his role in various films, including The Sporting Life.

Passersby have commented that it is an unfitting tribute to the late actor and one of the suggestions was for the scuplture to show Harris standing in jeans, with a rugby shirt and a rugby ball under one arm

But is the location suitable? And I must admit that it is extremely difficult to recognise the late actor—the features of the sculpture fail to capture his characteristic appearance and in truth he appears more like a joker than a king. He is also standing facing a wall and not, as one might have expected, facing up the street towards the main section of O’Connell Street or down towards the banks of the River Shannon.

City councilors many months ago voted to locate the statue in the newly redeveloped and pedestrianised Bedford Row in the city centre. But is this really the right location for Limerick's most famous thespian? A poll conducted from this page reveals that by far the majority of people who voted feel the statue should have been placed in the People’s Park.

The redevelopment of Bedford Row has itself been the subject of much criticism — from being too drab a design to being constructed out of inadequate materials that are subject to discoloration and staining. Bedford Row is itself hemmed in and is not a particularly pleasant or well designed pedestrian precinct.

It would seem a more fitting tribute to the world famous actor to locate his statue outside of Limerick Railway station, looking across towards Charlie St George's bar on Parnell Street, one of the actors favourite drinking haunts when home in the city. Such a site would provide a prominent location, with all visitors being met by the statue of one of Limerick's famous sons, perhaps with a small plaque stating “Welcome to Limerick City — the birthplace of Richard Harris”.

Or perhaps the statue could be located in the People’s Park. After all, Richard ‘Dickie’ Harris was a man of the people.

archived item
Stalling of Harris sculpture infuriates Limerick City Cllr
Exasperation that problems have arisen in commissioning and executing a life-size bronze statue of the late Limerick screen and stage actor, Richard Harris was voiced by Limerick City Cllr Pat Kennedy.

The councilor reminded members of the Transportation Committee that there had been unanimous agreement by the Council and management at City Hall that the city would honour the late actor’s memory by erecting a sculpture of him in a prominent position on Bedford Row.

Although an exact location for the statue has not yet been decided on, there is a strong possibility that it will stand on a prominent position on the pedestrianised Bedford Row.

Cllr Kennedy reminded the committee that he had been approached by the Harris family with a view to keeping them advised of developments regarding the statue.

"We, as a council decided to erect a statue of Richard Harris but I’m now told there are problems about this - will you please attend to this as the Harris family would love to see some move on this, although no consultation with the family has taken place to date and furthermore if we want to have the statue erected in time for the reopening of Bedford Row when its three million euro refurbishment is completed, we should now be commissioning the sculptor and allowing him adequate time to execute the statue,” he told assistant director of services, Joe Delaney.

Agreeing with Cllr Kennedy that it had been agreed that a bronze statue of the late actor would be erected on Bedford Row, Cllr Joe Leddin, chairman of the committee said he was unaware that problems had arisen.

The councillors were told by Mr Delaney that the issue of the statue will be handled by the Cultural and Environmental Strategic Policy Committee.
reprinted from the Limerick Post

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