The 1916 commemorative stone unveiled in Mervue on Holy Thursday will be dug up and put into storage in the coming days, the Galway City Tribune understands.
Pressure has been applied to management at Galway City Council by a number of local councillors who object to the commemorative stone at Connolly Avenue.
However, it is understood residents of the avenue named after James Connolly, will resist any attempts by the authorities to remove it.
The stone has an Easter lily engraved in it, a symbol which is traditionally worn by Irish Republicans to mark the anniversary of the Rising and to honour Republicans who died during 1916 Easter week.
The engraving on the stone reads: “To the people of Galway a sheas an fód ar son Phoblacht Na hÉireann”.
The stone was erected on City Council land but, according to the local authority, it was put in without permission, and without the executive’s knowledge.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for erecting the stone but Fine Gael city councillor Pádraig Conneely is blaming Sinn Féin, who he accused of “hijacking” the 100th anniversary celebrations.
As well as Cllr Conneely, it is understood that Independent councillors Declan McDonnell, Terry O’Flaherty and Noel Larkin, all well as Mayor of Galway, Frank Fahy, contacted City Hall last week about the structure.
“I’ve asked the Council to remove the stone and my understanding is that it will be taken down,” said Cllr Conneely this week.
A commemoration stone engraved with the proclamation and surrounded by trees was unveiled in Shantalla over the weekend at a ceremony presided over by the mayor. Cllr Conneely said he supported that stone, because it had the Shantalla Residents Association had the imprimatur of the Council to erect it.
“The one in Mervue is political propaganda by Sinn Féin/IRA. It is a Republican and IRA stone. There is no place in Council land for politically-motivated propaganda structures.
“It was put up without planning permission, in the dead of the night without telling anyone, with no regard to regulations and protocol or health and safety. If somebody falls over it, who will they sue? The City Council. The Mervue Residents Association knows nothing about it. This is just Sinn Féin/IRA trying to hijack the commemoration,” he said.
Cllr Conneely said it was significant that Sinn Féin’s Mairéad Farrell was present at the unveiling. “None of the rest of us 18 councillors were invited. She says she doesn’t know who organised or paid for the stone. But who invited her? Surely they know who put it up.”
Cllr Farrell insisted the stone and its unveiling was a “community event and community effort” not a political one. Cllr Farrell chaired the event, and the stone was officially unveiled by Renmore historian, Micheál Ó Ceallaigh.
“In no-way was this a Sinn Féin event. It wasn’t just Sinn Féin people, there were about 100 people there from the community. I’m surprised by the reaction in the media, to be honest. If you see the stone, there’s nothing offensive about it. It’s actually just a nice way of commemorating 1916. Mervue used to be part of Castlegar parish, and that was one of the areas in Galway, that took part in the Easter Rising and Galway was one of the main places outside of Dublin involved in teh Rising so it is right and proper.”
Cllr Farrell agrees the Council has the power to remove the stone but she sees “no reason whatsoever why it should be removed”.
She added: “I don’t think there is any need to take it down. I know the people of Connolly Avenue certainly don’t want it taken down. They are 100% behind this. In their eyes, this is the proper way to celebrate 1916. It is under four feet tall, and my understanding is that means it doesn’t need planning permission. In 1995, residents – and there is a Council letter to this effect – were asked to maintain that green area and take ownership of it, which is what they’re doing.”
A City Council spokesperson said: “It was put in place inappropriately; and where it was put in is in the public realm. There are a number of issues arising out of it, not least planning permission but not confined to planning permission. You can’t just come in overnight and put up a structure anywhere you like, which does appear to be what has happened in this case. We still do not know who erected this.”
The spokesperson confirmed the Council has been contacted by “a number of councillors” to have the stone removed, although he wasn’t 100% sure whether it would be removed or not. He said it had been cordoned off but the hoarding had been removed. The stone will be inspected next week when the relevant Council workers return from Easter break.
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