Dublin City Council has confirmed that the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street is completely secure and “well fixed in place”, reports RTE.
This follows the release of records yesterday showing that an inspection had concluded the statue was unstable, with several broken attachments.
A report from Bush Park Ironworks, specialists in metalwork, revealed that two of the securing pins beneath the statue were entirely damaged, reports RTE.
However, DCC Arts Officer Ray Yeates stated this morning that, after thorough testing, city engineers confirmed the statue “isn’t going anywhere”.
He explained that part of the testing process involved applying force to the statue and placing weight against it, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Yeates said: “It was done with a scope. The engineers place it in between the plinth and the ground itself. There are more than two fixings. There’s about five, as far as I’m aware, under the cart and under the statue itself. So it’s very stable, [a] small bit of vibration because of the amount of people who’ve been kind of leaning against the statue, but it’s completely safe,” reports RTE.
Mr Yeates added that the council may consider filling the plinth with liquid concrete in the future to further stabilise the structure.
The inspection by Bushy Park Ironworks came after the council determined that the statue needed restoration work, due to ongoing wear from people rubbing the statue’s cleavage, causing noticeable discolouration of the bronze, reports RTE.
The practice of touching the famous fishmonger’s chest for luck is believed to have started in 2012, possibly initiated by a creative tour guide.
Mr Yeates said the council is trying to figure out why so many people are inclined to touch the statue and how to discourage this behaviour, reports RTE.
He mentioned that the council may ultimately have to accept that this kind of interaction is common with public statues globally and focus on maintaining and repairing it while keeping it in place.
Among the potential solutions, he said, are building a protective barrier or relocating the statue indoors.
“The first option would be to leave it there and probably do nothing except carry out repairs. Just accept that this behaviour is something that occurs worldwide, with statues throughout the world. The second thing would be to perhaps put a structure around it or to raise it. That’s expensive, and could increase risk if people felt they had to climb up on the plinth or climb over the railings. And then the big option would be to move it, perhaps move it indoors. However, I think that we just need probably the week to discuss with people, talk to tourists and everybody else who is interacting with statue and see what the options are,” reports RTE.
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