Badly defaced sculpture in Cork suburb needs to be restored
The motion requests Cork City Council to support the cleaning, repainting, and physical restoration of the sculpture, alongside the installation of a plaque bearing the artist's name and biographical information to honour his legacy.
Speaking on the motion, Cllr Kamegni who is a member of the Green Party said: 'It is badly defaced and needs to be cleaned up and repainted and information provided as to its artistic provenance. Our public spaces should be better than this. Instead of art, we have graffiti and vandalism. We can do better and I hope the council will remedy the situation as soon as possible."
John Burke who was born in Clonmel in 1946, was a pioneering sculptor and a founding member of Aosdána.
Overcoming early challenges including dyslexia, Burke found his voice at the Crawford Municipal School of Art before advancing to the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied under influential British sculptors Anthony Caro and Bryan Kneale.
His bold welded steel works were exhibited in major cities including Munich, Brussels, London, and New York.
Cllr Kamegni stressed that recognition and preservation of public artworks like Burke's are vital to building cultural awareness and pride across Cork. 'It's about showing that we value artists, that we value our public spaces, and that we value Blackrock as a place where culture and community meet."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Lammy faces fine after Vance fishing trip licence error
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy could be on the hook for a £2,500 (€2,896) fine following his fishing trip last week with US Vice President JD Vance, after admitting he did not have the required licence. Mr Vance and Mr Lammy were pictured by invited media as they fished in the lake at the foreign secretary's Chevening country residence in southeast England before a bilateral meeting as part of the vice president's working holiday to Britain. The vice president later joked on camera that the only strain on the US-British special relationship was that while his three children had caught fish, the British foreign secretary had not. All anglers are required by law to have a valid rod licence while they are fishing, regardless of whether they catch anything and whether they are on private land. Breaches can be punished with a fine of up to £2,500 (€2,896). Mr Lammy's office said he had not purchased the licence before the trip and had since sought to rectify the mistake. "The Foreign Secretary has written to the Environment Agency over an administrative oversight that meant the appropriate licences had not been acquired for fishing on a private lake as part of a diplomatic engagement at Chevening House last week," a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement. "As soon as the Foreign Secretary was made aware of the administrative error, he successfully purchased the relevant rod fishing licences." The spokesperson had no immediate comment on whether a licence had been purchased for Mr Vance, too. Mr Vance is in England with his wife, Usha, and their children, who are spending this week in the hamlet of Dean in the picturesque Cotswolds, following their stay at Chevening.
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood confirms he's in a relationship with Labour MP
The MP for Foyle said that following the breakup of his marriage, both he and his ex-wife are happy with new partners. "We're very happy and we're getting on well. It's fun and it's interesting,' he told the BBC's Red Lines podcast. "Louise is great and people here will know Louise from her time in Northern Ireland. "She's a feisty, strong, tough MP for Sheffield but also somebody who is prepared to say what needs to be said in difficult times even when it costs you your political career. Ms Haigh was also the Secretary for Transport, though she stood down from her position in November 2024. It came after it emerged she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation in 2014, after reporting that her phone had been stolen the previous year. In the BBC podcast, it was also revealed that the MP for Foyle had been offered a knighthood by a Westminster politician but turned it down. 'I always say that the political establishment in London don't really understand the north,' he said 'Not that long ago, when the Tories were in power, I was offered a knighthood. "I looked at the person and used language that I can't use in this podcast and said: 'Do you know who it is you're talking to'?' "And [they said] 'well, what about the privy council, would you like to go on the privy council'? "I said, 'I tell you what, the Budget's coming up, throw in a few quid for Derry from that Towns Fund and that'll do alright'. So we got £20m for Derry as part of that conversation. 'I think a lot of people there would love that, but not for me. In order to thank people [in Westminster] or buy them in, they give them all these things. 'As someone who doesn't even want Westminster to even be running Northern Ireland I have no interest in any kind of bonds from any British government. I was happy with the £20m for Derry.' Since stepping down as leader of the SDLP, the MP has been speaking of the dysfunction at Stormont, revealing he found it easier to implement change when Stormont is collapsed. 'I find it easier to get things done for people in Derry when Stormont's collapsed,' he said. "I think people feel Stormont isn't working and there's a big problem with that because, at some point, the next time it collapses, people will say, 'let's just leave it down', and I don't think that would be good either. "People deserve government, I think, that delivers for them and I'm not sure too many people would agree that they have been delivering." Mr Eastwood also spoke in the interview of his early political career, having joined the SDLP when he was 15, handing out leaflets for the 'yes' campaign for the Good Friday Agreement alongside the late John and Pat Hume. He had joined off the back of the peace agreement being signed. 'The civil rights movement as a kind of a thing that had happened before I was born,' he added. 'It was always strong as an influence on us growing up. 'There was a friend of the family, who was taught by my father, who was a member of the SDLP. 'He came into the house and I would have argued with him about different things maybe that the SDLP were doing. 'He came to the door at the Good Friday Agreement campaign, the SDLP were the only party to knock doors for the yes campaign. 'I said 'my parents aren't in' and he said 'well, it's you I am looking for'. I looked down the street and there was John and Pat Hume walking down my street. 'Hume was ever present in Derry. And we had a caravan in Greencastle where he would spend time, so we would always see John about. '[He was] very encouraging, he was encouraging me not to knock doors and go study for my GCSEs. Pat Hume banned me from knocking doors during one particular campaign because I had exams. 'But I just stayed out of her way and did it anyway.' Since stepping down as SDLP leader, the nationalist politician said he is still considering whether to put himself forward for this year's Irish presidential election. 'A number of people from a number of political parties in the south have talked to me about that,' he said. 'Truthfully, I am concerned that we have a discussion as part of that presidential election that doesn't ignore the north. 'The most important thing for me is, will there be a conversation during this election campaign about the future of Ireland to bring the two peoples of this country together.'
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials give evidence against UK MP Tulip Siddiq
Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials have given evidence in court against former British minister Tulip Siddiq, accused of using her familial connection to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country. Ms Siddiq, who is Ms Hasina's niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's government in January after reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. She is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina. Ms Siddiq has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka. The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 formally began on Wednesday (Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP) The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, but the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia. The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 formally began on Wednesday, hearing evidence from officials from the country's Anti-Corruption Commission. The court had heard from two officials and a third was expected to testify later in the day, Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor, said. Ms Siddiq's lawyers had previously called the charges baseless and politically motivated. Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has also alleged that Ms Siddiq's family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of money were said to have been embezzled. Public prosecutor Muhammad Tariqul Islam, wearing a tie, spoke to reporters after the hearing (Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP) The Labour MP represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate and served as economic secretary to the Treasury — the minister responsible for tackling financial corruption. Ms Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim leader and vowed to try the former prime minister. Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising and Ms Hasina now faces charges, including crimes against humanity.
