Latest news with #LeaveMollyAlone
The Irish Sun
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘Wonderful victory for Dublin heritage' as new solution to prevent people groping Molly Malone statue to be implemented
A PROPOSED solution to prevent people groping the Molly Malone statue is set to be implemented in the coming weeks. For years, the statue has been the focus of a tradition in which visitors would rub the famous fishmonger's breasts for good luck. The practice, which started around 2012 and was likely created by tour guides, has left the statue discoloured and led to calls to stop the practice. Earlier this year, The council found that when approached, most people were cooperative and refrained from touching the statue. However, when stewards would leave, they found that the practice would quickly return. READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS After a week-long trial, the council concluded that the stewards were unsustainable in the long term. Now, instead, they have decided to install flower beds around the base of the statue in an attempt to create a distance between the landmark and visitors. It follows similar methods by the council to limit antisocial behaviour around the Dublin portal last year, which included the use of proximity sensors which would blur the screen when people stepped too close. The flowerbeds are expected to be installed alongside restoration work, which will see the damage done to the statue repaired over the summer. Most read in Irish News Speaking with Regarding the issue, he said: "I don't want people to touch the statue at all. Where people are touching it, it is disturbing for some people, for others it's not, but the damage to the statue is the main reason we don't want this to go on." These steps by the council represent years of work and campaigns calling for a stop to the practice. LEAVE MOLLY ALONE One such campaign is Leave Molly Alone. Created by singer-songwriter Tilly Cripwell, it sought greater respect and care for the statue. Discussing the move, Cripwell said: "This is a wonderful victory for Dublin's heritage." She added: "Molly Malone deserves to be admired and respected. I'm thrilled that Dublin City Council has taken action." 1 The Molly Malone statue has been the focus of a tradition in which visitors would rub the famous fishmonger's breasts for good luck Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Front row? Dublin orders tourists to leave statue's cleavage alone
Each time a tourist sidled up to the statue and reached for the most famous cleavage in Dublin, a voice called out: 'No touching please.' Two city council stewards stood vigil over the landmark on Tuesday to notify would-be gropers that Molly Malone was to be left alone. After years of supposedly bringing good luck to whomever touched the breasts, they were now off-limits. To reduce damage to the statue, and to protect the dignity of a Dublin symbol, city authorities have posted the stewards in a week-long pilot project while they ponder other ways to shield the bronze figure from tactile appreciation. 'I was here a few days ago and got to touch them then,' said Anders Oustid, 42, from Norway. 'I don't think they should stop people. It's a fun gimmick that you can come here and touch the boobs. It's good luck and apparently means that you'll get to come back to Dublin.' Mars Masana, 33, from Barcelona, had also touched the cleavage on a previous visit to the statue on Suffolk Street and was hesitant about the prohibition. 'I suppose in Spain we would feel the same if people were touching such a statue all the time.' Molly Malone – by many accounts a fictional 18th-century fishmonger's wife – is the subject of a ballad, known as 'cockles and mussels', that is an unofficial anthem for Ireland, sung at wedding, parties and sporting fixtures. The sculpture, by the artist Jeanne Rynhart, was first erected in 1988 and promptly labelled 'the tart with the cart' in reference to the cleavage and rumours that Molly sold more than fish. A creative tour guide is credited, or blamed, with inventing the story that touching her breasts would bring luck and a return trip to Ireland's capital. The result is discoloration where countless hands have passed – and indignation by some who consider it disrespectful. They include Tilly Cripwell, a music activist who last year launched a Leave Molly Alone campaign. Elaja Declercq, 17, from Belgium, obeyed, but regretted, the injunction to not touch. 'I understand some think it's inappropriate but it's a tradition.' Her two friends – Erasmus students who had come to film themselves singing the ballad – agreed. Ray Yeates, the city council's arts officer, said authorities were considering options, including leaving the statue in place and simply repairing the damage as needed, or erecting a fence, or moving it, perhaps indoors. The stewards' interactions with people this week will inform the final decision. Yeates told the BBC that while a 'worldwide phenomenon that statues are touched or rubbed' has become a custom, some people had noted that it mimicked undesirable behaviour. 'It would be illegal in public, so why would we mimic it?' Naomi Smith, 70, from Australia, was struck by the statue's revealing attire. 'It makes me cold just to look at her. She would have been awfully cold going around like this.'
