Luke Kelly statue restored to original state following 'mindless destruction'
Gardaí are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the defacing the recently erected statue to singing legend Luke Kelly.
The statue, one of two placed in Dublin last January was designed by artist Vera Klute and was covered with black paint, in the shape of sunglasses on Tuesday.
Officers are examining CCTV images from cameras located to the Luke Kelly park close to where the Dubliners singer grew up on Sheriff St in Dublin’s north inner city.
Someone has had a go at the Luke Kelly statue 😞 pic.twitter.com/fKDfhrQHLl
— Neil Cotter (@NewsNeil13) June 25, 2019
Specialist cleaners and the artist have now managed to clean and restore the statue back to its original state.
Independent councillor and former Lord Mayor Christy Burke said: "The late great Luke Kelly's statue being destroyed by thugs in an area where he was born and raised is just heartbreaking.
"It took years and years of work to have this public statue agreed and put in place. At least now we are able to clean it. It just makes me very angry to witness this type of destruction being carried out.
How could anyone do such a thing? It’s just mindless destruction. Luke meant and his memory means so much to so many people and this type of vandalism is so upsetting not only to me but to thousands of people.
"The community around here will pull together to not allow this to ever happen again. Hopefully, the gardaí will find out who did this.”
The statue was unveiled on the 35th anniversary of the 43-year-old singer’s death by President Michael D Higgins.
The work was commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2014 when Cllr Burke was elected as Mayor.
The statue which also cost €80,000 is a 1.8-metre-high marble bust, with copper wire used for Kelly's trademark beard.
